Depression, a silent killer...

Depression.

A simple word. But we all know the power this word holds. How it destroys people. Life doesn't go the way we plan. We face ups and downs in our life. Throughout this journey, sometimes we feel sad and unmotivated to do things. But when someone feels that sadness persistently and loses interest in doing things ,then it's called depression. Research says that if anyone feels consistent sadness for the past few weeks and loses interest in doing his/her favorite  activities then he/she is suffering from depression.

Globally more than 264 million people suffer from depression. Depression can affect people of all ages. It can be over any reason . Some may get depressed for not getting the dream academic comeback, some may for not getting the dream job, some may have lost their close ones. There is not a specific criteria or reason why people get depressed.

And once you experience it, it never exactly goes away. You continue to feel it again and again in your life.

There are some significant signs of having depression. First one is isolation. If a person is depressed he will isolate himself from all social activities and interactions. He will distance himself from his close ones. Secondly, he will lose interest in doing his hobbies like playing the guitar, painting, gardening because nothing seems fun to him, nothing feels motivational. Thirdly, his sleeping schedule will be in a messed up situation.

Sometimes he may find himself sleeping too much, because sleep becomes an escape for him from reality and sometimes he may find himself staying up the whole night. Depression sometimes causes insomnia too. Sometimes, he might notice a huge change in his food habits. Either he will lose appetite or will eat too much. Moreover, he will have less concentration and will have low self esteem.

But there is a term named hidden depression. Sometimes we don't even know that the happiest friend of ours is depressed. Because he is faking it. He is faking being happy.

He is always putting a fake smile on his face, that we can’t even tell that he is going through a tough time. On the inside, he is feeling easily frustrated and irritable, hopelessness, less confident, emptiness.  

Eventually, this leads a person to chronic depression, where he doesn't want to live anymore. He loses all the hope to live a life and becomes suicidal .He becomes indecisive whether to end his life or not.

Because he can't make anyone understand what is going inside his head and mind. That it is not just a feeling, it is a disease.

And sadly, in most cases ,the people around us don't understand a person who is suffering from a mental disorder like depression. Because it’s not visible as a physical illness. You can see blood if you have a cut on your body. But the cut you have on your mind, which does not show any blood, causes more pain because it is only visible to you. So he chose the easiest way to end this pain by taking his life. 

Though we have solutions to depression, we cannot save many of them suffering from it because they cannot reach out for help. Research says about 7 out of every hundred men and 1 out of every hundred women who have been diagnosed with depression in their lifetime will go on to complete suicide.