Depression in America and finding out about it the hard way…

posted by Bill Arnett @ 3:00 PM Permalink

…Until the age of forty-two I had no real idea of the nature of depression and the debilitating effect it has on Americans of all stripes. Up until then I had no time for depression and I believed depression only affected those who had suffered a tragic loss of someone near and dear to them, those suffering a severe illness themselves, the post partum depression of new mothers, the empty nest syndrome of older mothers, and, as callus as it now sounds, even to me, those people who lead an unfulfilling life, just didn't have the ability to shake it off, and those who used depression as an excuse for a whole raft of regular lifetime events that they could not or did not wish to handle.

Since today, and the last few days preceding it, has been a particularly hard stretch of depression for me I thought I'd take some time to do a little light research. The statistics are stunning:

Depression Statistics

Depressive disorders affect approximately 18.8 million American adults or about 9.5% of the U.S. population age 18 and older in a given year. This includes major depressive disorder, dysthymic disorder, and bipolar disorder.…
Everyone, will at some time in their life be affected by depression -- their own or someone else's, according to Australian Government statistics. (Depression statistics in Australia are comparable to those of the US and UK.) …
Pre-schoolers are the fastest-growing market for antidepressants. At least four percent of preschoolers -- over a million -- are clinically depressed. …
The rate of increase of depression among children is an astounding 23% p.a. …
15% of the population of most developed countries suffers severe depression. …
30% of women are depressed. Men's figures were previously thought to be half that of women, but new estimates are higher. …
54% of people believe depression is a personal weakness. …
41% of depressed women are too embarrassed to seek help. …
80% of depressed people are not currently having any treatment. …
92% of depressed African-American males do not seek treatment. …
15% of depressed people will commit suicide. …
Depression will be the second largest killer after heart disease by 2020 -- and studies show depression is a contributory factor to fatal coronary disease. …

[Herein I used … (three dots) to replace footnotes not given. Bill]

I was clearly one of the 54% of people who believed depression is a personal weakness, with the exceptions I noted above.

Then I was hit with the two Agent Orange cancers that damn near killed me and for the first time I understood depression on a more personal level, but I still wrestled with the belief that I could handle this as I had handled everything in my life since I left home at age 16 - I neither asked for nor received anything I didn't work for, ever, and I thought the occasional times when I felt down were just the normal worries of anyone faced with working, school, trying to have a social life, etc.

After all, what reasons did I have to be depressed? I did manage the juggling act above, I was in absolutely superb physical condition, running miles and miles through the desert and mountains flanking Las Vegas, swimming several miles through Lake Mead or Lake Mojave, learning Karate (eventually earning blackbelts in two different forms of the art), and this continued until I graduated H.S. and enlisted in the Air Force where my drive and penchant towards public service resulted in training in Law Enforcement where I was as happy as a hog in slop.

When I got out I lucked into a job as a bounty hunter for fifteen years, jailing hundred and hundreds of felons and misdemeanants, something I also considered a public service that happened to be extremely lucrative, highly physically and mentally demanding. No time to get depressed.

Then the cancers hit me like a ton of bricks and I started to understand how such brutal medical treatments could cause depression, but I was still in denial. It was only in 2002 that the truth about depression became evident, as I was falling asleep at night with tears in my eyes from having to suffer through another day of awful chronic pain and awakening each morning with tears in my eyes at the thought of having to face another day.

Very real depression; I had a complete nervous breakdown in 2002 from the massive depression and the anxiety and panic attacks that accompanied it. I now take several meds a day to help level my moods, lessen my anxiety, and help with the panic attacks, but I still, and I guess forever will, suffer from all of these mental health problems.

It is the main reason I sometimes disappear from these pages for days or weeks at a time when the grip of depression refuses to allow cohesive thought but delights, seemingly, to enjoy keeping my anxiety level high and keeping those panic attacks going strong. So I have learned the hard way about depression and know firsthand the damage it can do to a person's self-esteem, confidence, the ability to think and retain thoughts, and function as a normal human being, if there is such a thing.

So please look again at the statistics cited here and read the article to which I linked if you are so inclined, and remember, "80% of depressed people are not currently having any treatment…"

If you should be among those suffering from depression, if you have a spouse or a child that is suffering depression, the loss of confidence and self-esteem, lethargy brought about for reasons unclear, an obvious lack of concentration performing everyday tasks, and or the anxiety and panic attacks depression can bring upon you I urge you to seek help and/or counseling, see a mental health professional at your school, through your employer provided health insurance, or the low cost or free treatments and medicines that many states, counties, and cities provide.

As I write this I am caught in a negative feedback loop where the chronic pain causes me to be depressed, the depression aggravates my pain, the increase in pain causes me great anxiety, the anxiety causes me to feel panicked, and the panic feeds right into the loop amplifying everything until my mind freezes up and I feel as though I must isolate myself, curl up into a ball, and create even more depression because I do not have control of this feedback loop. I suppose it will always be so.

So don't make the same mistake I did and ignore it until depression pimp-slaps you, drags you and everyone around you down, and to help avoid permanent damage to your mind - the very malady that causes me the most angst - and set yourself on a course towards a happier, less stressful life and escape from a potentially deadly disease.

Ciao, bella ami.

Labels: depression, mental health, personal commentary