World day to fight depression.
Every January 13th, World Depression Day is commemorated. It is on this day that you can see a multitude of publications with information about what depression is, what its symptoms are, types and even the most varied treatments are explained. including recommendations to combat it.
Do we really know what it is and do we understand it?
Every day people face challenges of all levels, each person deals with these situations with their own tools, their learning, experiences and knowledge, they give the best of themselves to resolve these challenges hoping that the result will favor them and cause the least possible damage.
The learning that the person has is precisely the key to being able to have the best tools in each situation, and depression is a type of learning, in addition to the fact that it is partly genetically heritable, that is, a person predisposed to suffer from depression or depressive, this may be his way of interpreting and responding to his own challenges, because that is how he learned it and that is how he has developed it over time, I will explain.
The way reality is interpreted is bidirectional
First, the information that comes from outside through the senses and that reaches our brain, where it is filtered, interpreted, recorded and stored, and from here, the brain sends a response to all systems, this type of response is measurable and is based on the symptoms and signs that appear in response to the trauma experienced, this measurement is quick and effective in obtaining a diagnosis of depression.
In the second way, the journey is the other way around, here the information is first generated in the brain from the learning acquired, the knowledge and experiences lived and it sends this information to all the systems, which offer an external response according to the information received by the brain, feeding back and interacting with the outside in this way, depression here is shown in the type of thoughts that are generated (negative or harmful thoughts) that feed beliefs (distorted) and end up having attitudes (maladaptive). .
Therefore, we have two mechanisms for interpreting reality, in which depression, in addition to having a genetic and biochemical component, is influenced by personality, the person's environment, level of development, number of pleasant vs. unpleasant experiences, network. of support, other mental or physical problems, sex and even age.
People constantly live a process in which they must readjust to a world that demands a response with their own tools, knowledge and experiences, but what happens when that person suffers from depression? Beyond explaining all the clinical implications, I would like to focus on the interpretation part that I mentioned before.
When a person suffers an episode of depression in response to a traumatic experience, they live a cycle of readjustment to life with a beginning and an end, in the best of cases (in another article I will talk about complicated grief), but when a person suffers from chronic depression or numerous and continuous cycles of depression, it is not known for sure (but it can be found out) about its beginning, and it is very difficult for this process to come to an end, because it is very likely that both mechanisms of interpretation of the reality of the person are under the constant influence of depression and therefore do not know any other way of interpreting and responding to the reality that surrounds them.
In the first case, the person usually has learning, in addition to favorable factors and, consequently, the necessary tools to be able to cope with this process, but in the second case, the person usually does not have them, and it is necessary to teach him or her to learn. again to see the reality in front of him and respond to it, in addition to trying to minimize risk factors.
Depression is related to learning
This teaching is the basis of the work done in psychotherapy when working on depression, however, the sessions are usually 1 or 2 times a week, so most of the work is done in the person's own environment, and in many cases, unfortunately, it is this environment itself that causes or fuels these depressive states.
This is the part that concerns us as a society, understanding this readaptation process that we have all gone through at some point in life or will go through, understanding that not all people respond the same or have the same tools, understanding that there are bigger challenges that ourselves and above all, understand that we have each other, that we are not alone.
I appreciate you reading this far and I hope you enjoyed reading, I'm here if you need me.
Psic. Ylenia Abril - Tu espacio mental
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