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That's false pride at work. No
person is always strong or capable
under every adverse condition, cir–
cumstance or setback in life. Every–
one needs help with sorne problems
in li fe.
What Depression ls
The majority of depressed feelings
bcgin in response to a specific loss,
fear of loss or adverse occurrence in
life- something one can pinpoint.
There seems no way of retrieving or
achieving what is lost or what is
threatened with loss.
The depressive cycle leads to col–
lapse of self-worth, then to self–
deprecation, then to a feel ing that
the situation is hopeless. Hopeless
attit ud es produce changes in
responses of the mind and body,
which begin to immobilize the per–
son. Perhaps you bave felt that help–
lessness.
In depression, all systems- men–
tal and physical- slow down. Grow–
ing evidence from medica] and men–
tal health research indi cates
changes occur in the chemical bal–
ances of the brain and nervous sys–
tem. These changed chemical bal–
ances alter transmission of brain
and nerve impulses, which, in turn,
produce disturbing brain patterns
and painful or crippling emotional
and physical feelings. In depression,
the perceptions, thoughts and feel–
ings are distorted- a major reason
dcpressives should not make grcat
life-impacting decisions unt il they
seck he lp and recover sufficiently to
see more objectively thei r situat ion
and proper course of action.
Serious depressives often say: " 1
can't get out of this.... It's hope-
less .... 1' 11
never ge t bet-
ter.... Things will never change."
Others feel: "I'm powerless to do
anything; wbat's the use of try-
i ng? ... There are no op-
tions.... I'm drained, empty. I
can't sleep. 1 can't keep going on
like this, but I see no way out."
Depressives mentally stop fighting .
They are possessed with their own
sad feeli ngs. They often assume
others are equally obsessed with
similar feelings (they are not).
One type of depressive, the
manic-depressive, swings between
per iods of extreme optimism and
unfounded pessimism.
Depress ives stubbornly resist
40
reassurances of their worth. State–
ments to "snap out of it" or " pull
yourself together" usual ly have lit–
tic effect. These persons, of course,
do not need ridicule or further loss
of self-esteem; their morbid mind is
full of negative thoughts already.
Hidden Depression
For every serious depressive there
are severa! masked depressives–
persons functioning, howbeit at far
less than their abili ty, in jobs, bornes
or schools. They don't realize that
their emotional problems, difficul–
ties with a job or other people, or
many of their physical iUs, are
caused by a subtle depression ,
which they do not recognize. For
many of these persons, lack of posi–
tive emotions and atti tudes have
become a way of life for so long,
they don' t realize why happiness
and good feelings perpetually elude
them.
Masked depressives fi nd little
true joy in life. They are constantly
restless and irr itable. They may not
admit depression, but they will seek
help for a physical affliction caused
by it. They fill doctors' offices with
real or imagined complaints of lack
of energy, chronic headaches, stom–
ach problems, constipation, and
similar ills.
Many of these patients seek a
miracle pill or drug to free them of
their ills. The peace of mind and
better health they seek will only
occur when they develop a positive
and constructive state of thinking
and handling their problems!
Still others, because their depres–
sion is mixed with anxiety, engage
in frenzied pleasure-seeking, sexual
activi ty or even violence. Growing
numbers of depressives drown their
depression in alcohol or drugs to kili
the mental pain of weakness, empti–
ness and futi lity.
What a tragic toll! And the rea–
son is humanity has jumped the
track! Let's understand.
Vulne rable to Depression?
In normal grief at a loss, a certain
amount of sadness or crying is often
helpful and necessary to work
through to normal feelings. Grief at
the loss of a loved one or something
highly valued is not wrong.
It
becomes unhealthy and damaging
when it causes total loss of personal
self-worth, or the desire to live.
Grief is damaging when
it
is unre–
solved and limits one in doing ordi–
nary human functions for weeks or
months on end .
The line between natural remorse
and pathologic depression may be a
subjective j udgment. To make an
illustration, a man who loses a job
and is unable to mobilize himself to
find work for weeks after being
fired or losing his job is seriously
de pressed and needs help a nd
encouragement.
While the cause of a depression is
often related to a loss one can pin–
point (sometimes called a
react ive
depression),
the cause at t imes can
be much more vague-a mood we
don't unders tand. Depressed feel –
ings can come over a person for no
seemingly rational reasons. But
there are reasons nevertheless–
mental , physical or spiritual rea–
sons.
Endogenous depressions
are re–
lated to less d istinct causes that
develop within a person- perhaps
from subconscious or denied fears,
needs or desires, which unsettling or
unfavorable events now threaten.
This kind of depression may develop
either slowly or suddenly.
There is evidence indicating that
a genetic factor makes sorne persons
more vulnerable to frequent depres–
sions. Certain personalities seem
more sensi tive to blue moods than
others.
Vulnerabil ity to frequent depres–
sions often depends, however, on
the kind of encouragement, values,
self-esteem, !ove or support (or lack
of them) that we received in early
years of life. Vulnerability may be
rel ated to how we learned to
respond to losses or problems in
life.
A depressive mood can float over
the mind for no apparent reason. l t
could be the result of a final s traw–
reaching a breaking point in a series
of unfortunate setbacks in life. Or it
could happen for reasons that many
totally overlook or are unaware of.
How many are aware that even the
unconscious violat ion of God's spiri–
tual laws- tbe laws of love to God
and other human beings, as revealed
in the Ten Commandments- sets
one up to experience problems or
negative altitudes of mind?
And doing things we know are
The PLAIN TRUTH