Depression Learning

Mental Depression

In the ordinary course of life, people experience varying factors which can evoke feelings of sadness, grief, or distress. Not one person is immune from life’s setbacks or misfortunes. Sooner or later, every human being will struggle with overwhelming emotions. However, these normalfeelings can transform into something more toxic. Some warning signs include increasing thoughts about death, feelings of hopelessness, helplessness, irritability, and self-loathing. Other symptoms may include extreme fatigue, loss of interest in daily routine, inability to sleep, and abnormal weight loss or gain. All these and more are indications of some deeper problem and mental depression just may be the culprit.

Even though these symptoms indicate depression, they do not explain the beginning of depression. A history of childhood abuse or neglect, alcohol or drug abuse, some medications such as high blood pressure medicine, specific medical conditions such as cancer or hepatitis, a radical change in life such as a death or divorce, and a serious lack of social skills have all been cited as possible origins of mental depression. Depression also seems to occur in families, which may be due either to heredity or learned behavior, or both.

Much like an epidemic, mental depression has stricken almost 154 million of the world’s population. Depression has become one of the leading causes of disability in almost every developed and undeveloped country. It can affect any one, regardless of age, gender, or location. If properly diagnosed in a timely manner, mental depression can be effectively treated.

However, according to WHO (World Health Organization) and its 2008 World Health Report, less than an estimated 25% of the world’s afflicted population will receive the proper care. Major obstacles to successful treatment are: little or no income; insufficient medical assistance or supplies; and lack of sympathy regarding mental illness. Since local culture may assign guilt to the mentally distressed person, he or she may not seek treatment even iftreatment is available.

Therefore, an estimated two-thirds of those who are suffering mentally will not seek medical care. Of course, international mental health education could foster a more sympathetic attitude towards the depressed in any society. More than likely, though, many depressed people will not seek assistance simply because they are without opportunity or means to receive the appropriate help. Until satisfactory economic conditions and medical needs can be supplied, essential aid for the majority will not be obtained. Without medical and social intervention the more severely depressed may attempt self-harm or suicide. Unfortunately, in those aged 15 to 44 years, suicide has become one of the main causes of death globally.

In some countries, depression suicide has increased a shocking 60 percent in the last 45 years. For every suicide accomplished, another 20 are attempted. By the year 2020, self-inflicted injuries are expected to jump to 2.4 percent. The greatest risk of suicide occurs in one-third of the world’s youth. Teenage depression leading to suicide has claimed an estimated 100,000 young lives annually. These are numbers that cannot be ignored and portend a bleak future for many in today’s world.

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