SolveYourProblem eLearning Series: Mental Illness
Explain Mental Illnesses To Me

The Complications of Depression
   

Depression is a very real disease and one that still today can be very secretive and shameful. Normally the one experiencing depression does not realize they are in a depressive state although friends and family even co-workers may mention to them that they do not seem themselves. The one experiencing depression will shrug it off as having a bad day or even going through a slump. If treatment is not found there can be serious consequences to this disease.

Those who experience depression have an increased risk of suicide mainly because the person who is experiencing depression cannot see hope not even when others are trying to help them. When a depressed individual does not seek treatment they retreat within themselves and that place is a very dark environment and hope is nowhere to be found. There are many statistics that state a certain genre of men and women are more or less likely to commit suicide the bottom line is that depression is not selective in who becomes affected and anyone can fall prey to suicidal ideation if they are left to deal with it on their own terms.

Depression can also be found in individuals who abuse alcohol and/or drugs. One of the reasons for this is escapism. Those who find no hope in their lives are also trying to escape from their perceived darkness. Smoking also falls into this same category of abusing chemicals. Those who are depressed turn to many addictive behaviors to keep them from feeling anything and smoking, to the depressed individual, is a form of release from their stressful environment.

There are those who have studied the life span among men and women who are depressed and suggest that men who have this disease have a shorter life span than do women. This could be attributed to the fact that when someone is experiencing depression the desire for any social involvement or physical activity becomes severely diminished. Without physical and social stimulation the body will begin to deteriorate. Some physical symptoms that can be associated with depression are stroke and heart attacks, which can lead to death.

Another very important health issue is that of obesity and that is quite common in those experiencing depression. Logically, you could conclude if there is no desire to will to live that same individual begin losing the desire to accomplish anything in their life and that includes exercise and the depressed individual begins eating and if they increase the caloric intake and decrease their exercise obesity will pose health risks. The increase in weight in turn leads to feelings of low self-esteem and reinforces to that individual that there is no reason to live because now they are overweight and the cycle continues.

Depression and chronic pain often are seen together in many patients. The depressed individual is trying to hard to escape from their pain that the body actually becomes more sensitive to painful stimuli thus those suffering from this disease will often have arthritis or even fibromyalgia.

Children of depressed parents have a very difficult time. The age of the child determines how they will react to their parent’s condition. If the child is between the ages of a toddler and an adolescent that child may exhibit behaviors of excessive crying or becoming excessively clingy which to the depressed parent magnifies the feeling that their life is out of control. The older child may actually begin to resent the parent for the inability to take care of them and they will seek solace in behavior that they know is wrong because they are trying desperately to bring their parents back to reality. The child growing up in this environment is very likely to develop symptoms of depression and abusive tendencies as well.

Looking at the disease of depression and the effect it can have on a marriage is interesting. To have a successful marriage communication is very important. If one of the partners is depressed it is a safe to say they will not be communicating very well, if at all. The other partner will soon tire of the gloominess and will leave. On the other hand, if the depressed partner seeks help and begins healing and does not include their partner who has been taking care of them through the very long period of depression a divorce may still be looming because the dynamics in the marriage have shifted again and the partner who taking care of their depressed spouse now feels that they are not needed and may actually come to resent that their partner is now healthy.

To say the very least, depression and work do not go well together and it is obvious that if a person who is experiencing depression loses their job this will add to their already fragile state of mind and they will usually become physically ill and the cycle continues to decline.

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SolveYourProblem.com : 2006

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