Coping with Mental Illness

Coping with Mental Illness

Depression or Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a very serious and debilitating disease, in some cases, such as suicide, it may even be fatal. One of the problems with mental illness is that because of the stigma attached, people have a lot of trouble talking about it. A commercial on TV summed up the situation pretty well comparing taking a sick leave on depression to a vacation. Of course, the commercial was trying to make a point and stimulate people to be kinder to those suffering from mental illness, along the lines of Bell’s campaign for mental health awareness “let’s talk”.

Depression may be hard to understand from an outside perspective. Image: Megan Jorgensen (Elena)

Depression is much more than just feeling blue or under the weather. The symptoms, including low mood must persist for over two weeks for the diagnosis to be made. A person with depression may feel very nihilistic, in the sense that they remain negative about everything. Also, they may be unwilling to go out of the house at all, sometimes even to the point of refraining to open the blinds. Among other things, depression is characterized by an inability to concentrate, by lack of motivation and by loss of interest in activities previously enjoyed.

Depression can be quite the adversary. Image: Megan Jorgensen (Elena)

Aside from antidepressants, the medication usually prescribed to treat MDD, simple changes to one’s routine may while not alleviate depression per se since it is a serious clinical condition, then at least help lift moods temporarily. For example, exercising may help with mood. When a person exercises, their body produces endorphines, the natural feel good chemicals. Exercising may not be very easy at first, it is important to remain motivated. Luckily, there are many motivation strategies. Motivation strategies include enlisting social support, giving an activity a fair chance by trying it several times and by mentally preparing for the activity. The latter can be done in at least one of two ways: for instance, one may prepare oneself mentally for the task to be difficult. Alternatively, you may try to see the positive sides of an undertaking and explain to yourself why it is actually easy and maybe even pleasant.