I am an asthmatic. I have been into
the ICU and back in 2008. I have seen death in the face as the world was going
black in front of me at that point of time. I always tend to think that asthma
is perhaps the worst disease to get just because it chokes you. Any physical
ailment has its complications and has an impact, but I place asthma right on
top not just because I suffer from it, but also because I consider it to be an
insufferable ailment. When you can’t breathe, you are dead. When you breathe in
fits and starts, you are half dead.
Hence it was a surprise to me that
there could be something as worse or even worse than asthma. Yes, that is when
something affects the head. Depression. A ten letter word, often misunderstood
and brushed aside, but which is becoming a silent killer today. Recent studies
and reports are placing India as one of the places where depression is on the
rise. The worst issue is that we are doing nothing to treat it as a problem and
deal with it.
(image
source: www.healthncare.info)
What is depression? It is a phase
when you feel like having hit a low. Hit a wall. A-point-of-no-return. You are
unable to move forward. It is like a plane hitting an air pocket. You can’t
navigate. Events and circumstances make you feel that life has become worthless
because of your inability to achieve something or obtain self actualisation
through some task. Depression can occur due to multiple reasons - the
workplace, home, people or life as such.
How do you tackle depression? While
there is no one way to do it, here are few suggestions.
A friend tells me, "the first
thing about depression is the ability of the person to accept that something is
indeed wrong." People suffering from depression make the cardinal mistake of not
accepting that. The main reason is that they are unable to come to terms with
the fact that they have been reduced to, perhaps, someone less human than what
they were. At a lesser level than they were before. It takes guts to accept
that. Are you responsible for depression? In a way, yes. Depression generally
occurs due to accumulation of events or happenings that have been detrimental
or not to your liking for long, but which you have chosen to ignore at that
point of time.
The next step is – how to deal with
depression. I am of the view that anti depressants (like Prozac, for example)
are of no use because they just do one thing – they put you to sleep. When you
wake up, you are back to square one. The other is, taking drugs. Well, less
said, the better. The following are easy and practical ways out, which could
most certainly guarantee results:
- Believe that you can
overcome the problem.
- Speak to a friend or
a parent or a relative – a person whom you can confide with and can trust.
- Indulge in something
interesting, new.
- Travel. It is a
stress buster. Explore unknown places.
- Do something
unconventional.
- If you are a believer
in God, then, pray. Trust.
- And, wait. Just wait.
Time, I always believe, is the best healer. Like they say, better things
are waiting as rewards. The only way to overcome the problem is wait for
it to disappear.
Further, take life in bits and pieces.
Don't think too much of tomorrow. Think about the present.
Every single thing cannot happen the
way you want.
My favourite saying is – “Life is what happens when you are busy
planning things.” John Lennon of the Beatles said this after his
experiences with Maharshi Yogi. This quote is also originally attributed to Allen
Saunders, American writer, journalist and cartoonist. And like my friend says, “It is theory to expect integrity, pragmatic
to know things always don’t happen that way!”
Live to fight......another day!
6 comments:
Excellent Post Athimber...Very practical and you have hit at the bull's eye...You have brought down all of your experiences and thoughts into a very constructive words which I believe you have carved every word in this article...
Enjoyed reading your article thoroughly...Please keep blogging for all of us here...
...Sudarsan Madhavan...
Thank u. Will surely do! Keep reading!
The level of depression is on the increase now a days especially among the young generation. The younger generation are more confined to mobiles and other electronic gadgets and fail to observe what is going around them. Those days, we learnt so many lessons through observation which is lacking now. Some are so egoistic that they deny to interact with each other. Socializing has also turned out to be a different concept now a days unlike sharing of opinions in search of healthy solutions. So at time of crisis they feel insecure and easily trapped into a state of depression. As Pradeep rightly said Travel is a stress buster, but how many of them keep off their mobiles and headphones during travel. When we travel we come across so many events and get to see different types of people and by keeping our eyes and ears open we get to learn things for a practical living which will make us mentally stronger. Sometime We may feel that our problem is no bigger than those facing outside. When we are equipped and confident to overcome from a difficult situation, then we can also stay away from getting into a state of Depression. Children should be equipped from their childhood to face any difficult situations so that they would grow with lot of confidence.
Yes, perhaps smartphones are indeed adding to the stress.
Adding to the depression is not being attentive to what others communicate with you....when someone is depressed, they want to seek attention from others...but somehow ignore the attention given by the near and dear ones...since they are more so stuck to TV, Smartphones, Newspaper or just that they are not interested to listen to anyone at that point of time. Later, when they want others to communicate with them, when may be others may not have time or content to share, the depression sets in...
Primarily, depression requires help from friends or relatives, no doubts about that. But it is also the ability of the person to cope with the stress that matters. This differs from person to person. Yes, interactions are a must.
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