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When you hear that someone who is depressed is because they want to, answer this
Psychology
PM3:32According to WHO data, the depression affects more than 300 million people around the world. In fact, it is increasingly common to hear the word depression in our daily conversations, which is also often accompanied by terms such as weakness, defeatism or lack of attitude. There is a lot of talk about depression, but it is often done inappropriately or confusingly. The stigma existing around depression can cause people who suffer from it to avoid talking about how they feel, believing that this will prevent others from seeing them as lazy, weak and incapable of coping with their life.
Depression: what it is and what it is not
Given the stigma that surrounds this word, it is important to differentiate between what depression is and what it is not.
Depression is not a personal weakness, it is not an exaggeration or a simulation of discomfort and it is not a plot to get the attention of others. Furthermore, depression does not understand sociodemographic variables. It can occur in all areas, both in more disadvantaged contexts and in those more favorable or developed.
Depression is a mood disorder characterized by a series of psychological, behavioral and somatic symptoms, the most characteristic being the deep sorrow and the loss of interest o enjoyment capacity. We should not confuse the symptoms of depression with the usual mood swings or emotional responses that arise from stressful life events.
In depression, the symptoms are too intense, persistent and long-lasting, generating a great suffering and altering the daily performance of the person. In some cases, depressive symptoms can generate thoughts related to death or lead to suicide.
In addition, depression does not have its origin in a single factor, but is a complex phenomenon resulting from interactions between social, psychological and biological factors. Psychosocial factors involving ongoing stress and traumatic life events play an important role in the development of depression.
As we can see, posing depression as a symptom of weakness is totally inappropriate and wrong. This approach only contributes to the fact that people with depression tend to feel guilty, assuming the aforementioned prejudices and negatively influencing their recovery process. Changing our attitude to this reality and learning about it will allow us a more appropriate approach to it, implying a benefit for us and for the people around us.
Inés Santos has a degree in Psychology from the Complutense University of Madrid and specialized in Evidence-based Clinical Psychology, Child-Adolescent Behavior Therapy and Systemic Family Therapy. She is currently doing her thesis on gender differences in Depressive disorders and has participated in numerous national and international conferences.
She has extensive experience in teaching, as a supervisor of the PsiCall Telematic Psychological Care Service of the UCM and a tutor in the Master’s Degree in General Health Psychology of the UCM, as well as a professor at the European University. In addition, she is the author of different clinical psychology guides, such as’ Guide against hate speech and radicalization, we are more ‘,’ Guide for teachers’, ‘Help guides for refugees from Syria’, or ‘Psychological problems in young people university students’.
For his part, the psychologist Juan José Rodrigo, who is also part of the ‘In mental balance’ team, has developed his professional activity in the clinical and health field in various contexts; collaborating with different entities such as the Jiménez Díaz Foundation and SAMUR-Civil Protection. He has also worked in the Comprehensive Network of Attention to Drug Addiction of the Government of Castilla-La Mancha, carrying out prevention and intervention work at the family and individual level.
He has extensive experience with adults, adolescents and children in the treatment of anxiety disorders, emotional management, behavior problems, mood, grief, eating problems, addictive behaviors, family and relationship problems. He has specific training in attachment and trauma.