Depression – Stop the Stigma

Depression – Stop the Stigma

by Michael Christopher Escano

        Sadness is an emotion, but depression is much more than that.

Did you feel ambiguity from something because of your disappointing test scores, losing your job, friend’s betrayal, heart-wrenching breakup, or it just went from out of nothing? Remember, it is not a depression it is a choice to be sad on how you perceive these things, however, depression is different –

It can be a lot harder to understand the difference between having depression and just feeling depressed (sad) which are two different things. Sadness is a tangible feeling you will feel it but then you will feel better right after the day and you wake up in the morning, but depression is not. It will pull you forever on your bed; adding weight inside you to keep you on the bed all day long. Restlessness – feeling of worthlessness and constant irritability are part of the mental illness which 1 out 5 people in the world might have this stigma.

Depression is the leading cause of disability in this world. Working great constantly everyday will not tell you that you do not have this illness, however, it will pop up out of the blue because depression have symptoms which are intangible. Depression, nowadays, is a misconception of others; it may feel sad but then it will lead to recurrent thoughts of suicide. Can suicide really be a choice, if it is the only choice available? How can it be the only choice? How can it be a rational choice? Whether we have a mental illness or not, how expanded or how contracted our perception becomes – impacts the choices that we make.

People who have and are getting this illness might have supposed causes. It might be genetics, personal life events, traumatic childhood, drugs and medication and/or bullying.

According to Helen M. Farrell, depression has the abnormal transmission or depletion of certain neuro transmitters, especially serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine, blunted circadian rhythms, or specific changes in the REM (rapid eye movement) and slow-wave parts of your sleep cycle and hormone abnormalities, such as high cortisol and deregulation of thyroid hormones. But neuroscientists still do not have a complete picture of what causes depression. It may be hereditarily acquired or through the medicine you are dealing with. Or the intentional usage of illegal drugs might have this mental illness like schizophrenia.

People who have depression is not the sign of weakness or personality trait that they should not expect themselves to just get over with it like a broken arm and say, “just get over with your broken arms”, but these people we might think maybe they have personal problems. Like divorce or any other type of stressful occurrence can increase chances of depression.

Furthermore, traumatic childhood has chances of depression thru emotional, sexual or psychological abuse, neglect, or a predisposition to developing depression late on in life. However, it is near to bullying wherein a student has always a hard time to fit in the school due to his surroundings. It may lead to anti-socializing, lack of confidence, and the bullied student may be afraid when someone look at him. These causes may affect the day-to-day life of the student; it affects and stops him from being who he is. It holds him back when he wants to push forward.