MENTAL DINING

This is Depressing

I am feeling depressed. Now I don’t me in the “I had a bad day today” manner or the “Damn, I didn’t win the lottery” way. I mean I have been diagnosed with “Clinical Depression”. Take medication for it, I see a therapist (They are called “counselors’-damn, why couldn’t mine look like Deanna Troi).
Why am I telling you all this? Because I want you to understand where I come from on this decision. I do not choose to Blog about it because it’s the issue of the day or a hot topic, a news-grabber, etc… I am talking about it because it affects my life and millions of others each and every day. First a little background on depression so we can all be on the same page about whether or not this is a serious medical condition.
On the first page on www.Depression.com their banner reads as follows:
“Depression is not just something you can “snap out of”.
It’s thought to be caused by an imbalance of brain chemicals,
Along with other factors. Like any other serious medical condition.

Depression needs to be treated.”
From www.Healthnewsdigest.com a current article has the following headline:
“Depression effect on immune system may worsen cancer”.
And how many commercials do we see on televison for anti-depressants, all warning us that depression hurts everyone and needs to be controlled. There are a dozen or more popular medications on the shelves of your local pharmacy right now to help stabilize, control and even cure depression.
Of course reading the fine print on these meds you will see warnings like: “May cause suicidal thoughts to worsen” and “Some episodes of Depression cannot be prevented”.
Finally let’s look at what at the symptoms of Depression and what prognosis’s there are for it. On the NIMH website (sorry Mrs. Frisby), that stands for National Institute of Mental Health, They list the following symptoms’:
Symptoms
• Agitation, restlessness, and irritability
• Dramatic change in appetite, often with weight gain or loss
• Extreme difficulty concentrating
• Fatigue and lack of energy
• Feelings of hopelessness and helplessness
• Feelings of worthlessness, self-hate, and inappropriate guilt
• Inactivity and withdrawal from usual activities, a loss of interest or pleasure in activities that were once enjoyed (such as sex)
• Thoughts of death or suicide
• Trouble sleeping or excessive sleeping
Depression can appear as anger and discouragement, rather than as feelings of hopelessness and helplessness. If depression is very severe, there may also be psychotic symptoms, such as hallucinations and delusions. These symptoms may focus on themes of guilt, inadequacy, or disease

So we have here a disease that may cause suicide, Psychotic symptoms like hallucinations and delusions as well as all the others mentioned above. So, what are the prognosis’s we can look to in order to aid in our cure? Well, again from the NIMH site we get these most popular and effective cures:

Prognosis
The outcome is usually good with treatment. Although most depressive episodes can be effectively treated with either medication, psychotherapy, or both, Depression is a recurring problem for many people. For people who have experienced repeated episodes of depression, maintenance treatment may be needed to prevent future recurrences
Medications and psychiatric counseling may prevent depression from returning. Some episodes of depression are not preventable
Treatments
• Medication
• Psychotherapy
• Electroconvulsive Therapy
So basically, in a layman’s simplification, we can help overcome many of the symptoms but in many severe cases, continuous treatment is required. I know that personally I have taken some form of anti-depressant for about 15 years, so how long is “continuous”? 10 years? 15? 20? Forever?
OK, so this is all fascinating information Chris (That is me), but why are you giving us all this background? (Just call me Mr. Preamble). Actually, I’m telling you this because in the past year Depression has cost me at least 1 great job and is preventing me from constantly seeking new employment. It has cost me time with my children and wife, it has interfered with some of my favorite pastimes and it is still wreaking hell and havoc on my sleep schedule. Yet, with all of this, Depression is not considered a disability and by that I mean that the state, Insurance or even the Federal Government will not help out with even a short term disability loan. That work does not consider Depression a valid reason for missing a day’s work or having difficulties doing your job.
So, to recap, if I want (or need) to stay home, take medication, see a therapist and work at getting healthy and happy again (let’s remember that for me, so far that’s 15 years) then no one will help pay my rent, feed my family, help me out me out financially in any way. Could you go 15 years without steady employment Insurance or the guarantee of a roof over your head? I didn’t think so.
Today we have a range of Disabilities that are officially recognized from Obesity to Alcoholism. As an example, when my wife was fired from her job after 20 years with the company (because she has begun suffering from Depression as well-She couldn’t get out of bed to go to work) The company told her that if her difficulties were caused by Drugs or Alcoholism, they would keep her on and get her all the treatment she needed. When she told them that no, I am suffering from Depression, they let her go without another word.
I suppose this means if you’re Depressed, drink and do drugs and they (the omnipresent “They”) will help you till you are well. Is that really the message we want to send to society, that Drugs and Alcoholism are better treated and worth more of our attention than a mental disease affecting millions that may lead to Psychotic episode? In the last 10 years or so, we have faced Shooting and Suicide at Columbine; we have had several shooting rampages through colleges, Business offices, Churches. Do we think these people were all in their right minds? Is it possible that even one or two of them could have been prevented if they had been able to get government medical support, long term, for Depression? That’s not to say every suicide attack or shooting is because someone’s depressed but I would be willing to bet my Kidneys that some of these people suffered from some sort of Depression.
This year, President Obama is trying to push through a massive healthcare reform bill ( generally speaking I am for it, providing healthcare for everyone, regardless of income, etc…) however will any of these 500+ pages of the Bill speak to very real problem that we face, that of Depression? I am all for reform, helping everyone, making our country more and more like we envision it can and should be but while we are at it, let’s not forget the people we will still fail to help and that who, regardless of the reform that does or does not come about, will still live with their problem and get no help. Man, that’s depressing!

posted by Chris Cook-Sussan @ 6:36 PM