topic Re: Depression in Community Spirit

Depression

jessicadazzler97 — Mon, 27 Jul 2015 08:48:41 GMT

Depression is the leading cause of disability globally.

It is a statistic that 45% of Australians will experience a bout of depression in their lifetime. Postnatal depression effects 14% of new mothers. Suicide is most commonly caused by severe depression to the point where someone's pain outweighs their coping rescources.

If you have experienced depression, have been diagnosed as depressed recently, or you are close to someone suffering from the mental illness, don't be afraid to say hi!

One in seven of people reading this will be suffering from depression right now.

So be nice You never know what someone is going through.

Re: Depression

jessicadazzler97 — Mon, 27 Jul 2015 11:28:01 GMT

Thanks for the kudos guys 🙂

Re: Depression

ecar3483 — Mon, 27 Jul 2015 11:28:28 GMT

Thank you for posting this.

Depression, mental illness as a whole, can be a difficult thing to talk about.

Society puts on the Politically Correct mask of compassion and understanding, but it's a mask.

Talking about it, admitting to it, leaves you open to being treated as though you're somehow less than human.

And that is truly depressing.

Re: Depression

jessicadazzler97 — Mon, 27 Jul 2015 11:45:36 GMT

Definitely, even though people are being educated on the subject more than ever before, mental health & mental illness are still taboo subjects.

Thanks for being so encouraging & "real" about it 🙂

Re: Depression

kopenhagen5 — Mon, 27 Jul 2015 11:56:39 GMT

I will add to the post and say depression can often be a frame of mind one is in.

So the answer can often be just around the corner and finding ones happy thoughts tend to help.

Re: Depression

ecar3483 — Mon, 27 Jul 2015 13:36:45 GMT

"Turn that frown upside down"

Re: Depression

ecar3483 — Mon, 27 Jul 2015 14:02:20 GMT

Yes, I make light of the disease that has blighted my entire adult life.

I laugh at it because if I didn't, it would win.

Re: Depression

deon584 — Mon, 27 Jul 2015 15:28:01 GMT

I thought depression was a disability. Struck me as odd that you say it would lead to what it is. Just kinda thinking out loud. Besides, I don't put too much stock into statistics. Just don't have a great deal of faith in them. Much of what really goes on in reality doesn't get reported, many make things out to be what they are not, and agendas can influince even the most controlled statistics.

Amoung other things, I've been diagnosed with it, I might argue that anyone having went through in life what I have, would likely have a far more severe case of it.

I find tricks and tips that seem to help. Looking for the little things in life that combat depression and trying to focus on that. Music, art, a project, could be anything. Taking some comfort in the worst of times when life seems at it's most hopeless that it has to end sometime, that no one lives forever, All I need to do is wait for it to come on it's own, it will, for us all. And have hope for something better in the next life, or after life, whatever your belief or the case may be.

For the moment, these past few weeks, things are good in my life, like many of the things I started to think would never come are falling into place. Not perfect, not easy, but far better than they were. Depression seems miles away, but I have a long way to go in dealing with the bitterness and hard feelings. That, I fear might not be possible.

Re: Depression

jessicadazzler97 — Mon, 27 Jul 2015 21:14:48 GMT

@ecar3483 wrote:
Yes, I make light of the disease that has blighted my entire adult life.
I laugh at it because if I didn't, it would win.

Thats great, unfortunately most people with depression never seem to get to that point of "I'm depressed. So what? It can't make me do anything I don't want to!" Well done for being able to see depression in a different light 🙂

Re: Depression

jessicadazzler97 — Mon, 27 Jul 2015 21:22:52 GMT

@deon584 wrote:
I thought depression was a disability. Struck me as odd that you say it would lead to what it is. Just kinda thinking out loud. Besides, I don't put too much stock into statistics. Just don't have a great deal of faith in them. Much of what really goes on in reality doesn't get reported, many make things out to be what they are not, and agendas can influince even the most controlled statistics.

Amoung other things, I've been diagnosed with it, I might argue that anyone having went through in life what I have, would likely have a far more severe case of it.

I find tricks and tips that seem to help. Looking for the little things in life that combat depression and trying to focus on that. Music, art, a project, could be anything. Taking some comfort in the worst of times when life seems at it's most hopeless that it has to end sometime, that no one lives forever, All I need to do is wait for it to come on it's own, it will, for us all. And have hope for something better in the next life, or after life, whatever your belief or the case may be.

For the moment, these past few weeks, things are good in my life, like many of the things I started to think would never come are falling into place. Not perfect, not easy, but far better than they were. Depression seems miles away, but I have a long way to go in dealing with the bitterness and hard feelings. That, I fear might not be possible.

Deon, I agree about the statistics and you're completely right, depression is a disability. A lot of people don't believe it counts as a disability because it's "all in the mind", or "depressed people can snap out of it", or "you'd be fine if you just cheered up". Of course we know thats not the way with mental illness; and yes, people going through the same circumstances will be effected differently because everyone is different.

While I don't necessarily agree that waiting for a bout of depression to pass is one of the best ways to deal with it, everyone has their own methods of coping and what works for one person might not work for another.

I really hope the phase you're in right now will continue to get better 🙂 Letting go of previous hurt, disappointment, anger etc is hard, and it's definitely a journey, not something that can or will happen overnight, so don't be discouraged 🙂

Re: Depression

electric*mayhem*band — Mon, 27 Jul 2015 21:57:40 GMT

Brilliant. The UK government strikes again.

'£80m has been cut from the NHS mental health budget for children and adolescents in the past four years, including £35m in the last year alone'.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jul/27/uk-child-mental-health-services-destroying-lives-families

Edit. Sorry, forgot the link.

Re: Depression

jessicadazzler97 — Mon, 27 Jul 2015 23:32:07 GMT

Mmm, the NHS has been scaling down for years. I was in the UK earlier this year and some people think the NHS won't even be around in ten or twenty years.

Re: Depression

the_hawk* — Tue, 28 Jul 2015 00:27:45 GMT

@electric*mayhem*band wrote:
Brilliant. The UK government strikes again.

'£80m has been cut from the NHS mental health budget for children and adolescents in the past four years, including £35m in the last year alone'.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jul/27/uk-child-mental-health-services-destroying-lives-families

Edit. Sorry, forgot the link.

The reason no one cares is due to the fact that in nearly every case a depressed person only harms themselves.

if on the other hand they took a pollie or two with them then things would change very quickly and there would be an endless pile of resourses thrown at the problem.

Re: Depression

jessicadazzler97 — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 01:14:46 GMT

Haha very true!

This really explains why very little notice is taken of depressed people until they start self harming, threatening to kill themselves, etc. So often it is simply a cry for help.

Re: Depression

rose_tvaddict — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 09:56:08 GMT

@jessicadazzler wrote:

So be nice You never know what someone is going through.

That's true. My brother is suffering from depression right now.

Re: Depression

jessicadazzler97 — Thu, 30 Jul 2015 11:36:33 GMT

I'm so sorry to hear that 😞 Its really difficult seeing people close to us go through depression. I really hope he starts to feel better soon.