{"id":3303,"date":"2009-11-09T14:33:35","date_gmt":"2009-11-09T19:33:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/?p=3303"},"modified":"2017-06-22T10:30:10","modified_gmt":"2017-06-22T15:30:10","slug":"depression-is-real%e2%80%94and-it-sucks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/tartan-news\/2009\/11\/09\/depression-is-real%e2%80%94and-it-sucks\/","title":{"rendered":"Depression is real\u2014and it sucks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Depression is real, and it doesn\u2019t just hurt, it sucks.\u00a0 Ask any of the 19 million Americans<\/a> who have it.<\/p>\n

Or, if you prefer, you can just ask me.<\/p>\n

Depression is classified as a mental illness or mood disorder, \u201cnot something that you have made up in your head,\u201d according to the National Institute of Mental Health<\/a>.\u00a0 Trust me\u2014you can\u2019t just \u201csnap out of it,\u201d and it doesn\u2019t just go away.<\/p>\n

Despite the fact that depression is recognized as a medical condition, 22 percent of Americans see depression as a personal weakness, not a mental illness, according to a 10-year retrospective study by Mental Health America<\/a>.\u00a0 That same study revealed that only 63 percent of Americans would be comfortable interacting with someone receiving treatment for depression.<\/p>\n

So what\u2019s the deal?\u00a0 Is it okay to be diagnosed but not okay to do something about it?\u00a0 Is it expected to be a completely private condition?\u00a0 Should a person with depression suffer in silence so the people around them don\u2019t become uncomfortable?<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, in many cases, that\u2019s exactly what happens, according to PSYweb.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite the availability of effective treatment, most depressive disorders go untreated and undiagnosed,\u201d its Web site said.\u00a0 \u201cStudies indicate that general physicians fail to recognize depression in their patients at least half of the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

This says to me that depression is not only overlooked, but also that it\u2019s not taken seriously.\u00a0 How can people who may be clinically depressed feel comfortable seeking treatment when even doctors are failing to recognize this medical condition in their patients at least half of the time<\/em>?<\/p>\n

It took getting fired for me to seek treatment for my depression, but at the time I didn\u2019t know that I had it.\u00a0 I was in counseling for over a year before I accepted my diagnosis and even longer before I sought treatment.\u00a0 Even now I sometimes feel ashamed of my depression despite my knowledge of its medical validity.<\/p>\n

If you know someone who is or might be depressed, please don\u2019t give them a hard time or flippantly tell them to \u201cget over it.\u201d\u00a0 The last thing they need is for their condition to be dismissed.<\/p>\n

Be aware that depression is real, and it\u2019s awful.\u00a0 Trust me\u2014I would know.<\/p>\n

If you or someone you know suffers from depression, please visit these sites for more information:<\/em><\/p>\n

Information: <\/em>National Institute of Health<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Treatment: Mental Health America: Factsheet: How do I find treatment?<\/a>, National Institute of Mental Health: Getting Help: Locate Services<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Depression Myths: Mental Health America: Breaking Down the Myths about Depression<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

In crisis? Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline<\/a>‘s 24-hour toll-free crisis line at 1-800-273-TALK (8255)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Depression is real, and it doesn\u2019t just hurt, it sucks.\u00a0 Ask any of the 19 million Americans who have it. Or, if you prefer, you can just ask me. Depression is classified as a mental illness or mood disorder, \u201cnot something that you have made up in your head,\u201d according to the National Institute of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[777,1976],"class_list":["post-3303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tartan-news","tag-depression","tag-meagan-ewton"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":false,"source_text":false,"source_url":false},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5s3vR-Rh","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3303"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3303\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3370,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3303\/revisions\/3370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}