I heard the news about Robin William's death at the breakfast table today. It came as quite a shock, mostly after hearing the cause of death. It is speculated to be suicide. He had taken his own life.
Robin Williams has won the hearts of so many people around the world with his brilliant acting. He portrayed human issues through his acting, and many of the films he acted in were joyous, funny, but some of them had a sad feel about them too. Patch Adams is one of my favourite films in which Robin Williams plays the part of the clown doctor Patch, and he did a wonderful job of it.
Hearing about his death, the question arose. Here is a comedian, who makes other people laugh until their stomachs hurt, and is loved for his hilarious nature, but according to reports has been battling depression. One would think, being the happy comedian that he is, that nothing could make him blue. We tend to take seemingly happy people for granted, thinking that they know how to handle their lives. They are on top of it all. They live to make others laugh, but are they laughing inside?
Depression can hit you when you least expect it. It creeps up on you, and you wont even know it. It's a silent killer, but a deadly one when aggravated. It is like the common cold now, so rampant and still spreading it's tentacles without any inhibition. You might ask yourself, why? Is it the genetics? lifestyles? thought patterns? brain chemistry?. One can ask and ask, but still remain stuck. Science has given reasons as to why depression occurs, but is science everything?.
Rejection, loss, overwhelming pain, hopelessness, disillusionment, are all words we associate depression with. Yes, they are very much a part of the depressive chain, and the links only seem to get stronger and stronger. Society does not have time for feelings any more, they are not validated, given any importance, but shunned and avoided at every opportunity. I might be generalizing a great deal here, but it happens. Parents do not listen to feelings of their children, maybe because their parents never listened to them. We don't know how to be emotionally present with another person. The skill required is absent. I myself am a culprit sometimes, though I might work in the field of mental health.
So, here are some ways you can identify and deal with depression.
Depression might look like this...
1. Feelings of emptiness, apathy, and being seemingly numb.
2. Lack of interest in activities you were once so passionate about.
3. Fatigue, often unexplained.
4. Sleep patterns going haywire.
5. Deterioration in personal hygiene; you might not feel like washing and brushing as often as you are used to.
6. Your appetite will start to play tricks on you. You might eat more than you usually do, or you might not feel like eating at all.
7. You might find yourself withdrawing from social circles, relationships, and finding comfort in isolating yourself.
8. Waking up every morning might be a tough thing to do.
9. Lethargy might hit you from all corners.
10. You might get irritated for so called ' little things' which might not be little for you at that moment.
11. Your arms and legs might feel heavy.
12. There might be unexplained shoulder and neck pain.
13. Gastritis might appear out of the blue and so might headaches.
14. You might feel like wanting to harm yourself or end your life, and also feel guilty about feeling the way you feel.
So how do we deal with ' Dear D'?
1. Listen.
2. Try not to judge or evaluate.
3. I know we like to give advice, but try not to.
4. Don't press the other person's buttons too much. Give him/her space.
5. Put your feeling cap on and not your thinking cap.
6. Try not to harp on meditation and other religious practices unless the person himself sees it as a coping mechanism. Meditation is not the answer to everything,and it can sometimes backfire.
7. Avoid phrases like ' Aney Pau Oyaata' or ' ay ohoma hithanne?' or ' Aney oovath prashnada?'.
8. ' Why' questions must be avoided.
9. Break the stigma and encourage the person to seek help.
10. Don't panic mate. Depression can be treated.
Robin Williams has won the hearts of so many people around the world with his brilliant acting. He portrayed human issues through his acting, and many of the films he acted in were joyous, funny, but some of them had a sad feel about them too. Patch Adams is one of my favourite films in which Robin Williams plays the part of the clown doctor Patch, and he did a wonderful job of it.
Hearing about his death, the question arose. Here is a comedian, who makes other people laugh until their stomachs hurt, and is loved for his hilarious nature, but according to reports has been battling depression. One would think, being the happy comedian that he is, that nothing could make him blue. We tend to take seemingly happy people for granted, thinking that they know how to handle their lives. They are on top of it all. They live to make others laugh, but are they laughing inside?
Depression can hit you when you least expect it. It creeps up on you, and you wont even know it. It's a silent killer, but a deadly one when aggravated. It is like the common cold now, so rampant and still spreading it's tentacles without any inhibition. You might ask yourself, why? Is it the genetics? lifestyles? thought patterns? brain chemistry?. One can ask and ask, but still remain stuck. Science has given reasons as to why depression occurs, but is science everything?.
Rejection, loss, overwhelming pain, hopelessness, disillusionment, are all words we associate depression with. Yes, they are very much a part of the depressive chain, and the links only seem to get stronger and stronger. Society does not have time for feelings any more, they are not validated, given any importance, but shunned and avoided at every opportunity. I might be generalizing a great deal here, but it happens. Parents do not listen to feelings of their children, maybe because their parents never listened to them. We don't know how to be emotionally present with another person. The skill required is absent. I myself am a culprit sometimes, though I might work in the field of mental health.
So, here are some ways you can identify and deal with depression.
Depression might look like this...
1. Feelings of emptiness, apathy, and being seemingly numb.
2. Lack of interest in activities you were once so passionate about.
3. Fatigue, often unexplained.
4. Sleep patterns going haywire.
5. Deterioration in personal hygiene; you might not feel like washing and brushing as often as you are used to.
6. Your appetite will start to play tricks on you. You might eat more than you usually do, or you might not feel like eating at all.
7. You might find yourself withdrawing from social circles, relationships, and finding comfort in isolating yourself.
8. Waking up every morning might be a tough thing to do.
9. Lethargy might hit you from all corners.
10. You might get irritated for so called ' little things' which might not be little for you at that moment.
11. Your arms and legs might feel heavy.
12. There might be unexplained shoulder and neck pain.
13. Gastritis might appear out of the blue and so might headaches.
14. You might feel like wanting to harm yourself or end your life, and also feel guilty about feeling the way you feel.
So how do we deal with ' Dear D'?
1. Listen.
2. Try not to judge or evaluate.
3. I know we like to give advice, but try not to.
4. Don't press the other person's buttons too much. Give him/her space.
5. Put your feeling cap on and not your thinking cap.
6. Try not to harp on meditation and other religious practices unless the person himself sees it as a coping mechanism. Meditation is not the answer to everything,and it can sometimes backfire.
7. Avoid phrases like ' Aney Pau Oyaata' or ' ay ohoma hithanne?' or ' Aney oovath prashnada?'.
8. ' Why' questions must be avoided.
9. Break the stigma and encourage the person to seek help.
10. Don't panic mate. Depression can be treated.
No comments:
Post a Comment