Do you know if your partner is depressed? Or your children? Or parents? CAn you recognise the signs of depression? And what would you do ? Many of us are unprepared to deal with this issue, be it for ourselves or to help our loved ones. Many refuse to accept that it is happening before their very eyes, preferring instead to believe that ” everything is under control”, even when it clearly isn’t so. And one day, when the depressed soul does something like take an overdose of pills, jump off a building or drive into a wall, the partner says ” now, why did he/she do that? I thought he/she was getting better” without actually ever having lifted a finger to help.
Can we recognize depression in our kids? DO we believe that kids can get depressed too? Just look at the number of children who jump off buildings, swallow poisons or hang themselves from the ceiling fan. Isn’t that testimony enough? In most cases, their parents were unaware that their children were depressed. One of the cases reported that the student’s friends had egged her/him (can’t remember the gender) to end his/her life. Children as young as 12 have ended their lives over poor exam results. Adults have also been known to end their lives over unrequited love, broken relationships, etc etc.
And what about women? A woman today faces many challenges. Education ,work, responsibilities at the work place and at home. Being highly educated need not necessarily spare a woman from household chores and responsibilities. Neither can she shirk her responsibilities as a mother. And she is expected to juggle everything without complaining. IS she stressed out? If she is, chances are she isn’t allowed to say so. Even if she did, chances are no one would listen. If this were allowed to go on, imagine what it would be like in 10-20 years time…
Depression and mental health was thrust into the limelight during the MCO. This, i feel, is a good time to revisit this topic, one that i wrote many years ago. Will write more on the topic later.
