What is depression and how does it occur?
Depression is a state of mind, it is either a chemical imbalance or it’s caused by jumping to illogical conclusions and dwelling on them. This is known as the “snowball effect”, the individual just keeps digging himself into an emotional hole which could potentially lead to suicide and often does.
Why does depression happen?
Many people are uneducated and are, therefore, deprived of critical thinking skills and we all live in an extremely problematic world. People often neglect to learn about things before engaging in activities which can cause serious problems, problems which can make their lives a lot more difficult (“ruin” their lives).
People also fail to get their facts together, not only with their own personal decisions in life, but, with responsibilities handed to them by other parties. Problems they are intellectually unequipped to handle and have no choice but to deal with these responsibilities.
We are often thrown into situations which we either don’t know how to properly deal with or simply lack the necessary resources to arrive at potential solutions. Be it either money or time, or even peers.
Do anti-depressants work?
I have been on about three different ones, myself: Prozac, Paxil, and Cipralex. There are three problems with anti-depressants: They are expensive, they take time to kick in and they cause your sex drive to decrease dramatically (aside from the common side effects, of course). They also don’t really belong in your system.
Some would say that each individual needs to find the one that’s best suited for them and there are countless different ones out there. I’ve never stayed on them long enough to know because they often cause heartburn and I couldn’t deal with the almost non-existent sex drive, even if only temporary.
What usually triggers depression?
The list is long: broken relationships/divorce, either the current job or loss of it, deaths of friends/family/pets, excess of responsibilities, strict authorities, legal issues, etc.
The common symptoms are loss of appetite and interest in activities. These become serious physical issues too, if the problems aren’t tackled, because of severe weight loss and again, possible suicide.
It’s important to have somebody to talk to if you can’t afford psychiatry. Doctors will usually just throw prescriptions around when it’s a simple matter of identifying the problem and solving it.
Is there an alternative?
Personally, I think it’s better to just analyze the situation, exert some good effort into solving the problem you’re dealing with. If it’s a job that’s depressing you, talk to somebody or look online for information and try to change your life. As soon as you start addressing a problem, you should begin to feel relief.
If you’re upset over being dumped or being cheated on, maybe the problem is something else. Maybe you simply don’t know how to properly deal with the situation. If you were cheated on, it’s because your significant other is mentally ill and it’s best to just move on, he/she will just do the same to whomever it was the affair was with.
If money is the issue, make some sacrifices in order to save up. You can also get a loan. If time is a problem, either make some cancelations, send your kids to visit a relative, pay somebody to do chores, whatever you need to do.
