Depression like a blanket

Press, 24 May 1977, Page 19

Depression like a blanket

“You just want to lie down on the carpet and die," was how one patient described her feelings during th° “miseries.” She could offer no reason for her depression as she said she was very happily married, had a loving family, and an interesting teaching position. "People tell you to snap out of it and you can’t,” she said. Another middle-aged woman said: “You’re lost, feel alone and lifeless. Not just lifeless, you don’t want to do anything, just weep.*’ Judith said she was overdosing and ready to die. The brain, like any

other part of the body, breaks down and requires repair. Arterio-sclerosis clogs the arteries of the head as well as other areas, while diseases like chronic alcoholism kill brain cells. But the brain is also affected by causes hard to pinpoint, but which are psychogenic rather than organic. They may be as numerous as the people who suffer from them and result in chronic depression (melancholia,, schizophrenia, psychoses and personality defects. For organic breakdowns, surgery and drugs may offer a cure. For the less tangible psychological disorders or mental illness.

psycho-therapy, drugs and E.C.T. are used with varying degrees of success. Many psychiatrists claim that some patients do not respond to psychotherapy or drugs. If progress is too slow there is suffering, and the risk of suicide is too great, E.C.T. is used with good results, they say. A combination of all three may be used but the treatment is decided by the psychiatrist. The classic symptoms of depression are low spirits, feelings of guilt and unworthiness, inability to sleep, sadness, weight loss and a general loss of interest and sense of enjoyment. In the medical sense, “depression” is much

more severe than simply being down in the dumps, which we all experience. There are many types of depression: neurotic, reactive or misery, which are usually treated by psychotherapy; and serve endogenous and psychotic depressions and melancholia which are normally treated by drugs, or drugs and E.C.T. “Endogenous depression is a very widespread disorder which, undiagnosed, can lead to tragedy — suicide and homicide — as well as chronic invalidism,” according to Anthony Hordern and David Wheatley, who also state that when recognised and treated there is an ex-

cellent chance of recovery from ; t. It was important to remember that driving, energetic, dependable people, imbued with a strong sense of duty are among those who are especially prone to develop endogenous depression through overloading themselves, they said. Symptons vary according to the type of depressive illness. A senior professional woman said that the onset of her illness was like a blanket coming down. She was not aware of what was happening to her and it. was not until her colleagues told her that she was acting strangely that she sought treatment.

For a time she was so ill that now she cannot remember that period. After drugs and E.C.T. she recovered and returned to work. “When one gets a glimmer of well-being it’s remendous,” she said. Several factors seem to spark off depressions. Stress from physical illness, effects of drugs including alcohol, and psychological problems caused by bereavement, retirement, moving house, or long-term hardship are often significant. Neurotic illnesses may be passed down genetically or develop from childhood.