Now the depressive cycle leads to the collapse of self-worth, and then to self-deprecation, and then to a feeling that the situation is hopeless. Hopeless attitudes produce changes in the responses of the mind and body, which begin to immobilize the person. God inspired Solomon to write.
That certainly is a true thing that I think all of us at some point have had to deal with.
In depression, all systems - that is, mental and physical - slow down. Growing evidence from medical and mental health research suggests that the changes occur in the chemical balance of the brain and the nervous system. These changed chemical imbalances alter the transmission of brain and nerve impulses, which in turn produce disturbing brain patterns and painful or crippling emotional and physical feelings.
For example, severe depressives often say, I can't get out of this. It's hopeless. I'll never get better again. Things will never change. And then others feel, I'm powerless to do anything. What's the use of trying? There are no options. I'm drained, empty. I can't sleep. I can't continue like this. But they see no way out.
In severe depression, almost everything is viewed negatively. The future appears bleak and unrewarding, with no apparent way of change or to change. Depressives mentally stop fighting; their sad feelings possess them. And they often assume others are equally obsessed with the same feelings, but the truth is they are not.
And one type of depressive, the manic depressive, swings between periods of extreme optimism and unfounded pessimism. So depressives stubbornly resist reassurances of their worth. Statements like, snap out of it, or pull yourself together usually have very little effect.
For every serious depressive, there are several masked depressives - people who function at far less than their ability in jobs and homes and schools. They do not realize that their emotional problems and difficulties with a job or other people or many of their physical ills are caused by subtle depression, which they do not recognize.
For many people, a lack of positive emotions and attitudes has become a way of life for so long that they do not realize why happiness and good feelings continue to elude them.
Now masked depressives find little genuine joy in life. They are constantly restless and irritable. They fill doctors' offices with real or imagined complaints of a lack of energy or chronic headaches, stomach problems, constipation, or similar ills. They are a large part of the up to 85% of patients visiting doctors' offices whose health problems are primarily mentally induced. Many of these patients seek a miracle drug to free them from their ills.
The peace of mind and better health they seek will only occur when they develop a positive and constructive mindset and approach to handling their problems, but easier said than done. Still others, because their depression is mixed with anxiety, engage in pleasure-seeking, sexual activity, or even violence. Growing numbers of depressives drown their depression in alcohol or drugs to kill the mental pain of weakness and emptiness and futility.
Now in normal grief at a loss, a certain amount of sadness or crying is often helpful and necessary to work through the normal feelings that we have. Grief at the loss of a loved one or something highly valued is not wrong, but it becomes unhealthy and damaging when it causes a total loss of personal self-worth or the desire to live.
The line between natural remorse and pathological depression may be a subjective judgment. For example, a man who loses a job and is unable to mobilize himself to find work for weeks after being fired or losing his job is seriously depressed and needs help and encouragement.
While the cause of the depression is often related to a loss that can be pinpointed - which is sometimes called a reactive depressive or depression - the cause can sometimes be much vaguer. It may be a mood not understood.
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