J.C.Q.

The following post by a Christian (see "Your Questions Answered" section) about depression is very irresponsible and shows a grave misunderstanding of the severity of certain cases of depression (severe depression being insanely more intense than the "Oh I went through the worst case of depression ever!" situations described by many posters on the aforementioned blog, which for the most part amount to nothing more than experiences with mild/moderate depression).

The lack of understanding about mental health issues by society in general is greatly frustrating and disturbing. People with mental health issues deserve a lot more respect than to have people like this exacerbating common misunderstandings about a severe, traumatic illness. Why do people think it's okay to pretend they know better than psychiatrists and psychologists, but not surgeons?

People hospitalized for mental illness receive on average only 1/4 of the gifts and presents people staying in the hospital for "physical" illness over the same period of time receive. Even though you only get checked into the hospital for mental illness if it is as severe as the "physical" equivalent to something like cancer or a severe heart attack, but people don't hesitate to send you flower if you go in for gallbladder surgery. Please note that I use physical in quotations because mental illness is a form of physical illness if you get hospitalized for it, but you just don't have a huge deadly gaping would on your head so no one takes it seriously.

That's right. In the case of severe depression, what starts off as an emotional problem without being treated for a long period of time starts affecting the neurochemistry of the brain and it thus becomes not only an emotional issue but also a physical one. Thus the problem is compounded, and in severe cases where the patient feels they can no longer help themselves because they have gotten so down, medication is tantamount to throwing a lifesaving device out to someone who is drowning so they can actually start kicking and working towards saving themselves (with not only drugs but therapy) instead of going under.

And then there's all the documented cases by every which way imaginable that some people are just born with a tendency toward physical depression because they are low on neurotransmitters like someone who is anemic is low on iron.

Because of irresponsible posts about mental illness, the stigma of those with said illnesses just becomes worse. It is baffling that in this day in age people do not know better. No wonder no one cares about the number of mental health beds disappearing in our hospitals nearly as much they do about those disappearing in cancer wards. That is until someone jumps off a roof because there were no beds and finally people understand that this is more than just something to do with someone "just being selfish," or not knowing how to pull up their socks, or most definitely not having a close enough relationship with God.

Posted by Fishsticks on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 at 00:15 | Permalink