This week Jayashree Mishra has sought viewpoints of youngsters on depression and how to come out of it. Youngsters haven’t said much but they are unanimous as to there is need to come out of it. Let’s first understand what depression is. Without it, we can’t really plan our way out of it.
Let’s get deeper
Depression is a state of weakness. Mental state, physical manifestation all are secondary details. When you are weak, the outside world weighs heavy on you, overpowers you, your intellect, your reasoning, your vision and even your nervous system. What happens then? You reason in the line of the outside suggestions and infer wrongly. Now it becomes internalised and your energy centres are affected by it. You begin to think negatively and act awkwardly. Sometimes, you are gripped by the fear of the unknown, or a sense of inability to face a situation….and in extreme cases you go mad or end your life.
The mental state of Arjuna in the discourse one of the Bhagwad Gita details what depression is like and what happens to a person thereafter. You see the opposites as true, you see everything is going wrong, and you conclude negatively.
The principle of depression is simple. Weakness draws weakness. Weakness is like an obstruction in the energy flow. Imagine a little piece of brick in your kitchen drain. If you allow it to be there, it begins to gather filth around it and grows fatter. Finally, it creates a blockage in the system. Instead of draining the filthy water, the drain begins to throw it back into the kitchen. What happens? Your kitchen stinks, develops harmful bacteria, which infect your food and you begin to grow weaker till you fall ill. This entire process is called depression.
Outside vs inside
In fact, as long as you think in terms of outside and inside, you are vulnerable to depression. Because, everything is happening inside only. Outside, as you perceive, is nothing but a trigger, a blow which ticks off a chain of thoughts and chemical energy transformation inside. But, to understand it simply. It is always inside which matters. You think inside, not outside. Do you? You feel inside, not outside. Do you? Therefore, if we know how to handle inside, we can handle depression and come out of it.
How to come out of it
Well krrisha.com organises sessions and workshops on such issues. Join one of them and learn the art yourself. Everybody wants to know God, see God, realise God. But, none wants to prepare for that event. We, at Krrisha, strongly believe that unless you are prepared to handle yourself, you cannot handle depression.
There is a popular word nowadays—be positive, think positive and you can come out of depression. It is easier said than done. These are all words. They may work to some extent but in the absence of a proper training, one cannot really handle depression.
It is a physiological event and can be handled through scientific methods as given in the Bhagwad Gita. But, the best way till then is to believe that every situation comes to make you stronger, face a situation till it moves out of your way. Don’t run away! Running away is not the solution. The solution lies in facing the situation. For that you need energy. Depression is nothing but the sign of weakness. Strength alone can help you remove the weakness. You can’t remove weakness by weakness. This is what Krishna told Arjuna in the Gita: ‘Get up and fight! This faint-heartedness doesn’t behove you’.
This is strength. This is what we need today.
Use your strength to fight depression. And if you want to learn the technique, you can join krrisha workshops or Gita sessions. That will equip you with the technique forever.
Vivek Sharma
Editor-In-Chief
Krrisha.com
Depression is a state of mind in which a person loses his capacity to reason s/he remains confused by the things which are simple. The person who is depressed starts blaming himself/herself of everything bad which happens. The cause for depression may differ from person to person. For someone the cause could be a loss incurred in business, for the other person it could be because of the diet they have. But in today’s scenario the widely held cause of depression amongst youngsters is failed or disturbed love life which they seem to prioritise above all. They are unable to deal with their feelings and emotions which is evident outside as- they start neglecting things, over thinking, becoming sensitive towards what he/she presumed as a joke ones, slowly cocooning themselves from outside world. Inside because s/he become very conservative and also most of the times they are in very sad or upset mood which you can feel from a distance.. According to me if I would have been suffering from depression I would like to talk it out with someone who is closest to me and is mature enough to give an advice.
Inference: Simple things seem confusing when a person is depressed. We can talk it out with someone closer and more mature to come out of it.
Sarvagya
Depression is something which is indescribable. I understand it as a feeling. The signs that somebody is depressed can be observed easily like- lack of energy for much time, losing interest, feeling hopeless.
Depression affects the human body in various ways. It is a feeling of being devoid of any essence of life. It obstructs your reasoning faculty and makes you feel all alone with a presumption that there is no way out. It is an issue which is related to mental health. But in India it is less cared for even when the first symptom arises since we still consider it as no disease or a taboo. There are plenty of causes for depression few are—unexpected changes in lifestyle, environment, gut bacteria, family history and much more. In short depression makes your body-mind system weak. Depression might be easier to explain and discuss but rather difficult for a person dealing with it.
Though many websites on the internet points the need of a hobby for dealing with depression without pointing out the pragmatic utility of the advice I would like to say the best way is to lie to yourself about a situation because we tend to over think about the situations we are in often rendering ourselves helpless and anxious. This all can be avoided by just not admitting that there is a problem in the first place by doing so a major cause of depression that is over thinking can be avoided.
Inference: Depression renders your body-mind system weak. By lying to ourselves about a problem we will eventually not over think about it since problems rise only when you think about it.
Monaik
It’s a state wherein you constantly feel helpless and burdened. Every single situation appears as a monster which is undefeatable. Your brain will over think and become sensitive towards everything you do or that happens to you. What’s worse is that you don’t recognise the symptoms in the beginning. You don’t realise what is happening to you until it takes a toll on your physical and mental health. You start blaming yourself for everything wrong in your life and the lives of those close to you. You desperately try to stay included and force yourself to be happy. Not even acknowledging that something is causing you to be sad and have such crushing thoughts. If the person does not seek help at the right time it could very well lead to drastic results such as self harming or committing suicide.There can be a number of causes for it. Not to generalise one as each person is different. Not to mention nobody ever knows when they start being depressed.
I personally believe it’s because of two reasons.First is Society --I’m not just talking about neighbors or a community that we’re in. Society includes everyone, from our neighbors to our families, friends, teachers, classmates, acquaintances and even the people we’ve never met. It’s how our society is behaving that affects us. Any tragedy or major change that happens affects us. Family pressure/death/fight or seeing the others suffer just adds to it. Second is Our Mind--An individual’s biggest enemy and friend is their own mind. You can get lost in your mind in the deepest darkest corner of it and never come out. Not unless you’re powerful enough and actually want to help yourself. All that happens around us will one day get to you, even if it’s just for five minutes, and it will crush your entire world.Our mind is our biggest enemy but it is also our greatest strength and we should take this as an advantage. Our mind is the only thing that can get you out of anything. It is the only thing you can rely on at times and if you let what others say affect you then you’re doomed.I don’t think you can do anything unless you want to help yourself. Without actually having the will to help yourself you can never come out of depression.
Like I said before, recognising the symptoms is a challenge in itself and in today’s scenario “being depressed” is another name for craving attention and being lazy so people misunderstand the term and it’s seriousness. I do not think you need to do anything physically to come out of it. All you need to realize is that this self infliction of pain when you are depressed is not going to help anyone and nobody can bring you out of it than you.
Inference: There are two reasons of depression—society and one’s own mind. A person should be determined to come out of depression as there is no physical means to do it.
Swadha
Depression is a mental illness. Millions of teenagers, adults and even children suffer from this disease and the number is increasing each day. It affects the way a person perceives and reacts, brings feelings of despair and worry, and overall impacts their lifestyle.Often there may not be a definite reason for a person to be depressed. But, depression is commonly seen in people who have suffered or are suffering through emotional turmoil and trauma, and also those who have it genetically. It mainly affects a person on the inside and distorts the way they think, but being depressed for a long duration causes physical symptoms to show, as well. There is no specified way for one to "come out" of depression; it is one disease that affects every person that suffers through it, differently. A combination of different factors such as support by friends and family, help by professionals, sometimes methods such as medication and therapy are required in order to help people overcome severe depression. No depression is small, the only way to truly cure oneself from depression, they have to reach out for help and have belief in themselves.
Inference: Depression is a common outcome of an unresolved emotional turmoil or genes. Depressed people should reach out for help to come out of it.
Suruchi
In my opinion depression is certainly a feeling when a person feels so low in life that any other thing doesn’t make him or her happy, they show that they are satisfied and happy but in reality they aren’t, they have lost their state of mind and nothing in the world can make them happy. Well depression is one of the major causes of suicides these days and the majority of them are teenagers now! Teenagers go under a lot of pressure and emotional changes and peer pressure which leads them to depression or mood swings or other stuff which changes the emotional well being!
As I have stated above, depression is caused by peer pressure, emotional distress and sudden change in lifestyle or some huge change in life!
Well technically all people undergo depression once in a lifetime at least, it may be due to mortgage, bills, life, midlife crisis, relationships, deaths, studies, etc, but it may be also due to bullying or some scar left on a person by someone long ago or just the previous day, you can leave a scar on someone and you can’t undo it! It’s there in their minds, their hearts, their bodies, forever and you can do nothing in the world to change it.
People may be wondering it’s all outside but in reality depression is on the inside, it’s because of the thinking and feeling of a person! The person can fight over depression by just being happy and living life and moving on and we all know that one day we all will die and we won’t remember what once happened in this life or what we did or who we were with, we won’t be able to remember anything, the only thing we’ll remember is that we are the same person who died!! No one wants regrets in life and to be honest nobody likes to be sad!! A wise man once said, “an empty mind is devils home” so yeah, if you dwell over sadness then you can’t explore the big things in life! And that is what depression wants!! It wants to take up the minds of people and even it has started a trend everywhere! Every person relates their sadness with depression! We all need inner peace and solitude. Breathe in and breathe out, just relax when something goes wrong. What do I do to come out of depression? I listen to songs. Talk to as many people as possible. I love myself; Think about all the chances I will get to do in life. I think of the perfect sunsets and sunrises I will see. Well, admire everything while it lasts, don’t let depression kill your happiness, it won’t last forever, it’s like a fear, once you get over your fear, you’ll be happy.
Inference: Depression is a state within and not without. All of us face this situation once in our lifetime. The best way is to not let depression kill ones happiness and that can be done by engaging in creative activities.
Aayushi
Depression is a mental illness, and a symptom of various mental disorders. It is a state of mind wherein the individual suffering from depression feels a sense of perpetual sadness, loses all interest in day-to-day activities, tends to over think situations, and exaggerates the negativity in life even if it doesn't persist. Depression has a dynamic spectrum of causes ranging from bad childhood experiences to no feeling of belongingness and social isolation and genetically conceived. In few individuals you may through observation of their behavior identify them as depressed but the majority is of those who are not easy to identify simply because either they are unaware of this state or are good at camouflaging it since it could be a source of humiliation for them . Depression can prove to be harmful in the long run. It can either be internalized or externalized subjectively. Depression is like a vortex of sadness that an individual can succumb to. For an unfortunate few, depression is a lifelong baggage that their fragile mind has to carry. However, anyone aware of this state of their mind should know how important it is to conduct their daily life and not stop what you do daily. Support from friends and family, methods of improving one's self-esteem, dealing with mental peace through methods of meditation and yoga, talking to somebody who can lend an ear, talking about your state of mind comfortably with your near and dear ones, entailing a positive regard for the littlest moments of happiness, maybe seeking professional and medical help if necessary, are all ways to battle depression. One may not entirely phase it out of their life, but all matters is their willingness to fight it till the end. And if one's committing enough to achieve something that indisputably difficult, the sky's not the limit.
Inference: Depression is like a vortex of sadness that an individual can succumb to. Willingness to fight depression is crucial step for overcoming depression.
Saachi
Depression is the prolonged inability to get over sadness. Depression mostly takes birth due to our own inability to deal with stress, when the stress goes past the saturation point; it is easier to get depressed.
When I suffered from it, I gave it time, thought it through; what was disturbing my mind, sat down for once and contemplated about it all from the start. That helped kick start my brain again to move forward.
Inference: Depression is the prolonged inability to get over sadness. By giving time and finding out the reason behind depression thus resolving it gives brain direction and hope.
Manas
Depression is a mental disorder that affects our mental and physical health both. It involves feelings of extreme sadness, low self esteem and confidence and self loathing. Depression could be genetic or external situation could be the cause of it like-- Bad childhood, abuse, loss of a loved one, or continuous disturbing personal experiences. What is essential is to observe the way you perceive various events in your life. Eg. Death of a mother can be very disturbing for a child. One might enter grief and eventually depression due to it. On the other hand if one accepts the reality of death and that it is inevitable and not in our control, one might escape depression. . Several other reasons like side effects of other medications, conflicts in mind. The best way to cope with depression is by seeking a professional help from a psychiatrists. But more than that, one must be willing to help one's own self. One must have the will to improve and live a better life. Realistic perception of life, reducing irrational thoughts, surrounding one self with positive people who show us our good side, engaging in hobbies, writing diary to reflect on one's thoughts and feelings, exercising and having a nutritious diet, playing with animals, traveling, learning new skills, etc. all these things help us have a new perspective and a new purpose in life and help us get out of depression. One needs to accept the disturbing events a person has undergone, and understand the reasons behind it. We need to take lessons from such events and let them go. We need to accept and realize that situations in life are not in our control, but how we face them is in our control. So we need to learn to face them better and cope with them in better ways. By not accepting what has happened you run away from it which should be the last option for an individual.
Inference:Depression is a mental disorder. It is best to take medical or professional help from therapists and psychiatrists.
Srushti
Depression is a type of mental illness where the person has a lack of positive emotions and surplus of negativity due to certain life experiences. These life experiences are generally bitter as a result the person is traumatised. Symptoms of depression include change in sleeping patterns, eating too much or too less, substance abuse, suicidal tendencies etc. Depression can have both internal and external causes. For example, some females go through depression post pregnancy. Another example of the same could be the fact that some people are genetically prone to depression. External causes of depression are plenty though; they are person specific in nature. For e.g.: one person might get depressed after a breakup whereas, another person might be able to cope with it without any difficulty. Different situations effect different people to different degrees. Hence, external causes of depression cannot be generalised. We often tend to judge people and make remarks like "how can she/he be depressed on facing such a minor issue". I firmly believe that one must not indulged into such judgments and abstain from making such remarks as the person who is suffering from the actual problem knows it's real complications. For a person to come out of depression, support from family and friends is very important. One must try and speak about the issues that they are facing rather than keeping it to themselves. People often tend to avoid seeing a psychologist by labeling the issue as a 'minor problem' which should be condemned. Depression is not a minor problem and awareness regarding the same is crucial. As for the person suffering from depression - Watch movies, spend time with your family, hang out with friends, eat healthy, exercise daily, track your sleep, eat lots of chocolates, read books, cut off the negativity from your life, prioritize yourself, do what makes your soul happy
Inference: It is very important to accept a person who is depressed without any judgments, a problem could be minor for someone looking from a distance but the reality of its seriousness can only be known by the person who is in depression. Support from friends and family is very important when dealing with depression.
Samam
Depression is a psychological disorder. It is a state where one gets tired of life and its phases and feels like ending it all. In todays times, this word is used in very common conversations and has lost its gravity and its very serious consequences. This can be genetically passed or developed due to many reasons like sudden death of a loved one or post war effects that lead to post traumatic stress disorder. Depression these days accounts to more numbers than it was before. The reason being(as what I gauge) is that today the generation has lost the aura of healthy relationships, healthy dependence and mutual trust amongst humanity! What we are today is behind the social media mask of fake relationships and friendships that add to another follower!
Hence to sum it up, depression is a mental health disorder and major result being withdrawn from daily socialising and life routine, leading to isolation and consuming oneself in the target problem leading to depression. Causes of depression can be:
Genetic makeup and passing on to next generation,Sudden death of a close one,Traumatic events like natural disasters, shooting and killing in front of ones eyes, being a war survivor,Bitter childhood experiences like abusive father or mother,Being sexually harassed,Substance abuse,Loss of jobs or moving into new circle of socialising, Break-ups or being betrayed,Some drugs, such as isotretinoin (used to treat acne)
Depression is more of an internal battle as it is a mental health disorder. A person at initial stage of depression may show he is happy from outside but later, depression takes the outside form too as then one withdraws completely from social and daily normal activities.The biggest help to a depression victim is that his/her family or friends be around him and help him pep up. They play the crucial most role in the victims life as the major reason for enhancement of depression is isolation. Hence if he/she is around people he might get over it or be a better shade and improve.Showing the client to the therapist and making him interact with a professional as they are practiced and help the patient a lot. Petting an animal and involving oneself with nature and activities which give a peace of mind like travelling to hilly areas, learning instruments, penning down poems or stories. Being positive of things getting better. Though a very difficult thing as even a healthy person gets frustrated of day to day life, but if someone consistently reminds him/her of a better day, things might get better.Exercising: Exercising helps release secretions which can fight depression.Eating healthy like more of vitamins like vitamin B, cutting on fat and sugar food.
Inference:Depression is more of an internal battle as it is a mental health disorder. Recreational activities help in overcoming depression.
Radhika
