Depression

One of the most commonly found problem in today’s time is depression.

Depression is a natural human emotion, where a person feels upset over a prolonged period of time accompanied by self pity and a feeling of helplessness. This affects a person’s day to day life, his/her relationships, social life and his/her mental health most importantly.

A person when depressed feels very lonely and develops a low self esteem. As a result his thought process becomes very negative (suicidal thoughts,) and it overpowers all the positive things he/she has to look forward to in life.

The chances of a person abusing alcohol and drugs go up significantly under this state of mind as a person isolates himself socially and also from his/her close ones.

Depression can also be due to an emotional problem, serious trauma or effect of a drug.

More alarmingly, the suicide rate due to depression in India is the highest in the world. There has been a huge rise in depression cases between the age group of 15-19 years due to parental pressure, academic competitiveness, drug addiction and complex emotional problems.

It is strongly recommended that a person under depression should open up and share his feeling and thoughts to his friends/ family or should go visit a counsellor or psychiatrist for better advice and to look at things or problems from a different point of view.

• Psychological:
  • Disruption in daily routine
  • Low levels of motivation
  • Highly worried and anxious
  • Thoughts of suicide and harming oneself
  • Loss of interest in activities previously enjoyed
  • Guilt
  • Worthlessness
  • Hopelessness
• Physical:
  • Sudden change in appetite (usually decreases)
  • Slower physical movements
  • Constipation
  • Loss of energy
  • Disturbed sleep cycle
  • Excessive smoking or drinking
• Social:
  • Decreased output at work
  • Avoiding meeting friends
  • Neglecting hobbies and social activities
  • Socially isolating oneself

A 17 year old D K, was rushed to the hospital after he attempted suicide by overdosing on sleeping pills at his residence where he stays with his parents. Soon after his recovery his parents brought him to the clinic, where they stated that D K has been upset since a year, when his girlfriend left him and soon after that he failed to get through any of the engineering exams, he was preparing for them for more than 2 years. A quick look at D K and one can notice his poor body language, dropped down shoulders, inattention towards grooming, failure to sit straight and reluctance in making an eye contact. His voice is low as he starts speaking out for the first time, “I don’t want to get up from the bed, it feels like I’m sinking deep inside and I have been pushed into this state by the whole world, nobody loves me, there is nothing left to live for”. His medical history is negative, but one can see cuts on his arms made by a razor blade, one closer look and one can find Avantika engraved on his left arm. He refuses to talk about it and about his x-girlfriend altogether. It is clear that he is taking out all his anger and resentment towards her on himself and his parents, with whom he has, build a huge communication gap. His eating habits are irregular, his sleeping schedule is that he sleeps in the morning and stays awake all night, moreover he has socially isolated himself, and he doesn’t even receive calls from his friends.
D K is diagnosed with severe clinical depression.