Introduction to Depression

For many, at the beginning of the downfall, everything seems useless. Forget many, nearly almost all the patients. It's pretty much hard to even want to come out of this situation. Depression, as you will find out, is one of the hardest illnesses out there. And yes, it is an illness!

It is very hard to overcome and in most cases require the help of antidepressants and therapy. I don't know whether it is you, your friends, your family or just someone close to you, who needs to know about this, but I will do my best to inform them. 

This is a long-term illness, which means it won't be cured overnight. Even if you have not been diagnosed ever in your life, but feel like something terrible is dragging you to the ground and burying your body so it even feels heavy, this blog is for you. 

Now, let's start off by making some things clear. I've been diagnosed just lately with severe depression, but I've been to therapy for basically a decade. We already know that this diagnosis is long overdue, and the fact that I am on antidepressants now and not earlier is draining. Not just that, but I will tell all about it later on. 

Before I actually teach some of the lessons of overcoming depression (basically therapy, but not 400 dollars/euros per session), I need to define depression and display just some of the symptoms. Because there are still a bunch of people out there who believe that depression is just a made-up concept. But unfortunately, as much as we wish that were true, it is still not. 

Depression is not just a bunch of bad days in a row. It's a series of horrible days, and these may or may not come from outside factors. It is true that depression often comes hand in hand with other illnesses. Usually chronic illnesses. It is also very much connected to pain and stress. 

So here is a little biology lesson to everyone:

Humans, like all living things, are made of cells and more specifically, the cells in our brain are called neurons. Just like every other organ in the body, the brain needs chemicals regularly. Among neurons, there are neurotransmitters that transmit the required chemicals to the neurons. Keep in mind that these transmissions are essential for the brain to function. (That is as air is needed to keep the lungs working.)

There is no doubt in the fact that pain is uncomfortable, the amount just depends. It is completely acceptable for a person to feel pain easier or harder than for others because each person has a different genetic build for that. Pain itself could be caused by stress (such as headaches or stomachaches), but it definitely builds more stress as it progresses. Especially if it is chronic. 

Stress is human's both best friend and the absolute enemy. While stress in adequate amounts is necessary to enforce the reasonable side in us to get our work done, clean the house, eat or sleep; stress is also the reason why we end up in depression.

Stress distorts those neurotransmitters, actually just distorts the whole circuit. Often times exhausting the synapses (links between neurons) and make it impossible for vital chemicals to pass through. 

picture found: https://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-neurons-and-vs-neurotransmitters/

A lot of doctors, especially neurologists and psychiatrists, would probably love to correct me and make some precise corrections, but I just want to briefly explain the very complicated yet interesting process. 

Continuing, without the smooth functioning of the chain of chemical events, the brain and the nervous system will suffer from a negative impact. While the brain will most likely suffer from various chemical imbalances, most notably, the lack of serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine. 

And just to give an example of why these chemicals are vital: serotonin is responsible for controlling sleep, aggression, appetite, sexual behaviour, and mood, to name a few. 

Which means if someone is depressed, they often suffer from many things:

• either lack of sleep (insomnia) or they sleep too much; either way, they are tired

• trouble concentrating

• either overeating or loss of appetite

• irritability

• sadness

• hopelessness

• suicidal thoughts

• restlessness

• feeling guilty

It is absolutely crucial to realize that they don't all occur for everyone. And that depression varies. There are different levels of it, and sometimes it is possible to get over it without therapy or any SSRIs, but just a change of a habit, job or residence (it all sounds easy, but it depends). In other cases, therapy is required, especially in cases of patients prescribed with antidepressants. 

picture found: https://www.webmd.com/depression/ss/slideshow-depression-overview

There is no shame in any of those cases, and sometimes therapy is needed in places where you wouldn't expect it. In fact, most people have had periods in their life where they need or have needed therapy. A lot of people have also gone to therapy. It's understandable and completely acceptable. 

Unfortunately, there are about two things that are not acceptable about therapy and those are: 

1.  Therapists tend to be underpaid. It might sound easy to just listen to someone talk about their life and be thinking that it is all they do. A therapist's job is to listen to you and according to every detail of your personality to devise a plan to help you and guide you to a solution or something that could help the process. It is awfully simple-minded of some people to bash professionals, who are burdened with a load and have to start finding the needle from a haystack they might have not even found yet. 
2.  Therapy costs, and frankly, a lot. This depends on the country you are staying in, but in most places, even with a note from your physician and a health insurance plan, it will still rob you of quite a few bucks. 

While all that might be true, a huge thank you to all the therapists out there who genuinely help or do everything in their power to help patients out there. 

About antidepressants, there are numerous rumours going around this topic. The worst part is, that most of these are myths. Antidepressants are medications like any other. With the purpose of treating an illness. 

To prove my point, some people have a problem with their blood clotting so they have to take medication that supplies their organism with more of those same chemicals in our bodies that keep the blood from clotting. 

Aka for depression, antidepressants keep the neurotransmitters messengering serotonin to neurons. 

Antidepressants never work alone, and that's why therapy at this point is critical. (Keep in mind that antidepressants take a week or two to start working, and before that, there is not really a point for therapy, because there is nothing to work with.) Once there is some levels of serotonin in the brain, the primary instinct is to survive again, which means that there will be some will to live in the person again. Now, the key role is left for therapy, because the person has to keep trying to find activities to do that make them happy. For starters, opening up. Therapy is very carefully tailored to the individual, which means I can't exactly say what happens next. 

I will also talk about my experiences with different therapists and different types of therapy. 

But as for this entry, I am leaving it as it is right now. 

More info:
Biology: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stress_(biology);
https://www.gulfbend.org/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=12999&cn=5;
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2018.00127/full;
About depression: https://www.webmd.com/depression/guide/detecting-depression#1-2

Logging off.