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Saturday, November 19, 2005
Are you out of your mind?
By Henrylito D. Tacio
Health 101
SHEILA, 25, was one of the most beautiful students in the class. She was also very intelligent. In fact, she was touted as the most likely to succeed by her teachers. Her friends were totally caught by surprise when she committed suicide last summer. "I can't take my depression any longer," Sheila wrote in her suicide note. "I am very much sorry if I have to end my life this way."
Sheila was not alone. In May 2000, there were 233,000 reported cases of depression in the Philippines. In Singapore, the National Mental Health Survey in 1996 showed that one in 13 people aged 24 to 64 suffered from depression.
Medical experts believe depression =- called in the past as neurosis -- may be caused by imbalances in brain chemicals called neurotransmitters. Imbalances in three neurotransmitters -- serotonin, norepiphrine and dopamine -- seem to be linked to depression.
Depressive disorders range from dysthymia -- low-grade, chronic depression - to bipolar disorder, or manic depression, which causes extreme swings between depressive lows and manic highs. As common as it is, though, depression remains widely misunderstood. There are several reasons for this. One, people are embarrassed to seek treatment because they think depression carries a stigma of mental illness. Another, people don't recognize their symptoms as depression. Many think their symptoms are a normal part of life -- just a bad case of the blues.
True, everyone gets the blues. And the classic symptoms are well known: loneliness and feelings of inadequacy, worthlessness and anxiety. People who were sexually active prior to developing depression may notice a dramatic decrease in their level of interest in having sexual relations.
"Depression can also cause a wide variety of vague complaints, such as generalized itching, blurred vision, excessive sweating, dry mouth, gastrointestinal problems (indigestion, constipation, and diarrhea), headache, and backache," informs the Minnesota-based Mayo Clinic.
Experts at the National Institute for Mental Health in Bethesda, Maryland, suggest that anyone who experience four or more of the following symptoms of depression for more than two weeks should seek professional help: persistent sad, anxious or "empty" feelings; feelings of hopelessness and/or pessimism; feelings of guilt, worthlessness and/or helplessness; loss of interest or pleasure in ordinary activities, including sex; sleep disturbances; eating disturbances; decreased energy; thoughts of death or suicide; restlessness and/or irritability; and difficulty in concentrating, remembering and/or making decisions.
There's no single cause for depression. Experts think that having a family history of depression increases a person's risk of developing the condition.
But not everyone with a family history of depression develops the disorder. Clearly, other factors are involved.
Certain personality traits such as having low self-esteem and being overly dependent, self-critical, pessimistic and easily overwhelmed by stress, can make a person vulnerable to depression.
"Many people with depression can't experience emotions -- including grief, joy, and pleasure -- normally; in the extreme, the world appears to have become colorless, lifeless, and dead," the Merck manual says. "Thinking, speech, and general activity may slow down so much that all voluntary activities stop."
Depressed people may be pre-occupied with intense feelings of guilt and self- denigrating ideas and may not be able to concentrate well. Such was the case of Jeannie, a fashion model. In one of her trips, she met an accident, which left her a scar in her face. After that, she was often indecisive and withdrawn and felt helpless and hopeless. She oftentimes thought of death and suicide. "Jeannie has a hard time falling asleep and if she's able to sleep, she wakes up every now and then," recalls a friend.
A loss of sexual desire or pleasure is most common among depressed people, the Merck manual contends. Poor appetite and weight loss sometimes lead to emaciation, and in women menstrual periods may stop. However, overeating and weight gain are common in milder depression.
Some depressed people complain of having a physical illness, with various aches and pains or fears of calamity or of becoming insane. Others think they have illnesses they believe to be incurable or shameful, like cancer or sexually transmitted diseases, and that they are infecting other people.
About 15 percent of depressed people, most commonly those with severe depression have delusions (false beliefs) or hallucinations, seeing or hearing things that aren't there. They may believe that they have committed unpardonable sins or crimes or may hear voices accusing them of various misdeeds or condemning them to death. In rare cases, they may imagine that they see coffins or deceased relatives.
Thoughts of death are among the most serious symptoms of depression, the Merck manual claims. Many depressed people want to die or feel they are so worthless that they should die. "As many as 15 percent of people with severe depression exhibit suicidal behavior," the Merck manual says.
For comments, write me at tasyo2002@yahoo.com.
For Bisaya stories from Davao. Click here. (November 19, 2005 issue)
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