When people hear the word ‘depression’, many think of sad, hopeless individuals unable to cope with a life event, living withdrawn, and crying their existence.
In fact, this is rarely the case. In a U.S. study published in 1996, for example, only a third of the patients suffering from depression could name a stressful or dramatic experience that took place before the disease kicked in. And it is by no means only negative events that can trigger depression. In some people, events such as the birth of a child or winning a business contract can bring on depression. The fact that not all people who experience dramatic events develop depression also suggests that other factors such as stress or genetics might be involved. Patients are often unable to identify anything in themselves or their environment as a probable cause of depression – which usually leads to long delays in search for the correct diagnosis for the malaise they feel in.
Physical symptoms are another, often misinterpreted facet of depressive disorders. Typical physical symptoms of depression include: headaches, insomnia, reduced memory and concentration, digestive problems and a general lack of energy.
The lack of perspective that is typical for depression quite often leads to self-harm. Most people who commit suicide previously suffered from an unrecognized or untreated depression. Other self-defeating forms of behavior, such as alcohol and drug abuse, self-destructive eating habits or risky driving are, as studies illustrate, linked to depression in about 60% of the cases.
In older men, depression often manifests itself in the form of aggression, particularly of the verbal kind, like ranting, looking down or lashing out on others or constant cynicism. Again, these persons are only rarely aware that they actually suffer from depression, but explain their inner discontent and anger with external circumstances over which they usually can’t complain too loudly and often enough.
About 20-25% of women and 7-12% of men suffer with depression at least once in their lifetime. The real figures are probably higher, however, due to frequent misdiagnoses and years of suffering without a proper diagnosis and adequate treatment.
Live the happy life you planned! Richard L. Fellner, a psychotherapist trained in Vienna, Austria, is head of the Pattaya Counseling Center in Thepprasit Soi 6 (Khopai) and offers consultations in English and German languages (after making appointments at 0854 370 470).
