Depression - The Invisible Cancer
- Chandra Prakash
- 3 days ago
- 5 min read
Mental Health Experts around the Globe are discussing how the pandemic has led to panic attacks among people, causing depression and leading some to the verge of suicide. According to the experts, feelings of contamination, economic slowdown, sleep disturbance, excessive worry, job losses, future uncertainty, and financial burden are significant factors contributing to the case. The number of people taking psychiatric counselling is on the rise. Not only people who have not contracted COVID but even those who have are being studied to find out neurological and neuropsychiatric complications of COVID-19. A recent study on 153 patients published in The Lancet Psychiatry Journal describes these complications linked to the disease. Out of 153, 125 patients were studied, of which 114 (91%) were found to have experienced cases consisting of cerebrovascular events, altered mental status, peripheral disorder, Guillain-Barré syndrome and variants. In this article, we are going to read about depression, behavioural signs, body symptoms, a few medical treatments(as prescribed by a medical practitioner) and distracting oneself from these emotions.
What is Depression?
Depression can be defined as a feeling of excessive sadness. Frustration, overwhelm, lack of love and joy, feeling abandoned, betrayed, rejected, and feeling of being treated unfairly all lie under the domain of depression.
Behavioral Signs
One showing or experiencing signs like irritation, aggravation, thinking things should be different, grumpiness, loneliness, increase in hunger, loss of appetite, feeling tired, moving slowly, slamming doors, criticising oneself, smoking packs of cigarettes, drinking alcohol to bed, feeling insomniac, hurting oneself, feeling work to be a burden, accusing others of one’s wrongdoings should be recognizant of the fact that there is something dwelling within one’s body that can affect one’s body harshly and one won’t know.
Symptoms
If you are feeling feverish most of the time but your thermometer says otherwise, you are facing intermittent palpitations, fluctuations in blood pressure, difficulty in breathing, headaches and migraines, irregular bowel movements, constipation, muscle stiffness in the neck, shoulder, pelvis, thighs and lower back, bladder problems, high frequency of urination, stinging sensation in feet then it looks like you are giving one or multiple things a deep thought that play like a movie in front of you continuously.
The Emotional Domino Effect
It is very difficult to know when the frustration or anger that occurred for a very short period of time has changed itself into chronic depression. It is obviously not that easy to contemplate the process, but you can give it a start by noting that emotion. Then you can try naming it, be it sadness, anger, fear, love or joy. After you have named it, you can try responding to it. The right brain is the area for emotion and intuition. This is the part where the depression appears first. Your task should be to transfer it to the left brain, which is the area of logic and decision-making. This is where you do the aforementioned.
If you are not able to identify it, then after a certain period of time, this can create a biochemical chain reaction, an emotional domino effect, and it would be too late to bring yourself back to normal.
When you get angry or sad, the hypothalamus, which regulates the eating and sleeping hormones, receives the signal. If the pressure increases, the emotion travels to the pituitary gland, the master gland which regulates the functioning of other hormone-secreting glands all over the body. In no time, the brain stem transfers this emotion to the adrenal gland, which broadcasts this emotion all across the body and unbalances the hormone secretion throughout the body.
The brain starts releasing epinephrine, a neurotransmitter that gets you irritated.
The adrenal gland releases cortisol, which affects the immune system and now your frustration has become depression.
Cytokines are produced, which cause inflammation everywhere in the body.
Because of the cytokines, WBCS release proteins that make you feel weak, tired and achy. You start feeling like you have the flu, fever or arthritis.
Cytokines affect your mood and neurotransmitters. Norepinephrine and serotonin start to drop, which helps keep your mood elevated.
When it becomes chronic, the blood sugar levels and blood pressure start to fluctuate. Cardiovascular symptoms start rising, which leads to a rise in homocysteine levels.
Norepinephrine and Serotonin cause body aches, headaches, and backaches. It feels like you are dragging your body around.
You enter the phase of insomnia.
You start gaining or losing weight as per your genetic signatures.
Increased weight and insulin lead to inflammation and an increase in cholesterol levels.
Cholesterol and depression create free radicals that start clogging up your memory circuits.
You start forgetting what you read. “Are you with me?”
Omega-3 fatty acids start dropping, which eventually leads to dementia.
What can be followed medically?
Visit a psychiatrist, a neurologist or a physician.
Get your B6 and B12 levels checked and start taking multivitamin supplements. This will help in increasing the dopamine level.
Siberian Ginseng balances cortisol, adrenal and fatigue, enhancing focus and attention.
Eat chocolates. They contain phenylethylamine (PEA), which increases dopamine levels.
Take Calcium and Magnesium supplements that help stabilise mood.
Get your thyroid checked. A drop in the T3 level causes moodiness.
Take Ashwagandha and Vitamin C to boost the immune system.
Get your Vitamin D levels checked. A low level causes arthritis and bone-related issues.
How to distract yourself?
Start doing aerobic exercises.
Go out and have a walk in the morning. Take a deep breath and feel the cold air.
Do Yoga or Meditation. Twenty minutes would be sufficient to start with.
Do something creative. Something you liked when you were a kid or want to do. It can be reading, painting, singing, writing, exercising, or anything that takes some time and distracts you. This releases dopamine and keeps you happy.
Balance your meal.
Start reading at night to fall asleep. Mobile phones or laptops are great sleep killers. You can also read on e-readers like Kindle.
Try to talk. Share your thoughts with someone you trust and someone who can listen. One who doesn’t suggest out of courtesy, but one who empathises.
Talk to people who make you laugh.
Read or watch good news. Those that are unbiased and provide pure information.
Start reading self-help books. Even if it is 5%, it's worth giving a shot.
Find something yourself that keeps your mood balanced.
Way Forward
Depression has inflicted havoc upon our minds like a cancer without chemotherapy. According to the WHO, depression is a common illness worldwide, with more than 264 million people affected. Close to 800,000 people die due to suicide every year. Suicide is the second leading cause of death in 15-29-year-olds. The COVID situation is an unprecedented event for everyone living today. Nothing had happened like this before in our lifetime. So we just don’t know how to deal with it. Mass lockdowns throughout the globe, unavailability of vaccination or medicine, minimal study of symptoms and after effects, neurological effects and many other things are unknown.
We should be sound enough to understand if we are facing any of the aforementioned signs or symptoms for an early stage identification of the disease. Health-care providers offer treatments such as behavioural activation, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT), or antidepressant medication such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs).
It should be our duty not only to keep ourselves neutral but also to empathise with those who are suffering from this miserable situation. Don’t only identify yourself, identify others as well.
Due to this uncertainty surrounding COVID, we are driving ourselves towards a cliff that we don’t know of to fall into depression. Since there are no road signs visible on the way, pull the brakes and take a detour; you will surely find a silver lining beyond the disorder.
Sources: “Heal Your Mind by Louise Hay with Mona Lisa Schulz”
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