Are you like me? Have recent and troubling world events crept into your brain and manifested into a sort of constant worry?
It’s not an outward worry, just one that percolates beneath everyday thoughts, sometimes coming to the surface in the form of irritation, fatigue, pessimism, or, in the most severe cases, depression.
With the anniversaries of the massacre at L’École Polytechnique, the Haiti earthquake, and the Asian tsunamis recently recognized, thousands of birds and fish dropping dead simultaneously, horrific floods and landslides killing hundreds in Australia and Brazil, shootings in Tucson, dire economic news and changing climate patterns, just walking out the front door can seem a little sketchy.
What exacerbates this onslaught of bad news is the dark and gloomy month of January itself, a long month that sees the fewest hours of sunshine, no holidays and often persistent and dreary rain.
It’s enough to bring even the most cherubic personality down.
For me, when it all gets to be a little much I get cranky and cynical. To ward off this state of mind I make sure I exercise, eat well and get as much sleep as I need. It makes a huge difference.
For others it’s not that simple. As iconic CBC broadcaster Shelagh Rogers, who was diagnosed with depression eight years ago, told me earlier this month, she can feel her downward spiral begin when “the dragon of depression blows his flames (her) way.”
It must be a terrible feeling, knowing that what is typically a bright and positive world is about to become a world full of hurt and dark clouds.
Historically, mental illness and depression have been socially ostracized, swept under the rug and ignored by family, friends and, perhaps most noticeably, those who suffer from it.
I’ve noticed in the last few months a change in social attitude toward depression. People are beginning to open up about it, discuss it, and work to help those affected by it.
It’s a big first step.
Thankfully, with the help of people like Rogers, who was recently awarded the Officer of the Order of Canada for her volunteer work on mental health, the stigma of depression and mental illness is being overcome through conversation, social media and education.
Instead of people suffering through it alone, there is now a network of assistance that can be accessed to allow people to travel through a dark and worrisome place with the help of others.
But it’s rarely easy. How do you approach someone you care about and tell them you think they’re depressed?
It takes research, courage and strength.
Knowing the symptoms of depression is a good start and the Canadian Mental Health Association website at www.cmha.ca is a good place to begin your research.
Symptoms can include feelings of hopelessness and sadness, changing sleep patterns, negative thoughts that prevail no matter how hard you try, a change in eating patterns, you become irritable and short-tempered, and, in extreme cases, thoughts of suicide creep in.
Helping the affected person understand their condition and how it affects others is key in overcoming it, especially with outside help. It can be managed and overcome.
There is little we can do to change world events, and less we can do to change the cold, dark days of winter, but through increasing available means of help, dousing those dragon’s flames of depression is action that can be taken to make everybody’s world a little brighter.
reporter2@nanaimobulletin.com