Posted by dj on August 9, 2000, at 10:50:55
Re-reading this book which I first read when in the throes of major depression. Easier to read now and making much more sense. An intricate examination of the interplay of elements that comprise depression, written by someone who has been there and also has very solid scientific credentials.
Here's a couple of sample quotes:
“It was the worse experience of my life. More terrible even than watching my wife die of cancer. I am ashamed to admit that my depression felt worse than her death but it is true. I was in a state that bears no resemblance to anything I had experienced before. It was not just feeling very low, depressed in the commonly used sense of the word. I was seriously ill... I could not think properly, much less work… I had panic attacks if left alone. And there were numerous physical symptoms – my whole skin was on fire and I developed uncontrollable twitches. Every new physical sign caused extreme anxiety. I was terrified… Sleep was impossible… and when I woke up I felt worse. The future was hopeless. I was convinced that I would never work again or recover. There was the strong fear that I might go mad...
Several reports have concluded that rates of depression have increased over the past 30 years and are continuing to do so...
A striking finding in recent years that could account for the apparent increase in depression has been an increasing incidence in the young population...
There is a strong correlation between depression and the absence of sympathetic social support...
Depression always occurs within a social context. Relationships, work, poverty, hopes, children, parents and so on, can all play some role in the generation of a depressive episode. To say that the origin of a depression is multifactoral is merely to say that it is necessary to try and tease out the relative importance of various influences in a person's life...
While acute life events have been a major focus of psycological stress research, it may be that this attention is somewhat misplaced and much more attention should be given to chronic stress. The distinction between chronic and acute is that chronic stress persists for longer periods... A study of stress in depressed individuals found that chronic stress such as physical illness, poverty and marital conflict are more powerful predictors of depression than acute stress. Chronic stress can even reduce the emotional effects of acute stress...
Social factors play a key role in the orgin of depressive disorders... The influence of life events is greatly affected by how much the individual is cared for, loved and valued...
Lack of intimacy and the opportunity to confide one's problems greatly increases vunerablity...
...one can think of both antidepressants and psychotherapy as working by breaking the loop in which sadness and negative thinking reinforce each other...
The skill of a good therapist may lie in the ability of how best to deal with a particular patient and to establish what is called a therapeutic alliance, which promotes a successful outcome...
”- Lewis Wolpert, Malignant Sadness: The Anatomy of Depression, 1999, (Wolpert is a Professor of Biology as Applied to Medicine at University College, London)
Sante!
dj
poster:dj
thread:42420
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000729/msgs/42420.html