I don’t understand – with commercials on television about every 10 minutes and billboards posted all the place and pamphlets available at every doctor’s office, etc – why people still don’t understand that depression is a mental illness. It’s been scientifically proven that depression can be caused by a chemical imbalance, yet so many people still have a hard time believing that a person doesn’t have control over their emotions… that a person can't choose whether they are happy or not.
Well, today I ran across a post on a friend’s “facebook” page, and after I read everything that she (and everyone else) wrote about depression, I couldn’t help but make a comment. Anyway, she wrote: 300 million prescriptions are written for antidepressants in the US each year. In the land of opportunity and wealth and prosperity, why are so many people depressed!!!!!....just watched the true story "Prozac Nation" and it just irritates me how EASY it is to get drugs from a doctor!!!!
Some of the responses to her post were as follows:
*People focus on the negative instead of the positive and wonder why they're depressed. This IS the land of opportunity, if you work hard and try to look on the bright side of things you can get through the rough parts. And I have been through of few rough parts myself but know things will always get better.
*I agree totally. I get so sick of hearing how stressed people are. Everyone's lives are busy that is what makes life fun. Consider yourself lucky that you have things to do. That is what makes life fun and exciting!!
*I don't go around moping how horrible things in my life are and do not believe the hype that they try to sell us that a pill will make you happier. As you both said, focus on the positive and get out and live. We all will be put to the test at some point or another in our lives but there are lessons to be learned. I, myself want to feel and not be numbed by medications. That does not help you heal but does make someone a lot of money!!!
*Even though I've had feelings of being depressed, I'll never have and I never will take any medications!
Well, after reading all of the above comments, I felt compelled to make my own comment:
Sorry to disagree with you folks, but I do live life to the fullest and I must take medication for depression. I ended up in a hospital on suicide watch when I didn't take my medication. Clinical depression is not a choice that people make and it cannot be turned off by focusing on the positive... it is a chemical imbalance in the brain. I would be the first one to say that mediation is not always the first answer to everything but I also think it is irresponsible to say that people like myself can just snap out of it and choose to get on with life. We can't.
Now, I do agree that some people do like to dwell in the misery of life… and some patients are over-medicated. But it worries me when generalized statements - like the ones that my facebook bud and her friends posted - show up somewhere that a huge population can see, because that could cause someone to not seek their doctor's advice about medication. Just another taboo, I guess. It’s bad enough that people are sometimes made to feel ashamed for suffering from a mental illness – they're also made to feel ashamed for seeking relief from that same illness.
I know it can be embarrassing to discuss the fact that you are on medication for a mental disease or that you need therapy. But, my outlook is this: The taboo will only go away if we talk about it. It only takes one person to talk about. WE can change the way people look at this subject… one person at a time; one day at a time. Education is a powerful tool!
No comments:
Post a Comment