It is all in your head. Only women get depressed. If you have depression, you are stuck with it for life. Do any of these statements sound familiar? For all the misconceptions about clinical depression, it seems that there’s a depression myth for every truth.
1. Myth: Depression is not a real medical illness.
Fact: Clinical depression is a serious medical condition that affects not only an individual’s mood and thoughts, but also the individual’s body. It is no different than diabetes or heart disease in its ability to impact someone’s life. The medical community has acknowledged the seriousness of depression and recognizes it as a disease. Research has shown that depression has genetic and biological causes. Individuals coping with depression have a higher level of stress hormones present in their bodies, and the brain scans of depression patients show decreased activity in some areas of the brain.
2. Myth: There is nothing that can be done about depression.
Fact: Depression is treatable, and more than 80 percent of individuals with depressive disorders improve with treatment. Both young people and adults who are depressed need professional treatment. The first step to finding effective treatment is to get a physical examination by a doctor to rule out other causes for your symptoms, such as thyroid problems.
Once you’ve been diagnosed with depression, you and your doctor will decide on a course of treatment, which will include medication, psychotherapy or a combination of both. A trained therapist or counselor can help people learn more positive ways to think about themselves, change behavior, cope with problems, or handle relationships. A physician can prescribe medications to help relieve the symptoms of depression. For many people, a combination of psychological therapy and medication is beneficial.
3. Myth: Depression doesn’t affect me.
Fact: According to a 2004 survey by the American College Health Association, nearly half of all college students report feeling so depressed at some point in time that they have trouble functioning, and 15 percent meet the criteria for clinical depression. This means that someone in your life that you care about (or maybe yourself) could face depression at some point in college or in adulthood.
4. Myth: Talking about depression only makes it worse.
Fact: While it is easy to understand why someone might be worried about discussing their depression, being alone with your thoughts is even more harmful when facing this disorder. Talking about your feelings to someone, like a psychologist, who can help is a step toward beating depression. A lot of people with mental health problems are stigmatized in our society, so the best thing a friend can do to help is be a good, supportive, and non-judgmental listener.
Talking through feelings with a close friend may help you to recognize the need for professional help. If you are hesitant to discuss difficulties you might be facing with a close family member or friend, think about other people in your life, like spiritual leaders or faculty members who would be willing to discuss your struggles. If at any point, you feel so overwhelmed by feelings of sadness and hopelessness that you are considering hurting yourself, call 1-800-273-TALK for help.
5. Myth: Depression is just the “blues” - only happening when something bad happens in your life
Fact: Depression is more than just having occasional sad thoughts. Equating depression with the blues is like saying that a common cold is the same as pneumonia. While everyone experiences ups and downs in life, and often will feel sad for some time after a serious loss or disappointment, developing depression does not require a specific negative event.
Depression, unlike the blues, can last a lifetime, and the illness is much more pervasive and disabling. Prolonged periods of hopelessness, sadness, and lack of interest in things someone usually enjoys are symptoms of depression. Depression can arise suddenly, even when things in life seem to be going well. No one commits suicide because they have the blues.
Fact: No one chooses to be depressed, just like no one chooses to have any other health condition. Depression affects about 19 million people annually in the U.S. alone. Some of the most prominent and well-known individuals who have suffered from a depressive disorder include Alexander the Great, Napoleon Bonaparte, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, George Patton, abolitionist John Brown, Robert E. Lee, Florence Nightingale, Sir Isaac Newton, Stephen Hawking, Charles Darwin, J.P. Morgan, Barbara Bush, Ludwig von Beethoven and Michelangelo. These people are not the type to just sit around feeling sorry for themselves.
While for some people, depression may go away without treatment, this is not usually the case. Depression can go away on its own, only to return in the future: once an individual has one episode of depression, they are predisposed to have more. Clinical depression is a potentially fatal disease – and suicide could be the end result of waiting for it to go away without any help. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for 18 to 24 years old, reinforcing the importance of seeking treatment. Given how much stigma is still attached to mental illness, seeking help for depression is an act of courage and strength – not weakness. The good news is that most people do get better with treatment.
7. Myth: Antidepressants will change your personality.
Fact: The thought of taking medicine that changes your brain chemistry can be scary. However, antidepressants are designed to change only certain chemicals that underlie the symptoms of depression, not to change your personality. Most people who take antidepressants are actually happy to feel like themselves again, rather than feeling like a different person. It is best to speak with your doctor about the effects that antidepressants can have.
Fact: Depression can affect people at any age or of any race, ethnic, or economic group. Depression is not a normal part of aging, but seniors do generally experience more of the events that can trigger depression. People over the age of 60 grew up in an era in which mental illness was not discussed, and they may feel more shame about asking for help than someone from a subsequent generation.
The highest rate of suicide of any age group occurs in that of people 65 and older, with men being more vulnerable than women. Men have a higher rate of successful suicide attempts than women. Although women report being affected by depression twice as much as men, depression certainly affects men as well. Often, clinical depression is under reported in men, particularly in cultures that discourage them from asking for help or showing any weakness.
9. Myth: Children and adolescents do not suffer from depression — their problems are just a part of growing up
Fact: Depression in children has long been an overlooked health problem. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, studies show that 1 in 33 children and 1 in 8 adolescents are depressed in any given year. Depression in children is a significant issue since it occurs during critical phases in child development and can interfere with the normal developmental processes of childhood.
Children are not as practiced at articulating their feelings as adults, so adults must take the initiative to look for and notice symptoms of depression in children. The most common symptoms of depression reported in children and adolescents were sadness, inability to feel pleasure, irritability, fatigue, insomnia, lack of self-esteem, and social withdrawal.
10. Myth: If someone in your family suffers from depression, you will inherit it.
Fact: In the same way that you can be genetically predisposed to high blood pressure or diabetes, you can be genetically predisposed to depression. This does not mean, however, that if a family member has a history of depression, you are fated to suffer from it as well. Just be aware that your chances of having depression are higher than if you had no family history of the illness, and seek treatment if you start to develop symptoms.
Information on the myths and facts of depression were gathered from healthcentral.com, psychologyinfo.com, nmha.org, medicinenet.com, and keepkidshealthy.com
I really like this post because so many people are naive when it comes to depression. Many people don't believe its a real medical condition, and that people can just "snap out of it" if they tried to be happier. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Heidi. So many people believe what you hear on the 'streets' about depression. It is important to get real information out there so people will be encouraged to get the treatment that they need.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post. I think when people hear about depression, they automatically start judging the person like it's their fault. It's nice to know that it really is a real medical condition.
ReplyDeletegreat, because often times even as educated ppl who study health we have ideas or perceptions of things that are cultural or not true, and it is important that we know the truth, and take this into consideration in our profession when we are talking and working with ppl, that wer understand that we all have beliefs, some may be based on false information
ReplyDeleteI love that you put the myths up here! So many people still believe that depression is a choice.
ReplyDelete