In the light of the latest events and horrifying news of the early demise of young
Bollywood star the late Sushant Singh Rajput, a string of discussions and awareness is circling around the topic of depression. The word,often misused,has got a lot more to it than just consolation and medication. From teenage to adults and then to senior citizens it has been a major cause of dissatisfaction and anxiety no matter the riches and belongings. 90 percent are not even solved and are just forgotten and treated as day to day issues. It's time we take a step forward and put out a hand to those who really need it for their mental, social and physical well being.
Depression is a common and serious medical illness that negatively affects how you feel, the way you think and how you act. It presents a statistic of more than 264 million people affected worldwide.
Now we all may have many reasons to get depressed, be sad and feel to be left alone sometimes. Not everyday is a good and clean for everyone. Whether it’s because of problems at home, at work or in our relationships, we all experience this type of situations in our lives. For people who are suffering from depression, the emotional periods rarely go away so easily and sometimes cause severe mental disorder.
Substance abuse is a common habit among people who are battling a depressive disorder.
DO YOU KNOW THE REASON BEHIND THIS?
Well, alcohol and drugs is a central nervous system depressant, the use of this items tends to trigger depression symptoms like lethargy, sadness and hopelessness. Some common depressants are Barbiturates, Benzodiazepines, alcohol etc. These are often misjudged by the user as means of staying in a reluctant and stress-free state of mind.
Barbiturates are drugs that cause relaxation or euphoria. Although barbiturates might make you feel drowsy or sleepy, they reduce your REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep. Since REM sleep is so vital to health and wellness, prolonged use of barbiturates can be problematic.
Benzodiazepines are sedatives, and they can relax the muscles. As a result, they treat seizures, anxiety, panic disorders, and insomnia. Overdosage may lead to several complications.
The most widely used depressant in the world is alcohol. Alcohol is highly addictive, and continuous drinking or excessive use increases the chance of becoming dependent. And it affects the body grossly mainly targeting one of the most vital glands of the body, the liver.
In this fast-developing world depression Is common among teenagers. Teens are under constant pressure to perform academically, to become independent personalities as expected by their parents and guardians, pressure to compete among classmates, relationship expectations and issues, while some put pressure on themselves just to gain approval in the eyes of others. This constant pressure to fit in and to keep up to the expectations can be overwhelming for many teens, ultimately leading to depression and other mental health issues.
FAMILY PROBLEMS
Parents are also a reason for anxiety and depression among children. Nowadays parents in India starts planning their kid's future educations and in a constant hurry to prepare them for the hardcore competition in higher education. We find parents urging their children to prepare for 18 plus entrance exams at the tender classes if 6th and 7th levels. Really do you think its necessary to put so much stress in their young minds at that age? They are not even aware of their own strong points and desires at that time. How can they feel in sync with that much thoughts on their immature minds? Think about it … are you doing the right thing?
Parents should treat their children properly like listening to them, helping them to pursue whatever they like to take up as a career. They should be allowed to do so instead of putting pressure on them or forcing them to follow their parent’s dreams. Pursuing different career options as the parents' choice makes it difficult for the child to cope up and hence frustration creeps in. The child later goes through a lot of depression when they are unable to fulfill their parent's dreams or unable to find their own mental satisfaction.
Has anyone ever thought of the very obvious fact about how chaos, confusion and dilemma in the family in the family effects a child’s tender mind? constant tensions, quarrels culminating into enormous fights disturbs a child psychologically to such an extent that he/she unknowingly drowns into depression. He becomes socially distant, his minds tend to be engulfed by negative thoughts, frustration, emptiness, dejection which at extreme points also include suicidal thoughts. Self- doubts slowly creeps in which destroys his self-esteem and the darkness of ignorance and loneliness prisons his intellect.
It's high time the “society” realise that depression is not just a 10-letter word “aree char na eituku toh byapar bhule jaa” is not something that will relieve the pain of the sufferer. And we should hear to them with proper time and not just speak.
Let’s see How Peer Pressure Leads to Depression
Everyone feels pressure to fit in with their peers and people they admire, but for teenagers, this pressure to conform and get approval is especially high. In high school everyone faces different groups of students who often define themselves through certain behaviours and assign social statuses to other people. Due to this, teens often are pressurised to change things about themselves, or to pretend that they are somewhat different than who they really are or they want to be.
But this is also the time when these teens are already struggling to identify themselves as an independent individual with a character of their own choices, to do well in studies, gradually starting to adapt. As a result, all these pressures often make them feel confused, make them feel uncomfortable. All these piles up the level of anxiety, feeling of low self esteem and depression.
Children often feel very strong emotions, mood swings, and many changes in habit. Depression is something more than sadness. It affects our mental health. Taking care of our mental health is equally important as our physical well- being.
Let’s enumerate some of the common sufferings of depression among children
Sadness, irritability mood swings
Sudden anger without reason
Loss of interest in favourite activities
Self- isolation, not talking to anyone
Feeling of guilt or self-hatred
Sleepless nights (or more sleep hours to escape reality)
Academic performance going down suddenly
Change in eating habit
Causing self -harm or suicide.
Pessimistic approach towards each and every activity
Peer pressure can be managed easily but should not be taken casually. We need to give them more time to process things, deal with their changing emotions and trying to help them figure out their best options from their point of interest, support them, sometimes with the aid of counsellors and therapists. They can help them to manage their emotions in a healthy way and to deal with their everyday stress as they are the expertise in human psychology.
Relationships and Breakup causes Depression and Suicidal nature
It is often mentioned in articles that a person commits suicide out of depression. However, this exact link which is frequently established is not as simple as it sounds. To explain the suicidal nature of a person we need to first see the main reason behind the depression of the person. Most commonly it happens due to breakup from a relationship. To dive even deep into the psychology of ending one’s life we need to start with the chemistry of love and attachment. When a person falls in love the neurotransmitter Dopamine is secreted by the posterior pituitary in high doses. Attachment comes from the activity of oxytocin and vasopressin. These hormones and neurotransmitters are responsible for inducing the feelings of love and attachment towards another human being. Just like other addictive substances which causes our body to go into an elevated state which is far from normal, love and attachment takes a person’s mind to an elevated state which is a feel-good state for our mind. Similar to drugs and other addictive substances, the body starts to show withdrawal symptoms as this elevated state is disturbed due to a breakup. The withdrawal symptoms associated with a breakup are more psychological than physical. This causes the person to go into a state of deep remorse, pain, sadness and depression.
That being said, is committing suicide the only solution? The answer should be NO. Taking away one’s life may end their troubles but inflicts similar pain and depression in the hearts of their near and dear ones. In this world of video game addicts who can change the results of a match by pressing restart, the idea of accepting failure is hard to come by. People have gained so much control over their lives through technology that they cannot accept the inevitable.
Breakups, hardships, challenges are a part of life which each and every one should be familiar with. No one actually learns anything in life without failing. Success teaches one what to do but failure imparts a deeper and greater lesson. It teaches a person what to do and what not to. It is fine to fear failure but not to succumb to it. There are always people ready to hear others out. Everyone should be more focused on making real friends who will hear them out rather than making virtual friends who will like their posts only.
Whenever someone attempts or commits suicide all of a sudden people become a “one-day mental health experts” on social media. It really makes me ask, these people what do you prove by putting such posts? what do you get by suddenly asking people to be kind when you people yourselves don’t even care before the limit is crossed. Well I must say, I haven’t seen something filthier and viler than internet and the people on it. Some are really caring and they don’t need a social media to prove their point. They prove it in action.
Everyone must do their job to help those people who need mental support. Be kind to everyone.
Is suicide really the right way of getting rid of Depression?
Suicide is usually the result of despair and the belief that nothing can change. It’s the final stage of hopelessness. Due to few circumstances people feel nothing is good or going well in life. A common thought process is involved in an attempted or a committed suicide when a person feels he is of no use for anyone and every thing seems to fall apart. He just treats himself as a burden and thinks the world would have been a better place without his existence. Suicide is like a permanent solution to temporary problems, it’s a way of running away from problems instead of fighting them. Its better to talk about your problems with your friends your parents or whoever it is that the person finds will listen. Everyone needs to understand nothing is permanent if you find a solution to get over it or u find something more valuable and use it to the fullest, that is life. The problem, no matter how big it is, will be solved given the adequate amount of though and time. Often, we don’t let others know what we are thinking or what issues are causing a distress in our head as we do not want to be distracted from our planned routine and neither we do not feel the need to involve even our loved ones in a complex decision. How many other life-changing decisions would one take if one could not discuss it with a couple of friends and maybe an expert? Life is not a bed if roses. Obstacles will persist and haunt. But as there is a saying “when there is a will, there is a way. “
PLEASE LET SOMEONE TO KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON INSIDE YOU. SUICIDE IS NEVER A SOLUTION TO ANY PROBLEM OF OUR LIFE.
I believe that when a person thinks of suicide, their mind balance is disturbed or changed, rational logical thoughts and reason are unavailable to them. We all humans had always been fighting to strive to stay alive, keeping our heads up in all types of situation we had faced.
Suicides can be prevented. People can be helped. Suicidal crises can be relatively short-lived. Immediate practical help such as staying with the person, encouraging them to talk and helping them build plans for the future, can avert the intention to attempt or die by suicide. Such immediate help is valuable at a time of crisis, but appropriate counselling will then be required.
So that’s all for today. Depression is going to haunt millions of people and claim the lives of thousands until and unless society shows empathy and not just sideline these issues as irrelevant cases. Today we have lost an actor and that's in the news. But tomorrow there will be a normal person who will fall for the same issues and give up and after that he or she will be forgotten by the rest and missed and longed for their loved ones and soul mates. But that would be too late. Buck up guys! It’s time we talked less and listen more!!!
THANK YOU
Sushant Sir, you WILL remain in our hearts forever. We LOVE you and we WILL MISS you..........
------ Pen Down Thoughts TEAM
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