Depression weakens mental and social health in people
Mental health is an important part of social well-being as people can be affected by mental illness and depression.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the mental condition, depression “is more than just feeling down or having a bad day,” It is when there is a constant feeling of sadness for a long time, which interferes with the normal and daily routines of an individual. The CDC also notes that it “is a common and treatable mental disorder characterized by changes in mood, and cognitive and physical symptoms over a two-week period.”
Tanya Francis (not her name) was diagnosed with depression in 2006, “I became claustrophobic when I migrated from Jamaica to the British Virgin Islands, I had left my house and I came into my mother in law’s house,” she says. “She wanted me to do things out of the norm, I thought I was overwhelmed, or it was a feeling of fear, because I saw a lot of snakes, that is also a phobia for me and so I visited my doctor, because I was reaching early menopause as well,” she added.
Many life changes that occur can negatively affect the social life of people, such as the change in living and working environments. Mental health specialist and psychiatrist, Dr June Samuel, tells her patients to speak about everything that they can think of that causes them to be depressed and if they feel like crying, they must.
Depression influences the social health in the lives of people or the social determinants of health (SDH), which the World Health Organization, (WHO) defines as “the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age, and the wider set of forces and systems shaping the conditions of daily life.” Samuel, even though she offers psychotherapy at her private practice, also encourages her patients to heal themselves from the disorder, not to dwell on their circumstances.
Common symptoms of depression include, “feeling sad or anxious often or all the time, not wanting to do activities that used to be fun, feeling irritable‚ easily frustrated‚ or restless, having trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, waking up too early or sleeping too much, eating more or less than usual or having no appetite,” states the CDC.
During her depression, Francis was constantly crying and became fearful. She also experienced loss of appetite and not being able to work. “I sometimes tried going out, but I wanted to go back to the house and all I wanted to see was darkness, “she added. She continued to visit her psychiatrist and through the different sessions and therapy, she overcame the disease and is now willing to share her story of recovery from depression. “I shake myself out of it, doing things that make me happy such as letting back my family in my life,” Francis says.
