Depression-The Silent Killer
July 11, 2007
There are days when you don’t feel like yourself. The energy to do anything seems to be draining out. The mind wanders but doesn’t seem to focus anywhere. All you want to do is to sit alone, in a dark corner and dwell on pointless emotions.
It may seem normal because everyone has their good days and bad but when these blues won’t drift away and affects your everyday life then these are signs of depression.
Some symptoms of depression are feelings of hopelessness, guilt, being over critical and pessimism. There are people who suffer from insomnia or they tend to oversleep. While some lose weight drastically and some gain excessively. The lack of enthusiasm tears them away from the things they once enjoyed and it makes them irritable and frustrated. Depression can also transform into physical aches and pains in the body. Extreme depression can lead to suicidal thoughts.
There is no age where it can be predicted that a person is prone to depression. Teenagers, men, women and even the elderly can suffer from this. Mothers who have delivered beautiful, healthy babies suffer from postpartum depression. The worst part is that very often people cannot understand and identify their mood changes and behaviour. The mind is so self-absorbed in hopelessness that the feeling cannot be deterred with anything.
Depression is a silent killer because it quietly takes away our desire to enjoy life. It kills our spirit and zeal. We subdue it and internalize all the negative thoughts and emotions and one day it bursts out like a volcano. People should seek medical help, take medications, join support groups and feel reassured that they are not alone.
There are no special reasons or causes that trigger depression. It could be due various factors in a person’s life – neglect, abuse, bad relationships, loneliness, failure in jobs etc. It could be a person’s lifestyle, genetics predisposition and the list goes on.
According to Reuters, London, depression is more damaging to everyday health than chronic diseases such as angina, arthritis, asthma and diabetes. If people are ill with other conditions then depression makes them worse. The researchers wrote in the Lancet medical journal, “We report the largest population based worldwide study to our knowledge that explores the effect of depression in comparison with four other chronic diseases on health state.”
Somnath Chatterji of the World Health Organization who led the study said, “Researchers calculated the impact of different conditions by asking people questions about their capacities to function in everyday situation-such as moving around, seeing things at a distance and remembering information.”
The researchers assigned a number between 0 and 100 reflecting a person’s relative health score. The researchers wrote, “Our main findings show that depression impairs health state to a substantially greater degree than the other diseases.” The team used WHO data collected from 60 countries and more than 240,000 people to show on average between 9% and 23% had depression in addition to one or more of four other chronic diseases-asthma, angina, arthritis and diabetes. This is what the researchers have reported.
Taiwan researchers have discovered that banana peel extract can ease depression and protect the retina. A research team from Taichung Chung Shan Medical University found after two years of research that banana peel is rich in serotonin, which is vital to balancing moods, the Apple Daily newspaper reported.
A low level of serotonin in the brain is believed to cause depression although doctors have yet to find out the relationship between depression and low levels of serotonin. The team also found that banana peel extract could protect the retina damage caused by light because it can cause retina cells to regenerate.
The research team said it believes consuming banana peel by boiling the peel and drinking the water or by putting it through a fruit juicer and drinking the juice can help to ease depression. This should be consumed once a day or several times a week. Source of this information is from IANS.
According to the researchers at Duke University Medical Center in Durham North Carolina, regular exercise may work as well as medication in improving symptoms of major depression. In a study of 202 depressed adults, the investigators found that those who went through group based exercise therapy did well as those treated with an antidepressant drug. A third group that performed home-based exercise also improved, though to a lesser degree.
Importantly, the researchers found all three groups did better than a fourth group given a placebo-an inactive pill identical to the antidepressant. While past studies have suggested that exercise can depression symptoms, a criticism has been that the research failed to compare exercise with a placebo. The new findings bolster evidence that exercise does have a real effect on depression.
Depression is not terminal. We all have phases in our lives and it is time that people try to take a look within and admit that they need help. Then the rest is easy.
©Nayna, 2007. All Rights Reserved.
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7 Responses to “Depression-The Silent Killer”
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god, i wish i it was that easy
great artical!!!!!!
i remember when the scouter said my power level was under 9000 i wanted 2 kill myself.all i could think about was how id never become a super saiyan and i just didnt want 2 live anymore. then i read ur artical and realized all ihad 2 do was train even harder!!!!!!!!!11
thanks!
actually i felt all the above symptoms,thanks for this article i felt a menatl satisfaction. i was feeling like this may be because i did not get the love of my parents(this is what i predict about myself),i m still 18 yrs old and had severly planned my sucide plans when i was in hostel but i had fought with it and then let it get away.just wanted one suggestion that i m in my career just now but i love someone and dont want to loose her ,i m sure it will loose my depression so should i go ahead?can u tell me someother ways for loosing depression while in a busy schedule i will sincerly appericate it !!!!! thankyou for that small and wonderful small article
I have been dealing with depression for such a long time I find myself often getting angry at the world around me. I hate my husband, I get irritated with other people’s children. I even tend to mistreat my friend and family.
Hi Margaret,
We do understand your problem. Many people suffer silently. That’s why we have tried to do an extensive research so people are aware they are not alone. Please find someone to talk to and share your feelings. If you have no one close then seek help from specialists. We wish you well and hope you are able to get over this and lead the cheerful life that you once enjoyed.
It would be nice if it were easy to admit your problems get treatment and say goodbye to depression.
Those thoughts and words are clearly spoken from someone who has not lived with depression everyday looming and crawling like an infestation of locust.
I am not talking about the seasonal depression or the situational depression but long-term unprovoked depression that grips you like the Boston strangler at any time, any place for no reason at all.
Depression is no respector of person, it is not something that only attack the poor, ugly or drug addicted. Even the rich and famous suffer fromt this devastating and greatly misunderstood disease.
I have been depressed since about four years old. I have been in treatment eager to get well and I am still in treatment hoping for that magic cure. I have a great job, great perks, a home and a good education but everyday like my skin, like my shadow and night it rises with me.
Good morning heartache and for no reason I feel that death is the only cure for this slow and deadly killer. It is like dying with a terminal disease, yet it can’t be detected on a MRI, Catscan or through blood work. No one believes you they just say pray, get over it, cheer up, talk to someone…
Easier said then done because I never know when the grenade in my mind will explode and cause me to fall in a downward spiral. To complicated even more is the situational depression that attaches itself to me like an unwanted in-law because of the peoples looks, the doctors disbelief and my failure to prove to everyone that I am not just crazy but their is really something causing me to feel this way.
My body hurts and is weak and tired because my brain searches for physical reasons for the pain experienced in the membranes of my brain. So my brain convinces my body that my heart hurts, that my stomach aches that I have a migraine, that my joints are swollen that I can’t walk or have a flu.
Yet everyday I take my medication and see my psychiatrist only to hope this nightmare will soon end.
This was a helpful article, however its not always ‘a piece of cake’ finding the correct treatment to assist any one person as every persons depression is different. Just because someone has a diagnosis doesn’t mean it’s “easy” from that point forward, although it is absolutely the beginning to the hope of relief.
Dear Tabitha-
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, situation, life and reality. I fully agree that many do not understand the depth of anguish, horror, despair and anguish that exists for a number of people with severe depression. I feel this way now, in a current state of suicidal tendancies. I’ve tried a myriad of medications and treatments for various diagnosis’ since the onset of puberty at 14 years old. It helps to know that I am not alone. I would not wish this personal hell on even my worst enemy, and I have yet to understand what purpose this life lesson is supposed to serve. My depression has worsened over the years and my suicide attempts and/or thoughts have seemed to be increased in the last year. I have sought appropriate help. I feel I have tried a ridculous amount of things without real relief. I figure that with the influx and exponential growth of medical, technological and pharmaceutical advances in the last 20 or even 10 years, there has be something just around the corner. All I can do is wait and hope for whatever cocktail of assistance I can find. Again, I find comfort in knowing I am not alone in treatment resistant depression.