Depression is one of the main issues in the contemporary world that has gripped the society, especially the medical fraternity by storm. Over the past few decades, many patients have been making appointments to doctors as well as therapists so that they can be guided out of their depression. Indeed, cases of clinical depression have reached a historic high, with many people continuously complaining of how they are suffering from one type of depression or the other. The busy schedules that have been adopted by many people can be regarded as the culprit towards the ever rising cases of depression. Careers have taken most of the time that people have at their disposal to the point that they rarely have spare time to think about other activities or dedicate their time towards their personal lives. Some of the primary stressors that have contributed to the increase in the cases of depression are unemployment and underlying health issues that have not been addressed. This paper delves deeper into some critical aspects of depression and the societal perception of the matter through the scrutiny and analysis of related articles (Hjertaas, 2010) .
Depression is an emotional as well as a biopsychological disorder that impacts on the life of the afflicted individual as well as the lives of those that are around him/her. These may include family members, friends, acquaintances, and even co-workers. Depression has been proven to decrease the quality of life that someone lives and makes the individual's life to be dull and lackluster. The main reason why depression causes a person to lead a boring life is that they are unable to partake in social activities like the rest of the members of the society. A majority of depressed people spend most of their time agonizing about some of the factors that have led to their sad and unfortunate state. Their haplessness makes them believe that they are not supposed to spend time with other people like the rest of the society. Researchers, as well as social scientists, have proven that loneliness only acts to exacerbate depression and makes it difficult for a victim to receive the much-needed help.
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Two Constructs of Depression
Some scholars went ahead and established that there were two types of depression, introjection and anaclitic. These two form of depression come to the fore due to the dynamics that were analyzed by Alder’s model of human nature. According to him, these types of depression played a significant role in determining some key aspects of the life of someone who is undergoing depression. These key areas include striving for perfection as well as that of belonging. These people who suffer from anaclitic depression experience some suffering in the way in which they interact with other people. It finally ends up impacting significantly on their relationships with others. The loss that they might have experienced in their early childhood may be the main reason that may be stopping them from arriving into other forms of relationships. If they happen to get involved in any relationship, they end up being submissive and tend to give way to the opinions and ideas of the other party in the relationship. They usually sacrifice their interest for the benefit of the other person (Hjertaas, 2010).
On the other hand, those who suffer from interjective depression always drive to reach a certain level of perfection that on an average basis is hard to attain (Blat, 2004). Such persons have a mentality of always wanting t to achieve the best regardless of the process that it takes them to get there. They have a mind that is focused on perfection that at times may end up affecting their relationships with others. More often, the high expectations that they have of themselves, and others usually make them feel disappointed in the long run upon which they develop feelings of restfulness, irritability, and self-criticism. Sometimes, they tend to be unpleasant and hostile to be around. They sometimes maintain an emotional distance from other people so that they do not reveal any inadequacies that they may have.
During the depression, those affected typically develop feelings of inferiority. They also feel sad since they are unable to engage in other activities like other people (Kristeva, 1989). It is challenging for someone to persevere the deep-seated feelings of inadequacy especially when such feelings have escalated. Patients are denied a piece of reality since they do not have the right perception of life (Adler, 2005). Therefore, people who suffer from both anaclitic and introjection depression end up being very vulnerable to any form of failure in life.
One of the fundamental ways that have been noted to be highly effective in the treatment of depression is through primary care. Many individuals who are suffering from depression miss the golden opportunity of receiving the much-needed health care due to the stigma that is attached by the society towards the condition. Depressives also find a hard time in revealing their problems to others, a factor that only makes it worse for them. Their secrecy about their conditions makes it difficult for therapists to reach them so that they can alleviate their pain and suffering (Fernandez, Duberstein, Paterniti, Cipri, Kravitz & Epstein, 2012)
Regarding this, medical practitioners have set themselves on a path that will enhance communications between medical professionals and people who may be undergoing depression. They are aiming to achieve this in the primary stages of the disease before it has escalated to unprecedented levels(Hjertaas, 2010).Patients have been encouraged to disclose about their underlying medical issues so that they can receive medical as well as moral assistance at the primary level. Doctors conducted interviews for people who have been victims of depression or those who have family members who have suffered from the condition. In these interviews, they were asked to reveal some of the symptoms that were evident among those who were suffering from depression. The interviewees were all aimed to make the therapists have a better understanding of the condition so that they could quickly abate it in the long run.
Conclusion
Depression has been noted to be one of the mental health issues that have robbed the society of some of its best and brilliant minds. Reason being that depressives have at times committed suicide so that they can escape from the harsh realities of life that might be haunting them. To curb the escalation of depression, health agencies need to adopt better strategies that might enable them to identify those who are suffering from the conditions that they can treat them early enough. They can also form support groups that can go a long way in assisting the affected people in getting the much-needed support and counseling that might restore their health.
References
Fernandes, Duberstein, Paterniti, Cipri, Kravitz & Epstein. (2012). Feeling labeled, judged, lectured, and rejected by. BMC Family Practice , 34-46.
Hjertaas, T. (2010). Two Sides of Depression. The journal of Personnel Psychology , 67-83.
