Depression and Women: The Silent Epidemic
Are You Struggling with Major Depression?
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by Wayne H. Denton, MD, PHD
"Depression" is a word that is used freely in our society - to the point that it is confusing as to what it actually means. Your coworker says he is "depressed" that his team lost in the tournament, your neighbor is "depressed" that the family cat is missing, you hear an advertisement on television for a medicine for "depression" that tells you to go see your doctor - how can "depression" apply to all of these different experiences? Sometimes people go to the doctor and ask "am I depressed?"
Feeling sad is a normal mood and a normal part of life. We feel sad when we have lost someone or something of importance to us. Of course we feel sad when a loved one passes on. We also feel sad if a friend moves away - yes, we can call or text message or go for a visit but it is not the same as seeing them every day. Parents feel sad (and happy) when their children grow up and leave home. Feeling sad in these instances is normal and expectable. In fact, we would be worried if people did not experience any sadness in these situations! Feeling sad is not "depression."
Maybe our trusted dictionary can help us understand depression. We turn to a handy dictionary and find that it defines depression as "sadness, gloom, dejection." Well, we just found out that depression is not sadness so even the dictionary is confused!
If you had the opportunity to visit a psychiatric unit in a hospital (which perhaps you have) you would most likely see people who were diagnosed as "depressed." They might be lying in bed not wanting to eat. They might be in such pain that they tried to take their life. They wouldn't necessarily seem to be sad however. Whatever they were experiencing, it would be clear that this was not a normal part of life. To use the same word ("depression") to describe the experience of these people as we use to describe the reaction of fans after their team lost a close contest ("the fans were depressed") doesn't seem right. How can we distinguish these experiences?
Professionals have tried to come up with words to distinguish normal sadness from these other experiences that are outside the range of normal experience. Sometimes you may hear people use the phrase "clinical depression" to try and indicate that it is a "depression" that needs special attention. The official term used in psychiatric circles is "major depressive disorder" to indicate that this is "major" and that it is a "disorder" or not part of normal living.
In "major depressive disorder" people have many other symptoms besides whatever a disturbance in their mood. In fact, mood is only one of nine symptoms that is part of major depression. Put another way, a "depressed" mood is a small part of the picture in major depression. So, a big part of our problem in understanding "depression" is the name itself. It would be better if "major depression" had another name although nobody has come up with a good alternative. "Mood disorder" may be a little better but is not entirely satisfactory either.
What is the rest of "major depression" if it is not just someone's mood? The rest includes several physical symptoms - trouble sleeping or too much sleep, eating too much or too little, a lack of energy, loss of interest in the things you usually like to do. It also includes trouble concentrating or making decisions. Some people even feel like their memory is not as good. People with major depression may feel bad about themselves or feel guilty for things that they really don't need to feel guilty about. Sometimes this is so hard to live with that they think that death would be preferable. Unfortunately, about 15% of people with major depression, eventually kill themself. This is a very serious condition that needs to be taken seriously.
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If any of these descriptions sound like you, don't delay - call 214-648-6945 and ask about the research program to receive a free screening today. |
I used the example of people in the hospital to illustrate a point because they are far from normal life experience. There are many more people, however, who are not in the hospital but are out living in the world with their families, maybe even going to work, who have something wrong and maybe aren't even aware of it.
Researchers took a random sample from people in 48 U.S. contiguous states and gave them psychiatric interviews. They found that nearly 7% of everyone they interviewed had experienced an episode of "major depression" in the past 12 months. In Dallas County this represents over 160,000 people! Another finding of this research that may be surprising is that only half of these people had received any treatment for this condition! Worse yet, of those that did receive treatment only 42% of those people received adequate treatment. What this means is that of all the people suffering in the community with major depression only about 1 in 5 receives proper treatment. If we take the example of Dallas County again, this means that there are about 128,000 people every year suffering with untreated major depression.
How can this be that there are so many people with major depression who are not seeking or receiving any help? One reason is that many people with major depression don't really feel sad, and because they think that "depression" means "sadness" they don't seek help.
What, then, are they experiencing if not sadness? Well, these are people who feel tired all the time - these are people who find they don't have the joy of living that they once did - these are people who are always struggling just to get through the day and take care of their responsibilities. They are the "walking wounded."
What is sad is that there are treatments that can significantly help people struggling with major depression if only they would seek them out. As we discussed in the last issue these treatments are not perfect and don't always work for everyone but if a person with major depression can be patient and not give up on treatment, it is usually possible to find the treatment that will work best for them.
Are you are confused about what is going on with you? You don't really feel sad or want to cry but you are struggling to get through life. If you are not sure what is going on with you, you can call us at 214- 648-6945 and receive a free screening over the phone that may help you get some idea whether what you are struggling with could be major depression. We can also tell you about research being conducted here at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center that will provide treatment to you at no charge and you can help us improve the treatment of major depression while you are helping yourself.