Effects of Depression – Suicidal Thoughts
Depression is essentially a state of mind. In a depressed mental disposition, the person remains in a state of low mood and develops repugnance towards practically everything surrounding him. It can adversely affect a person’s physical state, mental behavior and his emotions. A person under depression has a tendency to become irritable, sad, restless, bothersome, hopeless, melancholic and worthless and have a feeling of anxiety. A despondent mood is a natural reaction towards certain events in life that are considered to be a symptom of several clinical conditions and a characteristic of psychological syndromes. A person suffering from depression develops a tendency of losing total interest in activities that at one time provided happiness and pleasure. There is a loss of appetite and encountering problems in concentrating or even resulting in partial lapse in memory. Further, there is an element of indecision in the person and one of the most dangerous symptoms is when he contemplates on committing suicide.
A depressed state of mind is closely associated with a large number of psychological problems emanating from exhaustion, depletion of energy, over-sleep, lack of sleep or insomnia and perhaps even digestive problems. These problems are considered to counteract any type of treatment administered to the patient. A large number of disorders that are primary disturbances of mood are in fact mood disorders, within which a major depressive disorder is also known as a major case of depression or clinical depression. This condition comes up when a person has been suffering from bouts of depression for at least two weeks or has experienced a total loss of interest in activities that evoked maximum pleasure. Acute depression may also result in a total nervous breakdown. This is one of the most serious psychological conditions where it is necessary for a patient to consult a psychiatrist. A person suffering from depression may not be aware of the psychological problem that he is suffering from. The symptoms that may be appearing may not be visible, yet they are easily discernible to a psychiatrist. The behavioral patterns of the person suffering from a depression would be visible to any other person. The effects of a depressed mind may be reflected on his behavior with his family members, his colleagues at his work place and his strange and odd moods. A person in a depressed mood becomes like a ship without a rudder and moves around aimlessly without any objective in mind.
It would be pertinent to mention here that a large number of mental disorders emanate from conditions of the person both at his work place or at home. A nagging wife or a sadistic manager could make life miserable for the person concerned. A husband, who is continually nagged by an overbearing wife or neglected by other members of his family, develops a very strong tendency to suffer from severe mental problems. Mental stress takes its toll on the human brain. On the other hand at the work place, a male or female manager who is badgering constantly the person with unrestrained insults and demeaning him before his colleagues is considerably a very strong reason in itself for depression to set in. There are certain cases where a person feels a misfit amongst his colleagues and friends and this feeling of desolation tends to make a recluse of him and he refrains from sharing his feelings with anyone. The basic reason of a person not sharing his problems with even a close person such as one’s wife or a friend is his fear of being ridiculed. When this emotion becomes strong, a person loses interest in life and contemplates on committing suicide, a situation which becomes disastrous. There is no pre-defined age for suffering from depression as it strikes without any warning.
Depression is a not an incurable disease. It is a malady that requires a lot of patience both in the person undergoing treatment as well as the person who is treating the patient. It may take a long time to transform the mental state of a despondent person. The treatment is long and may even take years. The treatment may include medicinal treatment including psychotropic drugs and medicines. There is a possibility that the drugs may bring about effects which remain for a very short period and with the prolonged use of the drug, some of these effects would wear off. However, some patients suffering from insomnia are administered sleeping drugs to induce sleep so that their mind could get some rest. A patient also has to undergo psychological treatment in the form of psychiatric consultation. It is extremely important for the psycho-analyst to analyze thoroughly the mental condition of the patient before starting the treatment. A full patient medical history, physical assessment and a thorough assessment of the symptoms assist in determining the exact cause of the depression. A complete medical history of the patient medical history, physical assessment and a thorough evaluation of the symptoms help determine the precise cause of the depression. It is the prerogative of the psychiatrist to decide on the method of treatment since he is the best person to decide on the type of treatment provided to the patient that would stand to benefit him in the long run.
In conclusion, it is strongly recommended that any symptoms arising from depressive moods should not be ignored and should be referred to a psychiatrist immediately without any delay. There is an old adage which goes like this, ‘a nail lost is a shoe lost, a shoe lost is a horseman lost, a horseman lost means a war is lost.’ Therefore, timely action could avert a severe mental disorder. Regular and effectual treatment result in a positive cure from this problem.
Suicide Prevention and Social Media
“Walk into any American high school classroom and the odds are that two of the young people before you will have attempted suicide over the past 12 months.” This is according to Jack Heath, president of the Inspire USA Foundation.
It is very unsettling to consider that more than 24,000 suicide attempts are made on college and university campuses around the United States, annually. These alarming figures are provided by the Journal of the American Medical Association.
In fact, according to US government statistics, suicide is the second leading cause of death among 25- to 34-year-olds. It is also the third leading cause of death among American 15- to 24-year-olds.
The experts attribute the causation factors for college age suicides as stress of school, finances, and relationships. These, among others, are certainly enough to get most college students feeling depressed about life at a time that already brings with it the many pressures of adult expectations as well as academic and social challenge.
Here’s the thing… most college students contemplating committing suicide are not likely to include their line of thinking in their Facebook status updates. Among those that have, lives have been saved by online “friends,” who recognized what was happening and immediately intervened to avert horrible tragedies from taking place.
Case in point. Resulting from her quick response, actress Demi Moore helped save the life of one of one of her Twitter followers, who was contemplating suicide. By keeping her engaged with Tweets, Moore enticed enough clues for other Tweeps to figure out where this woman lived. Police were dispatched to her home, just in the nick of time. (Source: NEWS WIRE SERVICES DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER – Saturday, April 04, 2009)
In another case that snagged international newswires, a 16 year old British youth sent a suicide message to a young girl in Maryland. This eventually led to White House and British Embassy involvement via calls from the Maryland state police. Both governments assigned special agents to help track down the suicidal young man before he took his own life. As a result, a life was saved, due to the Social Media. (Source: The Telegraph (UK), Thursday 21 April 2011)
Virtual communities, especially those geared to suicide prevention, can bring together groups of failed attempters of suicide; their family and friends, as well as field experts, locally or from around the world. Everyone’s contribution to the overall conversation and the valuable of their input allows for the sharing of important information and the creation of supportive relationships.
When people feel connected to and supported by others and encouraged to be who they really are – as they do in virtual communities – they build a safety net around them that may help protect them when they are feeling despair.
Fortunately, not all of the virtual communities forming to deal with suicide prevention are coming about by happenstance. Recognizing the value of the online world in helping to provide a conduit for expressing psychological and emotional issues, professional associations and academic institutions are introducing their own communities and resources into the greater mix.
According to the information provided on its home page, “ReachOut.com is the flagship program of Inspire USA Foundation, a national 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable organization. Through its virtual community, ReachOut integrates youth-generated, expert-reviewed information and real-life stories with opportunities to connect with others in a supportive, safe environment.
People across the Web are connecting with SAMHSA’s National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-TALK), thanks to Lifeline’s presence on social media sites. It is a beacon of hope for many people contemplating suicide and their families on whichever website it appears.
On the academic side, my own alma mater – Syracuse University – is using a grant from the SAMSHA, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to create “gatekeeper training” for its residence life staff and health services staff on how to prevent suicide and perform successful crisis intervention. Syracuse’s “Campus Connect” program has served as a model for other colleges and universities. In addition, the school’s free “Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction” series has been hailed by medical journals for providing emotional coping skills to deal more effectively with stress, according to the school. A social marketing campaign, at SU, has focused on changing the stigma of mental health issues and increasing the awareness of its counseling center.
Syracuse joins other colleges and universities such as Penn State and Michigan in forming these online suicide prevention initiatives. Student counseling centers are calling for more suicide prevention programs to deal with a growing number of troubled students from around the country and abroad. The more tools they have on hand, the more suicides they may be able to prevent.
While recent studies by psychologists have warned that Social Media, itself, can contribute to social disorders and mental illness, it is refreshing to also hear about the many ways Social Media is impacting the field of psychology in a positive way and saving lives through its role in suicide prevention.