MONDAY BLUES (28)

DEPRESSION AND ITS VARIOUS FORMS.

Good morning friends,

As I mentioned in my previous blog, I am going to share some information on Depression and it’s various types. It’s really pathetic to know that people have misconception about depression and look upon it as a kind of social stigma. They tend to ignore the existence of any mental disorder, anxiety, or stress, only to be considered as normal by the two-faced society. People who are suffering from depression, also deserve respect and love from the family, friends and society at large. Making fun of their ailment or ostracizing them is a serious violation of human rights. Anyone could be a victim of depression. So, it’s time for us to recognize these signs and take necessary steps to prevent the worsening of the condition.

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( Information : uniquemindcare.com and Wikipedia)

According to http://www.uniquemindcare.com, depression can be classified into seven major types:

1. Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)

This is also known as clinical depression and has the following symptoms:Feeling down. Absence of interest in ordinarily enjoyable activities.

Weight changes

Sleep changes

Fatigue

Feelings of remorse and worthlessness

Difficulty paying attention

Suicidal and death-related ideas.

Please contact iCall at 9152987821or Aasra at 9820466726 if you know someone or you are having the suicidal feeling. There are different contact numbers for every region in India. You can check out the website. http://www.aasra.info.

The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is a United States-based suicide prevention network of over 200+ crisis centers that provides 24/7 service via a toll-free hotline with the number 9-8-8. It is available to anyone in suicidal crisis or emotional distress. (Wikipedia)

2.Persistent Depressive Disorder

(PDD)Dysthymia, now referred to as persistent depressive disorder, is a form of chronic depression that has persisted for at least two years on more days than not. It can range from mild to severe.

There may be brief times when a person does not feel depressed, but this symptom relief only lasts two months or less. Although the symptoms are widespread and persistent, they are not as severe as those of major depressive illness. They are characterized by :

Moods of sadness
Lack of enthusiasm and interest
Irritability and anger
Guilt-related emotions
Low self-esteem
Inability to fall or keep asleep
Getting too much sleep
Desperation
Fatigue and insufficient energy
Alterations in appetite
Difficulty in concentrating.

Medications and psychotherapy are used to treat people suffering from Persistent Depressive Disorder (PDD). National Institute of Mental Health states that the United States had recorded 1.5% of the adults affected by PDD in the past year. 1.9% of women were affected by this disorder when compared to 1% in men and as per the researchers, 1.3% of all U.S. adults, are likely to be affected by it at some point of time.

3. Bipolar Disorder.

Manic episodes, often known as mania, are a hallmark of bipolar illness, a mental condition. These episodes can range from moderate (hypomania) to severe enough to significantly disrupt a person’s life, necessitate hospitalisation, or interfere with their perception of reality. Most people who have bipolar disorder also experience substantial depressive episodes.

People with depression frequently experience a variety of mental and physical symptoms, which may include, in addition to a gloomy mood and noticeably lessened interest in activities, they exhibit the following symptoms:

Lethargy, sleeplessness, and exhaustion.
Aches, pains, and psychomotor agitation that are not explained.
Lack of optimism and diminished self-worth
Irritation and worry.
Indecisiveness and disarray.

People with bipolar disorder are 15 times more likely to attempt suicide than people without the disease. In more severe situations, psychosis (which includes hallucinations and delusions) can also happen.

4. Postpartum Depression (PPD)

Postpartum depression (PPD), currently categorised as depression with peripartum onset, is more than just the “baby blues.”

After giving birth, mood swings, anxiety, irritability, and other symptoms are typical and may last for up to two weeks. The signs of PPD are more severe and persistent. They are :

Low mood, depressive emotions.
Extreme mood changes.
Social isolation.
Problems forming a bond with your child.
The appetite shifts.
Having no hope and feeling helpless.
Loss of interest in previously enjoyed activities.
Feeling unworthy or insufficient.
Panic and anxiety attacks.
Having thoughts of injuring your baby or yourself.
Ideas of suicide.

5. Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD).
Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) symptoms include irritation, exhaustion, anxiety, irritability, moodiness, bloating, increased hunger, food cravings, pains, and breast tenderness.

Similar symptoms are seen in premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), although the mood-related ones are more severe.

Some signs of PMDD include:

Extreme tiredness

Sad, despondent, or critical of oneself.

Significant worry or anxiety

Mood swings, frequently accompanied with tears.

Irritability.

Inability to pay attention.

Binging or desires for food

6. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD), also known as major depressive disorder with seasonal pattern, is a condition where people experience despair, drowsiness, and weight gain throughout the winter but feel completely normal in the spring.

SAD is thought to be brought on by a disruption in the body’s typical circadian cycle.

Any seasonal variation in the night/day pattern can cause a disruption, which can lead to depression. This rhythm is influenced by the light entering through the eyes.

Because SAD frequently goes unreported and untreated, prevalence figures for the disorder can be challenging to determine. In regions farthest from the equator, it is more prevalent. For instance, statistics indicate that SAD affects 1% of Florida’s population; in Alaska, that percentage rises to 9%.

SAD is more prevalent in the planet’s extreme north or south, and it is frequently treated with light treatment to make up for the seasonal loss of daylight.

7. Atypical Depression.

Do you exhibit symptoms of sadness (such as binge eating, excessive sleeping, or a high threshold for rejection) but find that you instantly perk up in the presence of a happy occasion?

You could have atypical depression, which differs from what was previously thought to be the “typical” presentation of the disorder. Atypical depression is also known as depressive disorder with atypical features. A distinct set of symptoms linked to:1 are what define atypical depression.

Overeating or gaining weight.
Oversleeping Weakness, fatigue, and a sense of being “weighed down”.
Extreme sensitivity to being rejected.
Heightened reactivity.

Contrary to what the term might suggest, atypical depression is more common. People with atypical depression may respond better to the antidepressant class known as a monoamine oxidase inhibitor than those with other types of depression (MAOI).

Remember, we shouldn’t ill treat someone suffering from depression. They need our help and support. Also, it’s time to stop ignoring alarming signals that could indicate the beginning of a depression. If anything is to be shunned, it’s our negative mindset towards the disease.

Thank you so much for taking your precious time to visit my website. Hope you enjoyed reading my blogs. 😊😊

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MONDAY BLUES (27)

WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY

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Today is World Mental Health Day. While we are busy focussing on our physical fitness, we conveniently ignore our mental health. We don’t want to admit that we are affected mentally by the adverse circumstances that we are experiencing. This is one of the reasons why we experience anxiety, stress, hypertension, and depression.

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/depression.

Symptoms of Depression:

Depression is identified by the following symptoms:

1. A wave of sadness, irritability, bad mood.

2. No interest in doing any kind of activity. The duration of depression varies between different individual. A relative of mine wouldn’t brush her teeth, take a bath, or have proper food.

3. Low self-esteem.

4. Excessive feeling of guilt.

5. Suicidal tendencies. As per the statistics revealed by The WHO ( World Health Organization) over 700 000 people die due to suicide every year.People who are depressed find difficulty in performing their daily routine like communicating with family, concentrating on studies, work, and even personal tasks.

I will share a detailed article on this sensitive issue, next Monday. Because I want to talk about my own experience. Yes, I admit that I had depression. Years of marital abuse made me feel worthless. I hated myself for being an incompetent nincompoop. The reason for this feeling was my parents-in-law and husband kept on taunting over my lack of cooking skills and household management.

Every day, my mother-in-law would point out that her son received better marriage proposals and missed out on a better daughter-in-law. It hurt me so much. I now sincerely wish he had rejected me. I would have been grateful to him for life. Just because I was a homemaker, I was considered useless, lazy, stupid. I tried working from home but mom-in-law dearest couldn’t see me working for more than 2 hours. She would disturb me on purpose to do household work.

Unable to bear the harsh words, every day humiliation from everyone in the family, I decided to end my life by consuming pills and I did. But I don’t know why I woke up my husband and told him I took pills. He called my Sister-in-law and she saved me.

Then, I remembered my mother telling about my father’s Schizophrenia. How she spent a day at the mental hospital with him, and noticed a Sri Lankan boy who was a drug addict lying in the adjacent bed! Oh my God! This incident changed my way of thinking. Mom had struggled a lot to raise me and my brother. My life is too precious to be wasted on useless people. From that moment onwards, the thought of suicide never crossed my mind, even though the domestic abuse continued until I fell sick.

Writing has helped me a lot in changing my outlook towards life. Especially, blogging, where I received constant love, support, encouragement and motivation from wonderful, inspiring, very talented, knowledgeable friends like all of you, boosted my confidence and inspired me to keep fighting against all odds. Your stories, articles, travel blogs have helped me so much to learn new things every day. Life is not over because I do feel like traveling around the world and meet you. I wish to thank all of you for your inspiring, interesting, informative and entertaining posts.

I feel much better now and I hope I won’t let the positive spirit within me to die because of negative comments or criticism.

I am deeply pained to see that there are worst cases affecting women who are forced to take this extreme step called suicide. Being a homemaker is even more difficult than working at a regular office. Housewives should not be insulted by anyone. They have sacrificed their dreams to fulfill their commitments towards their families. If you can’t appreciate her, at least don’t criticize her.

And the reasons for a man to end his life, are taking a huge amount of loan and failure to repay on time, a highly demanding or a nagging wife, failure to fulfill all the wishes of children, a feeling of inferiority complex, unable to meet the expectations of the parents and so on. Scolding the youngsters for scoring low marks, constant comparison with academically brilliant students, objecting to their choice of subjects, and love failure also lead to the suicide among teenagers and young adults.

Most of the problems could be solved, if we don’t discourage others simply because we couldn’t achieve our goals. The whole world is big enough for all to achieve something in their lives. Appreciation, motivation, cheering up people when they are feeling low, is the kind of mindset, we should adopt while dealing with depressed people.

According to an article published in https://www.healthline.com/health,
To overcome depression, we can :

  1. Go for a walk.
  2. Practise Meditation
  3. Go for counseling.
  4. Take up some extracurricular activity.
  5. Getting adequate sleep.
  6. Taking a proper diet.
  7. Take a trip with your family or friends.
  8. Volunteering at some NGOs.
  9. Setting attainable goals and rewarding yourself after achieving every goal.
  10. Try doing something unique.
  11. Interacting with nature helps a lot. Visiting a hill station or a wildlife Sanctuary has a soothing effect on our nerves.
  12. Reading lots of motivational books and videos also helps a lot. I also used to watch comedy shows which definitely helped me to overcome my bout of depression.

Most importantly, trying doing something you love as a passion or a hobby like painting, reading, writing, or music. I will continue to share my views on this topic next Monday.

Thank you so much for taking your precious time to visit my website. Hope you enjoyed reading my blogs. 😊😊

COVID, OMICRON AND ITS VARIANTS.

A POEM BY ME

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We need a respite from the unhealthy wave,
Of a deadly disease called Covid,
Oh God! Please save.
Humanity is losing a battle against a small virus.
It looks like the ringmaster, and we are a part of its circus.
Kids are now strangers to their classes in their schools.
Laptops and mobiles are their learning tools.
No more visiting the beaches or the shopping mall,
No more sipping hot tea from a tea stall.
Weddings are no longer as they used to be.
Gone is the atmosphere tension-free.
People are afraid to step out of their houses.
Fearing for the safety of their children and spouses.
The sanitizers and hand wash are now an integral part of our lives.
Isolation is the key to survival as against crowding like beehives.
How long do we have to endure this cursed COVID?
Its continued presence makes me livid.
It’s just like the waves of the sea,
Moves back and forth all the way.
Is it possible to become virus free?
It’s like a permanent guest that wants to stay.
I pray to God for bestowing upon us His Grace.
By eliminating this virus, make this world a better place.
Dear Covid, please stop playing hide and seek.
We wish you would depart forever within a month or a week.