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WHAT IS DEPRESSION?
1. It can be a symptom of another illness.
2. For one person in ten, it can be a disease itself.
3. Most commonly it is a reaction to some loss. |
WHAT KIND OF LOSSES CAN
TRIGGER DEPRESSION?
1. Real losses, like loss of loved one, job, health, possessions.
2. Abstract losses, like rejection or criticism
3. Imagine losses, believing others may be against us.
4. Threatened losses, things we believe may happen to us. |
DOES DEPRESSION HAVE
A PURPOSE?
Yes. It is a sign of something wrong that needs help. Often
the help is in the form of achieving physical balance, usually with medication.
Or, it points to something we need to work through. |
HOW CAN YOU RECOGNIZE
A DEPRESSION?
1. Loss of interest or ambition
2. Loss of energy, fatigue, lethargy
3. Sadness, feeling low
4. A feeling of being overwhelmed by darkness |
IS IT POSSIBLE TO DIAGNOSE
YOUR OWN DEPRESSION?
Not usually, due to emotional involvement. Depression is often masked by
anger, loneliness, compulsiveness. It often takes the informed probing
of another person to reveal depression. Persons who are repeatedly depressed
can learn to recognize its signs. Many do not realize that they are suffering
from depression. |
HOW CAN PEOPLE GAUGE
THE SERIOUSNESS OF DEPRESSION?
Mild depression is difficult to gauge. Serious depression prevents rational
analysis.
Some clues:
1. Mild depression is tolerable and we can function fairly normally
with it
2. Medium depression begins to affect us. We begin getting
out of obligations.
3. Severe depression blocks us from eating, deciding, caring for
ourselves. There
can be loss of will to live. |
WHAT CAN OTHERS DO FOR
THE SEVERELY DEPRESSED?
1. Get them into competent treatment. The first call should be to
a physician. (Two
out of three people who need medical help for depression never get treated)
2. Be sure that they are in a safe situation, especially not alone.
3. See that they get good nutrition and necessary care. |
AT WHAT POINT SHOULD
YOU WORRY ABOUT DEPRESSION?
1. If someone says that you need to see a doctor, you do.
2. If you have atypical behavior problems, or emotions, you may need
help.
3. If you lose interest, energy, motivation, ability to do your daily
life, seek help.
4. If dark feelings last more than a few days. (Most people
have occasional
depressive times, often associated with difficult life situations that
need to
working through) |
WHAT CAN YOU DO FOR YOURSELF
IF YOU REALIZE YOU ARE DEPRESSED?
1. See your doctor and see whether there may be a physical cause
(Very likely)
2. Acknowledge your depression. Hiding doesn't help.
3. Try to identify the “trigger,” the loss. Is it real or imagined?
4. Face up to the reality of the loss, whatever it may be. (You may
need a counselor)
5. Deal with it. Some depressions emerge again and again, because
the underlying
issues have not been faced and dealt with. |
IS DEPRESSION A FAILURE?
1. Depression is a natural consequence of certain physiological or
psychological
circumstances.
2. It seems to be a natural, normal way for our system to deal with
certain physical
and emotional situations. |
SHOULD NON-PROFESSIONALS
TRY TO HELP THE DEPRESSED?
Yes, but not as therapists.
IT IS IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THAT DEPRESSION CAN BE A SERIOUS
PROBLEM. GETTING MEDICAL EVALUATION AND HELP SHOULD BE
FIRST
PRIORITY. Sometimes
it takes a friend to get a depressed person to a doctor.
Depression that was once thought to be primarily psychological in nature
is now thought to be largely physiological. Treatment is more likely to
be with medication than counseling, although sometimes both are necessary.
Let the doctor decide. |
ALL HEALING IS ENHANCED
BY SUPPORT FROM CARING PEOPLE.
Friends can provide a support system during a time of physical treatment.
Many forms of depression are best treated by achieving of chemical balance.
This may take some time, during which support and care can be essential.
Where the depression is primarily emotional, friends can do a lot of listening.
Friends should not be used as therapists. However, when someone who
knows you well suggests that you need more help, you probably do.
Most people work through their losses at their own pace and without outside
help. However, some people need a therapist who is able to bring losses
to the surface where they can be faced and dealt with. Otherwise
depression can be expect to return.
Those who have also faced depression can often be most helpful. They
understand.
Staying in contact is important
to the depressed person because it provides a reality base. Good friends
do not allow a friend to suffer alone. |
WHAT CAN I DO WHILE WAITING
FOR MY DEPRESSION TO END?
You have been to the doctor. You know what your problem is.
You are following a program of some sort. You are taking time for healing.
What can you do to help yourself? A lot.
1. Exercise (The outdoor world of nature is great therapy)
2. Eat well (Good nutrition makes a difference)
3. See people every day (even if you only go out to where people
are)
4. Do basic chores (dishes, laundry, housecleaning, etc.) All
of them
5. Practice positive. Turn on lights. Play good music. Laugh
(When you can laugh,
your perspective is intact)
6. Find and read something inspirational every day
7. Claim wholeness (Prayer, meditation, affirmation all work) |
IS DEPRESSION ALWAYS
A SICKNESS?
There are times we should be depressed. Some things are simply depressing.
There would be something sick about us if we weren't depressed a times.
But whenever depression cannot be connected to a specific situation, and
when it lingers and begins to intrude on positive daily living, pay attention.
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Material adapted from article
by Dr. Archibald Hart, COPING WITH DEPRESSION, (Ministry, September 1984).
Editing and Additional Material by Dr. Art Morgan, (Moment
Ministries)
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