ọdịnaya
How many centuries a society has existed, so many in it inevitably pay attention to all sorts of deviations from the norm. This is especially true for mental deviations, due to which a person noticeably gets out of the general “stream”, is discordant with society, and causes discomfort to others. Several centuries ago, the church dealt with the issues of identifying, “treating”, and sometimes protecting and supporting mentally ill people. Of course, to the best of their knowledge and within the then existing doctrine.
Later, this social burden fell on the shoulders of secular authorities and individual patrons, who were in charge of the houses for the mentally ill. But the very topic of mental health in those days was considered taboo. It was not customary to talk about illnesses to a wide range of people, the stigma of «abnormal» deprived a person of almost all rights and freedoms, and medical care left much to be desired and was more of an experimental nature.
Time to collect stones
Modern statistics of mental disorders is frightening. According to WHO, every fourth inhabitant of the planet experiences mental problems at least once in a lifetime. However, along with notable improvements in the field of psychiatry and methods of helping patients, today the boundaries between normal and pathological have become noticeably blurred. Many episodes are more logically attributed to the peculiarities of the reaction to stress or the nuances of character. Therefore, it has become more difficult to diagnose dangerous conditions, which means that the number of people facing mental illness may be many times higher.
The concept of neurodiversity
Now the so-called concept of neurodiversity, that is, the expansion of the permissible boundaries of psychological reactions to various stimuli and catalysts, is considered extremely attractive and popular. What was relatively recently considered a disease, an alarming symptom, an abnormal reaction can now be fully assessed as a mental feature that plays an important role in the process of the evolution of the intellect. However, there are things that remain the same, such as depression. This extremely unstable and dangerous state of the human psyche has always been treated with caution. Its frequency and unpredictability at all times has been the object of close attention of scientists and physicians. And even despite repeated attempts to romanticize depression through works of art and pop culture, spleen has never been considered a mild disease that does not have dangerous consequences for the patient.
How to distinguish depression from a bad mood?
Often, being interested in a person’s health and mood, you can hear the usual: «I’m depressed.» It is unlikely that anyone who has found the strength to come to work, to a meeting, to visit, really understands the meaning of this phrase.
Depression differs from the usual blues not only in the protracted nature of the course (as a rule, a depressed state lasts more than two weeks), but also in the intensity of internal experiences and negative emotions. This state weakens, deprives of energy, positive emotions, desire to act.
There are always good reasons for severe lingering depression:
- emotionally vivid personal tragedy;
- ọnwụ nke onye ị hụrụ n'anya;
- depreciation of personal efforts;
- too rapid development of events, to prevent or avoid which a person is not able to.
In addition to emotional and eventful causes, depression can be caused by congenital disorders of brain biochemistry. In this case, depression does not need external causes, it is characterized by cyclicality and spontaneity.
In severe cases, depression can turn into apathy, causing a person to completely withdraw from activity and communication for weeks, months, and even years. This condition may well lead to suicide. You should not devalue the suffering of the patient, saying that all his experiences are nonsense, someone is worse than him, and so on … In depression, a person is not able to think logically, his perception is distorted, and ordinary situations are seriously perceived as hopeless.
Comprehensive therapy under the supervision of an experienced doctor helps to survive the crisis. Don’t try to deal with depression alone. The disease is dangerous because it gives in to consciousness from the inside, driving a person to despair and provoking a more complex form of mental disorder, such as recurrent depressive disorder.