Depression, what do you know about it?

When you hear the word “depression,” what thought comes directly into your head? Some people use the term “depression" to describe their stressed condition. However, is the use of that term correct? The American Psychiatric Association defines Depression (Major Depressive Disorder) as a common and serious illness that negatively affects how a person feels, the way a person thinks and how a person acts.

Depression is a serious psychiatric illness

Based on the definition above, we can understand that depression is a serious psychiatric illness, rather than just one of those feelings that you can act on. In this article, I would like to share some facts with you about depression, and my lessons learnt after I recovered from one.

Other people may avoid contact

Depression causes feelings of sadness and/or a loss of interest in activities the sufferer once enjoyed. It can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems and can decrease a person's ability to function at work and at home. Due to these reasons, I learned that most people hesitate to be with a person who suffers from depression. Often, people think that sufferers from a depression refuse to improve themselves and are unwilling to come out from their depression. 

Treatment is required

If we look back to the definition above, it is clear that depression is a serious illness. Like any other serious illness, whether mental or physical, depression requires treatment. We cannot expect a person suffering from depression to help him/herself to recover. In some cases, I might say that depression is more lethal than cancer or any other critical illnesses, because it may drive the sufferer to commit suicide at any time.

Fortunately, depression is among the most treatable of mental disorders. Statistics show that eighty to ninety percent of patients suffering from a depression responded well to the treatment, and relief from their symptoms (Source: American Psychiatric Association).

Depression can happen to anyone

When I suffered from depression, some friends and other people that knew me before couldn't believe that I was suffering from it. They always thought that I was a person with quite a strong character, and it seemed impossible that I would suffer from depression. Furthermore, some people accused me that my cause of depression was a lack of faith. This is definitely not true.

To emphasize it again, depression is a common, serious illness and not a personal weakness. This means that it could happen to anyone, at any age, and to people of any race or ethnic group.  In May 2017, according to Eka Viora, Chair of the Indonesian Mental Health Specialist Association (Perhimpunan Dokter Spesialis Kesehatan Jiwa Indonesia), said that in Indonesia, 3.7 percent of the population suffers from depression. Therefore, there are about 9 out of 250 million people in Indonesia that are depressed. 

Famous people suffer from depression

Here are some characters from the Bible that suffered from depression such as David (Psalm 69:3), Job (Job 3:20), Elijah (1 King 19:4). Great people such as Billy Graham and Mother Theresa also suffered from depression. However, with the help and assurance from God, they became great people like others know them. 

The impact on my life

Depression isn’t something that I would wish on my worst enemy to have, and it played a significant and ultimately positive role in shaping me into who I am today.

It might seem strange, but I am thankful that I had the opportunity to overcome depression which came into my life at one time. Conquering what was once crippling my life has given me incredible strength. It has put my life in perspective and I have learnt to appreciate that every bad event in my life is now isn’t as hard as to what I’ve already overcome. As I have overcome depression, I would like to share the lessons I have learned.

Lessons I learned

Firstly, cherish those who will stand by you in my lowest of times. When I entered this dark phase of my life, I lost my closest friends, community, and my relationship with some of my family faltered. This is a lesson that reinforced me to look for new environments, new communities and new activities. I developed a skill that allowed me to quickly evaluate who I can and can’t trust. As a result of my experiences, I now focus my energy on building and developing deep bonds with people whom I believe to be loyal and genuine. Loyalty is one of the most underrated human traits and it’s also one of the best ways to build lifelong relationships with others. Some of my strongest friendships were permanently solidified when I came to help them, or they came to help me. People never forget who had helped them (and who didn’t) when they need it, so be a kind and be a loyal person.

Secondly, you cannot control what others think and how they treat you, but you can control your reaction towards them. Before I suffered from depression, I grew from an introverted person to a confident one, due to what I’ve achieved in my academic record and my career.  People may respect me because of what I’ve achieved. However, during my depressive period, I lost my confidence and all my achievements seemed insignificant because of my condition at that time, which affected how I thought of myself.  Not being able to work properly at that time, people start to lose their trust and respect to me. I realized that how others treat me is out of my control, but caring about what they think of me is a choice. I’ve also learned that when people treat me poorly, it’s more of a reflection of their character, and not mine.

Thirdly, living in a condition that you expect, can make you happier regardless you are wealthy or not. I might have achieved more than the average person at my age in work, which gave me the advantage to earn more than the average salary. However, I felt trapped with my job which I actually didn’t really enjoy because a lot of pressure has been placed on me. I wasn’t living up to my full potential. Today, I feel very close to being the best possible version of myself and thus living a joy-filled life. The best explanation of the root cause of happiness and unhappiness that I’ve ever come across is because I live in a situation that I like and passionate about.

And finally…

There is always a rainbow after the rain. I wouldn’t exchange my one year of depression for anything because it has shaped me into the relentless, passionate, happy and loyal person that I am today. I love life and I hope that my lessons and a happy ending will help anyone out there who is struggling to be optimistic during dark times.

Edited by: One of my smartest students: Joceline Geulista (Grade 10th, Beacon Light Community School)