In the spring, many of us are visited by depression. This ailment is becoming more common. And naturally, it is surrounded by many myths.
Myth 1. Depression is not a disease and does not need treatment. You just need to pull yourself together.
Actually. This is a real disease. With depression, the biochemical balance in the brain is disturbed. Its abnormal activity can even be seen on a tomographic image. Such a person cannot “just pull himself together”.
Somehow conducted an experiment. Participants were shown pictures that evoked strong negative emotions: traffic accidents, wildlife attacks. So healthy people then quickly freed themselves from difficult experiences, imagining that this was just a staged shot from a movie or that in a terrible situation everything ended happily. And in suffering depressions, mental efforts did not affect the intensity of their feelings. And the more they reassured themselves, the more upset they were. Scientists have found that they break the connection between the centers of the brain. And the control center cannot send a calming signal to the center of emotions.
If you do not treat depression, maybe it will pass by itself – in six months. However, during these six months you can lose your job, family, friends. Yes, and your life at this time can not be called beautiful
But depression can end badly. There is a danger that it will turn into a more serious disease – manic-depressive psychosis. Or in general it will end tragically: it is known that from 45 to 60% of suicides are committed in this state.
Myth 2. Depression is a serious illness with which a person is placed in a psychiatric hospital, healed, turned into a “vegetable” and registered.
Actually. Specialists among themselves call depression “mental rhinitis”. In the sense that it is well cured, especially if the disease is mild or moderate. A hospital is placed only when there is a danger of suicide.
And in most cases, depression is treated on an outpatient basis. The medicine that made people turn into a “vegetable” is yesterday. Today’s drugs have a clear mechanism of action, they are aimed at specific receptors, and they are prescribed exactly according to the symptoms. There are those that calm a person, but there are those that, on the contrary, stimulate and make him more active. Antidepressants themselves are quite safe. The main thing is to choose the right drug and dose. This usually takes 2-3 weeks. And then a person goes to work, performs all his functions.
No one is being registered now for no good reason. There are no losses in rights such as a ban on driving a car or traveling abroad, either.
Myth 3. Antidepressants can be “hooked”, and then they will have to take a lifetime.
Actually. It has already been proven that antidepressants do not cause physical dependence. Assign them to a specific time. These are not stimulants, not drugs, from which you can fall into euphoria or a state of complete detachment. And if you do not have depression, the pill will not solve your problem.
In addition, some psychotherapeutic techniques have proven themselves well in the fight against this disease. You can get rid of depression without taking medication. Only it will be long and expensive.
Myth 4. Depression cannot occur out of the blue. There must be a reason: loss, serious trouble.
Actually. Depression is different. Reactive – caused by certain external causes: loss of work, death of a loved one. And endogenous – those that arise due to internal, unconscious motives.
A depressed mood, if there is a reason for this, is a normal phenomenon. This is a defensive reaction. The body needs time to adapt to new conditions, so it works at reduced speeds. Usually, a person needs 2-3 weeks to adapt. But if after that he continues to be discouraged, then his psychological capabilities have been exhausted. And taking antidepressants in this case is necessary, because these drugs affect the recovery of nerve cells.
But it can happen this way: a person woke up in the morning and for no external reason felt that his life was not sweet. And if this condition lasts for more than two weeks, then most likely it is depression. Why does it arise so, scientists do not yet have a consensus.
In general, there are very few “solar natures,” who see only good in everything, in the world – only 5-7%. And to most of us at least once in our lives comes the blues.
Myth 5. Talking about your problems only aggravates the condition.
Actually. Conversations to conversations – discord. In a conversation with a friend, a person who is depressed may fall into a vicious circle: “The problem deprives me of strength. But there is no strength – I can’t solve the problem. ” Then there is a “loop”.
If you talk about the problem to the therapist, then he knows certain methods of working with a negative model of thinking. And in a conversation with him, a man himself finds a way out of the situation in which he has fallen.
Myth 6. You can overcome depression yourself: spend a lot of time in the fresh air, go on a trip, dive headlong into work.
Actually. All this can help only with mild depression, at an early stage. Indeed, regular physical activity and even in the fresh air improve the condition. Indeed, they used to go on trips from the “spleen”. But in a state of depression in a person, even such thoughts do not arise: switch yourself to something. He doesn’t want anything. And if you take him out on some trip, then everything will not be in his joy: the sea is cold, the pebbles are prickly, the staff is rude. Every little thing will annoy a person. And he will spoil the mood not only for himself, but also for others.
Myth 7. Depression is simply a fashionable diagnosis, with the help of which they justify their laziness, boredom, and lack of will. Previously, all this was not considered a disease.
Actually. And now they do not consider if this condition lasts less than 2 weeks. As for the past, then depression also existed. It was simply expressed differently: in seclusion, in silence, in unmotivated leaving home. And suicides did happen. In men, depression is often masked by alcoholism.
At the same time, there are indeed more cases of this disease. Previously, when life was much calmer, for many, even those prone to depression, it did not appear. Now there are too many provoking factors: the frantic pace of urban life, overpopulation, traffic jams, negative from the media.
In addition, people began to pay more attention to their mood. After all, depression affects the ability to work. If a person does not work at full strength, where will he be tomorrow? We can’t sour for 2-3 months, waiting for cheerfulness and good mood to return to us. Therefore, it is important for a person to quickly return the quality of life that suits him.