Written by: Anuska Yadav - 26003, Grade IX
Posted on: 22 June, 2022
Depression isn’t just being sad. It’s the constant feeling of sadness, feeling like you don’t have interest in anything anymore or losing interest in everything you used to love and made you happy. Feeling like finding a purpose in your life but also tired of everything. Some days are worse than the others and some better, but the sadness doesn’t stop. It finds its way back to any memory. As one of my teachers said, our generation understands health in two ways, mental health and physical health. Whereas the older generations rarely spoke about it. There can be lots of reasons for depression, it’s not the same for every person.
Someone might be depressed because they don't feel worthy of something or due to the death of a loved one. There are so many possibilities that cannot be included. It can be something no one has heard before or very common. I know this has become a common topic for everyone now. A common topic to talk about. But honestly, it’s not enough. The elders still haven’t understood about it, they don’t care about mental health. Only your physical health. My goal for this article is that everyone reaches it and starts understanding how important taking care of your mental health is. If you feel like you do have depression make sure to get diagnosed by a doctor, same with any mental illnesses such as social anxiety. Depression is not a joke, here are some sentences you should NOT say/do to a sad or depressed person:
“You’re young, you don’t have depression.”
“It’s all in your head.”
“You’re just doing this for attention.”
“Why are you depressed? You’ve got a comfortable life”
While some people do it for attention, the majority are seriously ill and need help. Make sure you think 5 times before sending advice because if they are opening up to you, there are so many things you could say wrong so be careful. Please be empathetic. If they do open up to you and let you know about their problems, tell NO ONE because you might be the only person they’re comfortable enough to open up to. Going to the history side of things, Hippocrates, a Greek physician, is considered the first ever physicist to describe melancholy or depression clinically. He has been known since Antiquity, Hippocrates described it as; "If fear and sadness last a long time, such a state is melancholy," he wrote in his book Aphorisms. Dysfunctional or unhelpful behavior such as depression is learned. Because depression is learned, behavioral psychologists suggest that it can also be unlearned. In the mid-1970s, Peter Lewinsohn argued that depression is caused by a combination of stressors in a person's environment and a lack of personal skills.” It is said. Depression is also known to run in families. It is very little in the early stages. The chromosome 3p25-26 is known as the depression gene, as suggested in the name. Nearly 50% of people that are diagnosed with depression are also diagnosed with anxiety. One more fact about depression is that, CHILDREN ALSO GET DEPRESSED. No one understands this specific topic. “You have nothing to worry about, how can you be depressed? You’re just a kid.” noone wants to hear that, they just need help. Do not say that to any child no matter what or it might cost you a life.
