Depression
With the coming of every new eras, there has been the revelation of many new diseases. To call it new would be wrong, as it was already there but unknown to man. Depression is one such mental disorder that has spread its creeping claws into a bulk of the human population today. The ramification of depression is many. Although not considered to be a mental disorder until the recent past, it can be seen as a major by-product of ‘ industrialisation’ perhaps, when the nature oriented society shifted to a modern industrial society. It was a result of the vacuum created with excessive ‘materialsm’ and loss of faith in humanity. Perhaps the romantic poet of the 18th century showed us a glimpse of what depression looked like.
Today a major part of the world population suffers from depression. Our very fast paced life has neither quality nor satisfaction. The more ‘developed’ our civilisation got, the more away from morality it went. Lack of morality in society has several consequences. Depression is only one such. Every age group has their own reason to be depressed today. For instance, children suffer from depression due to excess pressure from school or bullying. The youngsters suffer from depression due to unstable relationships, failed social image or failure to keep up with the ever changing trends of the society, the adults suffer from it due to excess work load, poor quality of life, botched relationships, abuse and various other reasons.
While in the developing countries, depression is sometimes duped as ‘madness’ due to lack of proper knowledge, the developed countries are more actively fighting off this crippling disorder. Many researches have been conducted to find out a possible cure. Psychological therapy, medicines and sometimes even religious approach is sought after to treat depression. Depression not only affects a person’s day to day life, it also snatches away the precious time from an individual’s career when he or she should have been utilising it for something productive. As they say, depression can create a corpse out of a living breathing human being. It also leads to many suicides every year.
The worst case scenario is seen in the ‘under educated’ societies where people do not even have the basic awareness in depression. There are still many superstitions regarding this disorder and as a result the victims can never really access proper medication and their conditions deteriorate rapidly, ultimately leading to death. How many precious lives have been lost in this way!
Depression has become a rampant issue in our world today just like terrorism or drug abuse or even cancer. To heal the minds of the depressed, first we have to know its cause. Then only working on the effect can bear fruits. A major transcendence in morality is perhaps the best possible solution to eradicate depression. We need to be more compassionate, kind and humane to spread love around. All it takes is one step towards being a bit more human. All it takes is to acknowledge the true nature that every soul is born with and lead our life based on our conscience and not based on greed, lust, or hatred.
