When all a person wants is to stop feeling that way, that makes them want to hide from the whole world, including themselves. When that “thing” becomes the only thing that can enshroud them from everything, and looking at the person in the mirror is just as hard as the thought of telling someone else what they are going through, then maybe they are depressed. They don’t want to talk about it because no one told them that it is okay if they are depressed and that it’s going to be okay.
This misconception that depression only affects the lame and weak is what is making people with depression stay locked up in dark attics. They are not really up there, nor are they down below. The shame surrounding mental health and the obtuseness concerning this issue is what is pushing people to develop dipsomaniac tendencies, to be engrossed in substance abuse, and in dire situations, suicide. People will choose to bury themselves in a place where they feel unjudged and shameless, but at what price? We are losing people every day to depression because someone woke up one day and decided to tell the vast majority of the human race that depression is just self-pity or weakness as if someone can choose to be depressed. I have heard people say, “You are depressed because you wallow in the sadness, hopelessness, or grief that you are feeling. Get a hold of yourself and snap out of it.” Isn’t this dangerous? That kind of talk is what makes people decide to keep it to themselves.
I think that depression and mental health should be given as much attention and advocacy as HIV/AIDS. In the 1900s, AIDS wasn’t spoken about as lightly as it is today. Someone put their foot down and educated people on the effects of the stigma around it. Gen Z babies have no clue how AIDS was once radicalized because, by the time they got here, it was already de-disparaged. So much awareness was raised and the segregation around people with it was absolved. What if the same was done with depression and mental health? Wouldn’t we have more people coming out to seek intervention? I believe that if more people are educated about this topic, fewer people will suffer the consequences of depression. The stigma around anti-depressants also doesn’t make seeking help easy. In ignorance, some people call anti-depressants ‘insanity medication’. Already, that does not do much to encourage a depressed person to break free and seek medical assistance because the fear that ‘insanity medication’ will interfere with their brain chemistry, thereby changing their personality altogether, will hinder them from wanting to give the medication a chance. If more people are made cognizant of the fact that depression is treatable and that prescribed anti-depressants will not change one’s being but rather will only change specific chemicals in the brain. The drugs are designed to alter the chemistry in the brain responsible for addressing the biological aspect that contributes to depression.
I feel that most interventions for depression are things in society that make for laughable topics. Therapy is one way to curb depression and anxiety issues, but the derogatory name “shrink” that is given to therapists, psychologists and psychiatrists still suggests that mental health treatment is a source of shame. It is demeaning to these well-trained professionals, but it is considered worse for a person to share in their social circles that they are now seeing a “shrink.” It makes it difficult for people to get treatment when the stigma around all the treatment options remains rampant. There is no way to determine which medical professional is right for depression when going to one is out of the question. It would be easier if more people were enlightened about the stigmatized beliefs surrounding depression in different ethnic groups because most of it comes from misplaced societal views and standards. In the African culture, depression is just put under one big umbrella of purported insanity. The fear of embarrassing one’s family by being the deranged one makes things worse for depressed individuals. Depression is considered a curse and some of the measures taken in an effort to cure it only make it worse. All this negativity around depression may also cause a person to stigmatize themselves. They may feel shame for being the way they are, and it takes a toll on their self-esteem, pushing them deeper into depression. The advancement in depression comes from depressing about depression and may lead to somatization. “Somatization occurs when psychological concerns are converted into physical symptoms.” (Good Therapy, 2019)
Let awareness be raised. Depression can come to anyone, and it certainly does not mean a person is weak or can not get it together. The more people that are educated about it, the less the people that suffer from depression are stigmatized.
About “Same God” by Tina Butau
‘Same God’ is an accurate modern representation of the Same God who miraculously filled the jars with oil & flour for the widow of Zarephath so that she never lacked. This book shows how God’s supernatural provision wasn’t just happening in the bible for people like Abraham but is still happening today in our lives.
Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/embed/rbUffl_c67A
Tina seeks to testify to the reader how God has been consistent through the ages. It is an explicit recount of how an unlikely woman found favour in the eyes of God and shows the rewards of letting God order one’s footsteps.
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