What I Wish People Knew About Depression

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I am reposting this piece from my archives as a reminder of my dream.

What do I wish people knew about depression?

I wish people knew that depression is complex, that it is a physiological condition with psychological and spiritual components, and therefore can’t be forced into any neat and tidy box, that healing needs to come from lots of kinds of sources and that every person’s recovery is different.

I wish people knew the depression doesn’t happen in a vacuum and is part of a intricate web of biological systems (nervous, digestive, endocrine, respiratory), that depression is about the gut as well as the brain, the thyroid and the nerves, that we would have better health in this country if we approached depression with a holistic view.

I wish people understood that untreated depression can increase the risk of developing other illnesses, that a 2007 Norwegian study found that those participants with significant depression symptoms had a higher risk of death from most major causes, including heart disease, stroke, respiratory illnesses (such as pneumonia and influenza), and conditions of the nervous system (like Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis).

I wish people would offer those who struggle with depression the same compassion they offer to friends with rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, breast cancer, or any other socially acceptable illness, that they’d question those discriminations and judgments reserved for disorders that fall under the umbrella of “mental illness.”

I wish people knew that depression wasn’t something that can be cured by participating in a 21-day meditation series with Deepak Chopra or Eckhart Tolle on Oprah.com, and that although mindfulness efforts can certainly help, it’s possible to have consistent, chronic death thoughts even after years of developing a meditation practice.

I wish people knew you could be grateful and depressed at the same time, that gratitude can coexist with a mood disorder.

I wish people knew that, despite impressive research on neuroplasticity and our brain’s capability of changing, it is unfair to expect a person to undo depression by merely thinking happy thoughts, that the science is new and while a person can be mindful of forming new neural passageways, he can’t change a lamp into an elephant overnight, just as he can’t un-think a tumor from happening.

I wish people knew that medications don’t provide all the answers. They can begin the healing process and allow the other hard work to be done, but aren’t capable of fixing everything.

I wish people knew that millions of people don’t respond to medications, and that, while brain stimulation technologies offer hope for treatment-resistant depression, these persons are dealing with a different kind of beast altogether and should not be blamed for their chronic illness.

I wish people knew that a depressed person is capable of fake laughing for two hours through a dinner only to go home and Google “easiest ways to get cancer,” that most depressed persons deserve Academy Awards for outstanding acting, and that it can be practically impossible to pick up on the desperation and sadness in a person who wants so badly to die because chances are she is the one cracking jokes in a crowd.

I wish people knew that depression isn’t caused by constipated energy in the crown (or seventh) chakra or by the possession of demons in the soul, that neither reiki nor an exorcism is likely to cure it.

I wish people knew that the endorphins from exercise are as close as a depressive will get to an anesthesia for pain but that it’s possible to swim 5,000 yards a day or run seven miles a day and still be suicidal, that a sad swimmer can fill up her goggles with tears.

I wish people knew that while yoga is helpful for some, a person can walk out of the studio just as depressed as she was before Namaste.

I wish people knew how essential diet was to treating depression, but that you can eliminate gluten, dairy, caffeine, alcohol, and sugar from your diet—you can exist on green smoothies–and still be depressed, that fish oil, vitamin B 12, and a good probiotic could very well improve your mood, but that they aren’t magical elements.

I wish people knew that the worst part about depression is the sheer loneliness, the inability to express the anguish that rages within, and that the smiley-face culture we live in worsens that loneliness because depressed persons are so scared to tell the truth.

I wish people knew that persons who struggle with depression aren’t lazy, uncommitted, and weak, that they are not trying to get attention.

I wish people knew that depressed brains looked different on high resolution x-rays, that when experts scanned the brains of depressed people, they discovered that the front lobes of the brain displayed lower activity levels than those in non-depressed patients, that there are breakdowns in normal patterns of emotional processing, that depression can be associated with the loss of volume in parts of the brain and can inhibit the birth of new brain cells, which is why renown psychiatrist Peter Kramer believes it is the “most devastating disease known to mankind.”

I wish people knew that taking one’s life can feel like sneezing to a severely depressed person, that it can be a mere reaction to the body’s strong message, that after fighting a sneeze for years and years, some people simply can’t not sneeze anymore, that they should not be condemned or demonized for sneezing.

I wish people knew that the hardest thing some persons will ever do in this lifetime is to stay alive, that just because staying alive comes easily to some, it doesn’t mean arriving at a natural death is any less of a triumph for those who have to work so very hard to keep breathing.

I wish people knew that the best thing you can do for a person who suffers from depression is to believe her.

I wish people knew that sometimes depression is triggered by something and sometimes it’s not, that sometimes one small thing is needed to pull a person out of darkness, and sometimes everything is unable to, that sometimes the only thing you can do is to wait for symptoms to subside.

I wish people knew that depression comes and it goes, and in its ebb and flow are found pockets of peace that can sustain a person for the journey.

I wish people knew, more than anything else, that there is hope.

Beyond medication and meditation.

Beyond fish oil and vitamin D.

Beyond acupuncture and yoga.

Beyond mindfulness and biofeedback.

Beyond cognitive behavioral therapy and brain stimulation technology.

Beyond every action imaginable, there is hope for depression.

In reaching beyond the self to others who understand the instinct to sneeze.

In sharing the familiar yet unique story of one’s illness.

In finding a purpose to live for.

In attaching every piece of the heart and soul to some meaning in this world.

In gently turning the pain and the bitterness to love and service.

Published originally on Sanity Break at Everyday Health.

 

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Therese Borchard
I am a writer and chaplain trying to live a simple life in Annapolis, Maryland.

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21 Responses
  1. Theresa Rezac

    Thank you so much for posting this amazing article. I am so grateful for you Therese and your gift of words to describe this horrible illness. My hope is that someday those of us who struggle with clinical depression won’t have to feel shame about having this brain disease. Can I repost your article to my facebook account?

  2. Dianne De Mink

    I’m glad you reposted this as you are the voice that speaks my thoughts. All my secret longings and fears have been registered in your article and I’m hoping its okay to post on my Facebook page, send it to my therapist, other friends (and never lose it again). I’m going to put it in my ‘downside tool box’ -well as soon as I put that together. Thanks.

  3. Shauna

    THANK YOU! You’re the voice inside my head…. you validated and cemented many, many things that I theorized, guessed, felt, imagined!

  4. Larry A Lee Sr

    It is such a tuff element of life to go though. If you can even call it life,to be in the same room with a hundred people and still feel alone and wish you were at the same time wish you weren’t. Thank you for the post Lori,you have a friend who likes to talk I hope you know.

  5. This is something I’ve definitely learned over time, specifically dealing with family members who manage their depression in very different ways, as well as present symptoms of it in different ways. You did an awesome job of describing how depression can often be a battle that’s being fought “behind the scenes”. The most important thing I’ve had to learn, like you said, is that sometimes there no specific “thing” that can trigger someone’s depression and that often there’s nothing you can do to “fix” it for the person and that you can only just be there for the person.

  6. Brigitte Marcil

    Genuine depression is more than a mood. It’s a mental illness brought on by a physical cause, a psychological cause, or both. Major depression is an extreme condition where there is no interest in activities of daily life, like eating, personal hygiene, even getting out of bed, and may be accompanied by attempts at suicide, Anxiety depression is actually characterized by all sorts of irregularities and erratic behavior from the person who is suffering from it, this is usually due to certain stress triggers that may tend to easily cause a person undue jitters and stress, There’s a wide variety of anti-depressant depression medications available to help treat those who are suffering from depressive disorders, The majority people with depression never look for help, although the majority will react to treatment. Treating depression is above all important because it affects you, your family, and your work. Treating it naturally is also important because it won’t have any side effects. Taking help of a Professional is also a good choice. Professional like Martine Voayance at http://www.martine-voyance.com/consultation/ and One can also check similar psychic like this Online. Some people with depression try to harm themselves in the false belief that they’re feeling will never change, Antidepressants prescribed for depression work by slowing down the absorption of neurotransmitters in the brain.

  7. Doralee

    as usual, i wrote a response then deleted, planning to just keep it all in as usual. but here I am again, practicing courage. Thank you for this article. I wish more than anything I could post on my Facebook or send to my husband and grown children. They are the 3 ppl I have left in my life. I have completely isolated myself because I can’t be understood. hell, I don’t understand myself how can I expect others too. I’m miserable and i make others miserable around me. so i try to fake it most days, and actually get away with it. i do wish they understood all this but telling them would just cause more burden. like they’d tiptoe around me, or ask me constantly how Im doing with pity in their tone. the part about this article that shocks me most is when you talk about searching ways to get cancer. Ive never breathed that thought to anyone so to see that you also have thought this and longed for it is shocking! I actually get quite angry when someone I know gets cancer…angry and jealous. thats such a sick and twisted response! here this person is a wonderful person who wants to live and is struggling to stay alive, yet in the back of my head Im wishing it were me so I could exit with some sense of final dignity, dignity that Ive been robbed of during life. anyway, there it is. a deep silent part of me I’ve never allowed to escape. thank you for your article, I hope it is spread far and wide for those who don’t understand. blessings.

  8. Richard

    Hi Therese,

    My daughter Isabel was born through many prayers to St. Therese, the Saint of Roses.
    I believe you wrote an article in the past about how St. Therese helped you. My daughter’s name is Isabel “Therese” H. I always look to you for solutions to my depression and the scars it has left me. Please let me know how I can reach you since I would love to email or contact you and tell you my story.

  9. Kim Rose

    I am close to tears. NEVER has anyone described so well what depression is like. I live with treatment-resistant MDD-Severe. Your writing left me feeling completely validated and comforted because I now know that someone out there completely understands this illness and all the complexities of it. Thank you from my heart for writing this and sharing this. Many, many blessings to you Therese. <3

  10. PsycApps

    Thank you for clearing up certain confusions about the specifics behind depression. It could clear up any debate about certain symptoms and make others more aware of their peers who may possibly suffer from depression. It is an important thing to note that illnesses like depression is something that people deal with behind closed doors and may not be comfortable outwardly sharing. Thank you again for clarifying this important point!

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    It’s a problem design engineers discovered when it caused still-believed-harmless panicked episodes of confusion for knowledge workers in business offices, 1964.

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    The public, mental health services, and research are unaware the problem exists.

    That means chronic Subliminal Distraction episodes (Depressive episodes) are being diagnosed as mental illness.

    Unlike mental illness, Subliminal Distraction can be experimentally created for evaluation. By copying the “mental break causing design mistake” engineers discovered, then optimizing it, anxiety leading to __ depressive ideation __ can be created with a few hours daily Subliminal Distraction over several successive days exposure.

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