Depression and Persistent Depressive Disorder Therapy in Mumbai, India
Depression
Understanding the Dangers of Depression
Our lives are colored by numerous textures of feeling ranging from deep
joy to being down in the dumps with many shades of grey in between. It
is but natural to feel sad at the death of a loved one, or to be
melancholic to be leaving a familiar place or to be upset when we have
disagreements with people or get laid off from work.
In fact, there are many instances in life where we feel the blues and this is but natural. However, what is not psychologically
healthy is to remain in a perpetual state of dysphoria, which could be
described as a “profound state of dis-ease, unhappiness and
dissatisfaction,” day in and day out.
According to the DSM V, the following symptoms would help you identify
Persistent Depressive Disorder (Dysthymia) in yourself or a loved one:
- Depressed mood for most of the day, for more days than not, as indicated by either subjective or observation by others
- Poor appetite or overeating
- Insomnia or hypersomnia
- Low energy or fatigue
- Low self esteem
- Poor concentration or difficulty making decisions
- Feelings of hopelessness
If a person embodies having a “depressed mood for most of the day” day
after day with two or more other symptoms one can be said to be
clinically depressed. Being clinically depressed, in turn, will have
negative consequences on one’s health, well being, relationships, work,
productivity and bring down the overall quality of one’s life. Research
has shown, that high levels of the stress hormone cortisol have been
found in the blood stream of people who identified being depressed, this
in turn reduces immune function and makes any pre-existing medical
disorder worse or may perhaps even create new ones. What we can gauge
from this is that depressed people are more likely to be easily stressed
and in turn, people who have a low threshold to stress are more
susceptible to becoming depressed.
If an individual is in an intimate relationship or has small children
their having depression would impact their loved one’s in very harmful
ways. There is a progressive diminishing of real interpersonal contact
and closeness since the depressed person is no longer present to
anything other than overwhelming feelings of sadness. Spouses of
depressed individuals report very low relationship satisfaction as
depressions gnaws away at the fabric of intimacy where emotional
connection, sexuality and simply having fun together is greatly reduced
or becomes non-existent. Studies have also shown that children of
depressed people have a higher risk of being depressed themselves, as
well as having a vulnerability to addictions and exhibit behavioral
disorders.
It is extremely harmful to the self and to one’s loved ones to ignore
constant negative ruminations and feelings about one’s life, as they
could transition from being pathological to fatal, where individuals
driven by disturbing thoughts and emotions could end up taking their
life. Another alarming point regarding depression is that it has a
propensity to recur once a person has suffered from it before.
Depression, in essence, is a thinking dis-ease, which is premised on
habitual negative thinking, perceiving and evaluating one’s self and the
world. This tendency to think pessimistically, in turn, creates neural
pathways in the brain, literally grooves in our psyche, which get easily
activated when certain triggers are present. Over a period of time,
even small mundane disappointments may set off disproportionate feelings
of anguish and hopelessness.
Although, ironically, depression is extremely common, with 20 percent of
the population suffering from it at any given time; literally, one in
every five people experiences depression, it remains, unfortunately,
ignored, undetected and untreated. While awareness is increasing
regarding the importance of mental health globally, in India,
historically and perhaps even to some extent today, psychological issues
have been ignorantly stigmatized. Individuals are made to feel ashamed
of themselves for having life traumas and upheavals and are marginalized
for seeking help. Contemporarily, this is a very unfortunate set of
circumstances, as historically in ancient India, dukkha was
greatly acknowledged by all philosophical traditions as a profound
existential state. Especially, highlighted by the ultimate healer and
therapist, Gautama Buddha, who stated that “Life is Suffering.”
If you or anyone close to you is depressed it is extremely important
that you seek professional psychotherapeutic attention. While exercise,
yoga, mantra, meditation and good nutrition are useful adjuncts and
supports, they do not go the whole way in dispelling depression, which
is a deep rooted psychological pattern. What the depressed person really
needs is a facilitation to cognitively and behaviourally re-frame and
dis-identify with negative thoughts and to develop the ability to
tolerate distress and work through disturbing affects felt in the body.
Depression does not automatically alleviate itself or diminish with
family support nor disappear with self-affirmations to be happy, it
needs to be confronted and worked through psychosomatically.
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