If you've seen television programs like Jerry Springer, you know how popular the word depressed is. It is the buzz word of the nineties. It has been overused and misused by people who talk about their dog psychiatrist's prognosis and their four year old girl's reaction to a scraped knee. The word becomes trivial when it is used so flippantly, but the disease is quite serious. Some people are so sad that they consider terminating their own lives.
The US ranked suicide as the eighth leading cause of death. It is cause for alarm, but sometimes it seems silly to mention your sadness to even a close friend when this might change their opinion of you. Uninformed and closed-minded people think that depression is a disease of the:
• Weak • Narrow-minded • Trendy • Cowardly • Lonely • Bereaved
This is because they are unfamiliar with the disease. Or, they could be downright bigots. Whatever the case, I want you to know that if you have felt an extended and debilitating sadness, you are not alone. Clinical depression is the term used to label extremely sad people. One in four people has been clinically depressed at some stage of their life. There are a number of reasons that may explain why you feel the way you do.
Of the broader explanations, one is a genetic inclination. If your father's side of the family has been depressed for repeated, extended periods of time, you could have a pre-disposition to the disease. It's not your fault, it's simply bad luck.
You might have experienced something that you would do anything to fix if only you could go back in time. These harsh experiences can change the way you think so that a progression to clinical depression occurs by a gradual decrease in the levels of natural drugs that circulate in your brain, known as neurotransmitters. The popular drugs like Prozac, Paxil and Effexor work to regain that balance so that you can feel like yourself again. If you feel that you have tried everything to regain your spirits and nothing has worked, you should contact your local Crisis Centre. You can find the number for your area here http://www.suicidology.org/crisis_center...>.
When you call, tell them that you need to know what resources are available to you for
