Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Clinical vs "Common" Depression

Preamble: As I am apt to do, I am using my own terminology, not necessarily "the standard."

If I had to curtly explain the difference between what I clinical depression and what I call common depression, it would be thus:
With common depression, the negative thoughts are created by an event (i.e. a death of a loved one).

With clinical depression, the negative thoughts, while often triggered by an event, are created by a chemical imbalance.
Counseling is beneficial for both types of depression, in my opinion. Medicines, on the other hand, I feel are best suited for clinical depression and could possibly worsen common depression by messing with the body's chemicals when it is simply reacting as it should.

One needn't be too astute to realize that perhaps the greatest difficulty in treating depression lies in realizing whether or not the depression is based upon circumstance or a chemical imbalance triggered by circumstance.

I, personally, used to believe that my depression was mostly circumstantial.

Until last year.

Everything was going great. My future looked amazing^4. Then, one night as I was walking to my room ~SCHTUK~ I was done with life.

I had no reason to feel depressed. I had no reason to want to give up. Indeed, quite the opposite was true.

Nonetheless, I didn't care about anything. The positive didn't matter. The lack of negative didn't matter.

If you were to have asked me, "If you could steal away to anywhere, where would you go?" I would have answered, "Six feet under."

... I was once again tied up by depression.

3 comments:

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  2. Over the years, I have taken myself off of meds because I want to remember what it feels like to 'be me.' I don't last more than a few months though. I begin to feel dark all consuming depression for no ascertainable reason at all. I just have no desire to live and want to just 'go away.'

    Thank heavens we live in a day when we have meds that can help us simply feel normal.

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  3. PG: I'm hoping to make it by noon.

    Braveone: I've done the exact same thing. I think I've learned my lesson with this last bought, though. And I am, indeed, grateful for the advances of science!

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