Depression!
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You must not let this go any farther. You must grab your boot straps and pull yourself out of it, any way you can. Take yourself out and buy some new clothes, go somewhere were people know and like you. In my case that place would be Dan Tana's in West Hollywood, CA.
Signs That You are Depressed
* You've got enough Prozac in your purse to tranquilize King Kong.* You really lose it whenever someone says, "Good morning."
* You spend more time in bed than a hooker at a Shriners convention.
* You keep your house so dark that mushrooms are growing in the carpet.
* Given a choice, you'd have no preference between sex or a root canal.
* On a really bad day, you wouldn't come to the door if it was Publishers Clearing House.
* You list Dr. Kevorkian as a character reference.
* Alcohol gives you strength and food settles your nerves.
* Your hands shake so badly that you can brush your teeth without any voluntary movement.
* You've cried so much that your contacts have rusted to your eyeballs.
Melancholia Greek, in contemporary usage, is a mood disorder of non-specific depression, characterized by low levels of enthusiasm and low levels of eagerness for activity. In a modern context, "melancholy" applies only to the mental or emotional symptoms of depression or despondency; historically, "melancholia" could be physical as well as mental, and melancholic conditions were classified as such by their common cause rather than by their properties. Similarly, melancholia in ancient usage also encompassed mental disorders which would later be differentiated as schizophrenias or bipolar disorders.
Depression History
The name "melancholia" comes from the old medical theory of the four humours: disease being caused by an imbalance in one or other of the four basic bodily fluids, or humours. Personality types were similarly determined by the dominant humour in a particular person. Melancholia was caused by an excess of black bile; hence the name, which means 'black bile' (Greek µe?a?, melas, "black", kholé, "bile"); a person whose constitution tended to have a preponderance of black bile had a melancholic disposition.Melancholia was described as a distinct disease with particular mental and physical symptoms as early as the fifth and fourth centuries BC. Hippocrates, in his Aphorisms, characterized all "fears and despondencies, if they last a long time" as being symptomatic of melancholia.
The most extended treatment of melancholia comes from Robert Burton, whose The Anatomy of Melancholy treats the subject from both a literary and a medical perspective.
Burton wrote in the 16th century that music and dance were critical in treating mental illness, especially melancholia. In November 2006, Dr. Michael J. Crawford and his colleagues again found that music therapy helped the outcomes of Schizophrenic patients.
A famous allegorical engraving by Albrecht Dürer is entitled Melencolia I. This engraving references melancholia as the state of waiting for inspiration to strike, and not necessarily as a depressive affliction. Amongst other allegorical symbols, the picture includes a magic square, and a truncated rhombohedron. The image in turn inspired a passage in The City of Dreadful Night by James Thomson (B.V.), and, a few years later, a sonnet by Edward Dowden.
Depression The cult of melancholia
During the early 17th century, a curious cultural and literary cult of melancholia arose in England. It was believed that religious uncertainties caused by the English Reformation and a greater attention being paid to issues of sin, damnation, and salvation, led to this effect.In music, the post-Elizabethan cult of melancholia is associated with John Dowland, whose motto was Semper Dowland, semper dolens. ("Always Dowland, always mourning.") The melancholy man, known to contemporaries as a "malcontent," is epitomized by Shakespeare's Prince Hamlet, the "Melancholy Dane." Another literary expression of this cultural mood comes from the death-obsessed later works of John Donne. Other major melancholic authors include Sir Thomas Browne, and Jeremy Taylor, whose Hydriotaphia, Urn Burial and Holy Living and Holy Dying, respectively, contain extensive meditations on death.
A similar phenomenon, though not under the same name, occurred during Romanticism, with such works as The Sorrows of Young Werther by Goethe.
In the 20th century, much of the counterculture of modernism was fueled by comparable alienation and a sense of purposelessness called "anomie."
Depression, or a depressed mood, may in everyday English refer to a state of melancholia, unhappiness or sadness, or to a relatively minor downturn in mood that may last only a few hours or days. This is generally seen as quite distinct from the diagnosis of clinical depression. However, if depressed mood lasts at least two weeks, and is accompanied by other symptoms that interfere with daily living, it may be seen as a symptom of clinical depression, dysthymia or some other diagnosable mental illness, or alternatively as sub-syndromal depression.
In the field of psychiatry, the word depression can also have this meaning of low mood but more specifically refers to a mental health condition when it has reached a severity and duration to warrant a diagnosis, whether there is an obvious situational cause or not; see Clinical depression for this meaning. A typical psychiatric description of depressed mood (in the DSM) is "... depressed, sad, hopeless, discouraged, or 'down in the dumps'." In a clinical setting, a depressed mood can be something a patient reports (a symptom), or something a clinician observes (a sign), or both.
A depressed mood is generally situational and reactive, and associated with grief, loss, or a major social transition. A change of residence, marriage, divorce, the break-up of a significant relationship, the death of a loved one, graduation, or job loss are all examples of instances that might trigger a depressed mood.
Depression Determinants of mood
Depression can be the result of many factors, individually and acting in concert.Depression Environment
Reactions to events, often a loss in some form, are perhaps the most obvious causes. This loss may be obvious, such as the death of a loved one, or having moved from one home to another, or less obvious, such as disillusionment about one's career prospects. A significant disappointment, such as when a trusted professional fails to provide expected helpful assistance may trigger a discouraged response. Monotonous environments or boring personal or vocational routines can be depressing. A lack of control over one's environment can lead to feelings of helplessness. Domestic disputes, financial difficulties, or a sense that the lives of others are more successful or enjoyable are common contributors to a depressed mood. The inability to adequately express one's feelings or to not have them be accepted as valid by others can lead to a feeling of unexplainable sadness or grief.Depression Psychological factors
Sometimes the depressed mood may relate more to internal processes or even be triggered by them. Pessimistic views of life or a lack of self-esteem can lead to depression. Illnesses and changes in cognition that occur in psychosis and dementias, to name but two, can a hypothesized innate disposition to depression), neurochemistry (e.g. high levels of stress hormones such as cortisol, low dopamine activity), sleep patterns, female hormone imbalance (e.g. PMS in women), male hormone imbalance (testosterone) in men, use of medication (e.g. corticosteroids), chronic illness (e.g. Diabetes or hypothyroidism), and seasonal factors (e.g. seasonal affective disorder related to hormones and sunlight). See Clinical depression.Adaptive benefits of depression
While a depressed mood is usually seen as deleterious, it may have adaptive benefits. The loss of a loved spouse, child, friend or relation, a physical illness or loss of lifestyle, tends to lead to feelings of depression. Freud noted the similarities between mourning and depression (then called melancholia) in a now famous paper entitled, "Mourning and Melancholia". The depressed mood is adaptive in that it leads the person towards altering his thought patterns and behavior or way of living or else continues until such a time as he does so. It can be argued that depression and clinical depression is in fact the refusal of a person to heed the call to change from within his own mind. For example, in mourning it is essential that one must eventually let go of the departed and return to the world and other relationships.Depression appears to have the effect of stopping a person in his or her tracks and forcing him or her to turn inwards and engage in a period of self reflection; it is a deeply introspective state. During this period, which can last anywhere from days to years, the individual must find a new way to interpret his thoughts and feelings and reassess the extent to which his appraisal of his reality is realistic.
Seasonal affective disorder may point to an atavistic link with behaviour in hibernation.
Some psychologists have speculated that the depressed state more accurately reflects reality than normal perceptions due to reduced self-image, a theory known as Depressive realism.
Depression Treatment
Studies indicate that depression may be effectively treated with psychotherapy, medication, or electro convulsive shock therapy.In recent years, the use of antidepressant medication has increased dramatically, particularly in the United States. These medications influence the functioning of neurotransmitters in the brain. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), are reported to have fewer side effects than the older drugs, which include tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) and monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs). Some individuals will respond to one type of medication, but not another. All of these medications have side effects, and several SSRIs have been found to increase the risk of suicide attempts, particularly in children.
Certain types of psychotherapy, especially cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and interpersonal therapy (IPT), have been found helpful for depression. Research indicates that mild to moderate depression often can be treated successfully with either type of therapy.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy focuses on changing how patients think of themselves and their experiences, focusing on their achievements rather than their failures. Although this type of therapy usually requires seeing a psychologist or counselor on a regular basis, research indicates that a free online program developed in Australia may be effective.
In addition, lifestyle changes may reduce depression, including nutrition, exercise, adequate rest and spiritual practice.
Electro convulsive shock therapy is used for severe depression that is not responsive to other treatments. ECT has been improved in recent years. A muscle relaxant is given before treatment, which is done under brief anesthesia. Electrodes are placed at specific locations on the head to deliver electrical impulses, causing a seizure within the brain that lasts about 30 seconds. The person receiving ECT does not consciously experience the electrical stimulus. Several sessions of ECT are typical, generally three times a week. The major risk of ECT is that it may result in some permanent memory loss.
More than 80 percent of people with depressive disorders improve when they receive appropriate treatment.
In addition to these treatments, a support system of family, friends or a support group may be effective.
Depressed mood in literature and culture
Unlike jealousy or anger, a mild depressed state is not intimately associated with a motive for action, and this is a likely reason for it being under-represented in drama. The journey of King Lear could be seen as a state of depression seeking forgiveness and redemption, although it is arguably pathological; Hamlet is often described as a consummate melancholic. Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar is a semi-autobiographical chronicle of her descent into profound depression. Many of the works of Anton Chekhov, such as Uncle Vanya, involve either depressed mood or clinical depression. On the other hand, sorrow and regret perhaps occur much more commonly in literature, and tragedy, where the audience or readers may share the sadness or despair of the characters, is seen as one of the greatest of art forms and perhaps the most profound. One of the most famous examples of depression in literature is Johann Wolfgang Goethe's The Sorrows of Young Werther, and for this reason it is referred to in Frankenstein.A similar example in music is Schubert's Winterreise, a setting of poems by Wilhelm Mueller.
The films and plays of Ingmar Bergman cover both bereavement (as in Virgin Spring) and depressed mood (Wild Strawberries).
A Pietà is an example of the representation of grief and sorrow in Christian art. Self-portraits of Frida Kahlo often show her depressed state. Many more examples could be added.
