2024-01-13 22:54:48
There are people whose hardest moments of depression can’t get out of bed; For them, bathing is a challenge.
Courtesy CNN in Spanish | Seeking professional help is important for those affected
Depression can leave you out of the normal flow of your daily life at any time. And if you think that it is only about deep sadness that is improved by having a “positive attitude”, you should know that many people can be affected in their daily lives due to this disease.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a person who is depressed experiences a mood filled with “sadness, irritability, a feeling of emptiness,” a loss of enjoyment of life or disinterest in activities, “the greatest part of the day, almost every day, for at least two weeks.”
It is estimated that approximately 280 million people suffer from depression worldwide, representing 3.8% of the population estimate, according to the WHO.
For half of those affected, one episode is all they will experience. But after three or more, these episodes are 90% more likely to become recurring.
“When we’re talking about depression, we’re talking about a persistent sadness that doesn’t let you function in your day-to-day life,” Dr. Karen Martínez, a member of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America Public Health Committee, told CNN ( Adaa for its acronym in English), an organization dedicated to the prevention, treatment and cure of various disorders such as anxiety and depression.
Depression, says Martínez, is a response to an event of loss that a person experiences: It can be the loss of a person, a disappointment, or something that can make them “question about the meaning of life, if there is hope, if one must continue.”
More than “lack of will”: This is how depression affects your daily life
There are people whose hardest moments of depression can’t get out of bed; For them, bathing is a challenge. Eating becomes a challenge because the appetite goes away and hope for the future does not exist.
So why fight? they ask.
“When one does not want to get out of bed, when one is ‘sewn to the bed’, one would like to (get up) and the body does not allow it, neither the arms nor the legs. And inside you know that he should get up, but he can’t. I believe that in those moments is when the disease began to take power over you as a person,” Jonny Castro, a 28-year-old economist who lives in Bogotá, who was diagnosed with depression about four years ago, told CNN.
“I thought and deep inside I felt that this was my way of being: introverted, suddenly a little emotionally unstable. But I never imagined that I had something called depression and I never managed to realize that it was a really serious illness,” Castro told CNN.
About four years ago, Castro had a very strong crisis that forced him to lock himself up for a week. During that time, he did not sleep, did not eat and lived “very distressed all the time.”
Then he decided to go to a mental health clinic where he was admitted for some time. There he began to receive counseling about his condition, he was medicated, and then he entered therapy to stabilize his mood.
A similar situation happens to María Alejandra, a 32-year-old woman from Bogotá who asks us not to disclose her full name. She says that she has dealt with depression that was diagnosed at age 15, along with an eating disorder of bulimia and anorexia.
He says that when he has episodes of depression—which return from time to time—he feels that he begins to dislike his surroundings and loses the desire to continue fighting against the current.
“At the time that I am in depression I feel that life was not what I wanted. I begin to feel a deep sadness that I cannot describe; an emptiness in the heart, in the body in which I say no more… it’s not worth it, I’m tired of going against the current.”
And getting up to do daily things is not a matter of simple “will,” she says.
And Castro, who says that although it is a matter of will to get out of bed in those difficult moments, he recognizes that there are times when it is impossible to do so.
Why is this happening?
According to Dr. Martínez, from Adaa, when a person is in clinical depression they cannot find motivation to get out of the state of deep sadness because their brain “is basically turned off.”
“In depression, what is affected are these brain circuits that have to do with motivation,” explains Martínez.
“So this event occurs where everything that normally helps us get out of bed, leave the house, focus on work, those circuits, so to speak, turn off and then you can’t find a way to turn them back on.” .
On the other hand, the thoughts of a person with depression are so fused with the content of their mind that that person ends up believing “firmly that their beliefs are actually a fact and ends up questioning why” they should continue moving forward, according to the psychotherapist. Jose Verdejo from the Desansiedad team, a group specialized in the treatment of anxiety.
Beyond “positive attitude”
A common mistake that many make is to tell a person who suffers from depression to put a “positive attitude in life”, to realize that they have everything and “there is no reason to be sad” or many words that more than support a person in this situation, they can put more burdens on them and not be helpful at all.
“It is a discouragement that cannot be alleviated by saying ‘put a positive attitude,’” says María Alejandra.
And since thoughts are something over which people have “little control,” according to Verdejo, “this type of advice is not useful.”
“The person with depression probably already tried to do it and was frustrated when he didn’t succeed, so he gets frustrated again when his environment insists on it. The support that a person with depression needs is from a secure bond, from an attempt at understanding instead of criticism,” says the expert.
Martínez, for his part, says that as a psychiatrist he very often sees cases of depression and anxiety, so it is important to talk about mental health to remove stigmas about these topics.
“The most I see is people who are having difficulties adapting to what is happening, to day-to-day situations,” said Martínez, who recommends seeking help in case you identify some of the symptoms we talk about here.
How to approach a person with depression?
Dr. Martínez says that the best way to approach a person with depression is to “focus on the behaviors” of that person and not on the person themselves, to avoid a critical or judgmental tone.
“It is better to say: ‘I notice that lately you, who loved music, are not listening to music… or ‘I notice that I am calling you and you are not answering my call.’ So focusing on behavior for human beings is a little easier than accepting that there is a change in behavior, that there is a change in our emotions.”
For his part, Verdejo says that to help a person with depression it is necessary to show them unconditional support.
“To help a person with depression it is necessary to show affection and concern that makes them question the veracity and usefulness of their mental norms,” he says. “But above all, I suggest that you adhere to a psychological process that allows you to generate the psychological flexibility necessary to overcome your depression and build a life with purpose and meaning instead of remaining trapped in that past that damaged you.”
Currently, both Castro and María Alejandra are undergoing psychiatric treatment and take medication to control depression. At the time of this interview, both said they felt well and stated that they had not had a depressive episode in a while.
They both agree that the best thing people with depression can do is seek professional help and also a support network that can support them in the most difficult times they go through.
And furthermore, talking about mental health is important to remove the taboo from this situation that is very common, although silent, throughout the world.
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