Is Depression Real?

Just as many negative human habits are addictive, being in a depressed mood has that level of addictiveness too.

Some people who are "depressed", find it hard to seek help and reject it when it is presented to them.

Why?

Because they have become addicted to the attention their situation gets them and they tend to enjoy that "Special attention". Getting cure means they would have to relinquish that power, which sadly is the only thing going for them.

Many "depressed" people hardly want to look beyond their anguish. Like, hey look, that's a cure for what you have right there on the floor close to your feet...No, leave me alone, I am too depressed to turn my neck. The world hates me!

If you have a depressed person as a friend or family, all you can give them is your patience and just hope they can help you help themselves.

I WAS ONCE THERE.

Fortunately for me, I wasn't there long enough to start romanticizing what I was going through, like most people battling "depression" do now. But for the brief moment that I was there, it was as intense as it comes.

I had episodes where it would have been better to not exist at all than to go through what I was going through. I harmed myself whenever I couldn't contain the pain and sadness that was brewing within me.

One thing I find different from my own "depression" ordeal was, I could pinpoint what was wrong with me, it was tangible and I needed help to change it. Help in the form of changing of environment, physically getting away from the people I was with, the people causing me to hate myself and my existence.

This was it, my cause of "depression" had a face, a name and energy, if I could get far away, I would no longer be depressed. Then I encounter friends who claim they are depressed, I try to talk it through with them, get to know what actually was going on, but nada.

In the case of a particular friend of mine, it was all about the intangibles and it did my head in. I mean why do you think you are depressed? And they go, I don't know, the world hates me, my family aren't supportive, that friend was rude to me.

Hot damn! I am not trying to undermine what true depression is. But is everybody claiming to be depressed actually depressed? Why are people eager to be bestowed that title so bad?

HORMONES & THE LITTLE THINGS.

Many times, "depression" doesn't manifest from thin air, sometimes when the triggers are intangibles, hard to lay hands on kind of things, then maybe our lifestyle is the reason why we feel so low and unmotivated all the time.

I mean, the human body is an actual machine, everything has to function properly for everything to function properly. You get the drift?

Why do women get mood swings and unstable personality when their period is on? Hormones.

Why do some pregnant women have such an unstable mood, sense of taste and are generally insufferable through out their pregnancy cycle? Hormones yeah?

Well, if hormones play such big parts in mood stabilization and proper function of our person, what has "unstabled" these hormones? Diet? Stress? Alcohol? Poor lifestyle? News?

Well, is it that simple? Many times, yes. The thing is, many gigantic problems we encounter have their solutions embedded in their commonest of places, that we either fail to recognize them or dismiss them as impossible panacea when we are pointed in their direction.

Melatonin: This is a hormone released by the human brain that regulates our natural sleep pattern.

What usually happens when we don't get a goodnight sleep? We become irritable during the day.

What disrupts this hormone? Blue light after dusk (Use of Phones, TV and Laptops), Diet. So, then lifestyle. Yeah.

Serotonin: This is another hormone secreted by the body which helps regulate the general mood functions of the body. Sleep, happiness, sadness and even sex drive are all linked to this hormone and when you feel low and sad for no good reason, chances are that your levels of serotonin is pretty low.

What lowers the serotonin levels? Lack of exposure to sunlight (Vitamin D deficiency), lack of exercise, poor diet. So, lifestyle again? Yes.

You remember how terrible you felt those times you spent day indoors doing whatever and not seeing sunlight?

You remember how great you usually feel when you are sweating out in the gym? See where I am going?

If there are factual links and relationship between low levels of these hormones and depression, why aren't there cure for depression already? I guess that would put psychiatrist out of job right?

Hell yeah, I am a conspiracy theorist.

I think depression is a big money making scheme for big Pharma Companies, just like obesity and diabetes. The more people are convinced that their "depression" can't be cured, but managed, the more money shrinks and pharma companies make.

Just like is the case with Diabetes and Obesity, which can be reversed naturally with diet and more active lifestyle. Ironically, Diabetes, Depression and Obesity are modern diseases.

Modern diseases that make these guys the most money and help them keep control.

To sell the idea that these diseases are untreatable but merely manageable, a lot of effort (most are subtle) go into brainwashing and hypnotizing you into believing that when you feel low, you are depressed.

When you buy into it, you begin to see your situation as a special case that needs special attention. The entertainment industry is a tool used to drive this hypnosis home.

Do you think depression is really a natural phenomenon or a man made tool for control?