Beating the Blues

Seema Hingorrany

Description

Can't sleep soundly?Don't feel like stepping out of the house?Having suicidal thoughts?You might be depressed and don't know it yet. According to a WHO study, a mindboggling 35.9 percent of India suffers from Major Depressive Episodes (MDE). Yet depression remains a much evaded topic, quietly brushed under the carpet by most of us. In Beating the Blues, India's leading clinical psychologist, psychotherapist, and trauma researcher Seema Hingorrany provides a comprehensive, step-by-step guide to treating depression, examining what the term really means, its signs, causes, and symptoms. The book will equip you with: Easy-to-follow self-help strategies and result-oriented solutions Ways of preventing a depression relapse Everyday examples, statistics, and interesting case-studies Workbooks designed for Seema's clients With clients ranging from celebrities and models to teenagers, married couples, and children, Seema decodes depression for you. Informative and user-friendly, with a foreword by Indu Shahani, the Sheriff of Mumbai, Beating the Blues is an invaluable guide for those who want to deal with depression but don't know how

Sujets

• Humanities

Informations

• Publié par: Random House Publishers India Pvt. Ltd.
• Date de parution: 17 octobre 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9788184003413
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Published by Random House India in 2012
Copyright Seema Hingorrany 2012
Random House Publishers India Private Limited Windsor IT Park, 7th Floor, Tower-B A-1, Sector-125, Noida-201301, U.P.
Random House Group Limited 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road London SW1V 2SA United Kingdom
Real names of patients have been changed in the book in order to protect their privacy. Any resemblance to a person, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
This eBook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author s and publisher s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
EPUB ISBN 9788184003413
To both my fathers
Late Shyam Hingorany
and
Anand Sitlaney
Contents
Foreword by Indu Shahani
Introduction
PART ONE: ALL ABOUT DEPRESSION
What is Depression?
Causes of Depression
Signs and Symptoms of Depression
The Many Haunting Faces of Depression
PART TWO: WHERE DO YOU FIT IN?
Childhood and Teen Depression
Midlife Crisis
Old Age Depression
PART THREE: THE TIME OF INTERVENTION
Intervention
Depression and Anti-Depressants
Life Thereafter
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Acknowledgements
A Note on the Author
Foreword
In the wake of increasing psychological disorders that afflict the present generation, a book like Seema Hingorrany s Beating the Blues: A complete guide to overcoming depression comes as a timely intervention and a valuable addition to the literature on depressive disorders. The book effectively addresses the issue by foregrounding the fact that depression is not a sign of personal flaw but just another illness that needs to be treated with medical assistance. People who suffer from depression need to know that it is not an inevitable condition but can be tackled with familial love, medical care, confidence building exercises, positive attitude, and a healthy work-life balance.
I am sure Seema Hingorrany, with her expertise and experience, will be able to answer a lot of questions that such an important issue throws up. Beating the Blues stands for the author s commitment to making the road to recovery for those who live with depression, possible.
Dr Indu Shahani Sheriff of Mumbai, Principal, H.R. College of Commerce and Economics Member, UGC, Government of India
Introduction
Fourteen years ago when I decided to major in Psychology, people thought my future was doomed. Does it have any career prospects? my relatives asked me. But my love for the study of the human mind, coupled with my stubbornness and intuition, made me stick to the decision. We are all born with some purpose in life, and I believe mine is to heal.
Behavioural patterns had piqued my curiosity from an early age. I would often wonder why some people behaved the way they did; a thought which began to haunt me after a dear friend committed suicide due to a failed relationship. The incident shook me enough to keep me awake for days on end. I still wonder why she didn t reach out to her close ones or ask for help. Was it just a case of bad timing or was her action rooted in a dangerous history of depression that had gone undetected?
I guess the pain of losing a loved one lingered on and influenced my decision to take up Psychology in college. There has been no turning back since. I knew I had found my calling. Over the years I have dealt with challenging cases and difficult patients, conducted a hundred differential diagnoses, treated myriad clinical disorders, and met people from all walks of life-from troubled teens to retired geriatrics, and from depressed housewives to married couples. And though it may sound like I lead a hectic life, I wouldn t have it any other way. The joy of seeing patients walk out of my clinic cured is what makes me feel so blessed. To be a part of a profession that has the power to change peoples lives-what more could I have asked for?
As a clinical psychologist, I understand depression on an intimate basis. There is so much confusion about it that I wanted to set the record straight once and for all. Depression as a mental health disorder is not always taken seriously, often being dismissed as mild mood disturbance. Instead of equipping themselves with the correct knowledge on depression, people are sometimes flooded with all sorts of misconceptions about what it really entails.
Ups and downs are inevitable in life. We all have to go through them. Some people learn to take things in their stride, others buckle under pressure. The down time interferes with an individual s cognitive abilities, blurring the ability to realize that they may be suffering from a common, but serious , psychological problem. For a depressed person, life seems like a maze where one easily loses his way among a throng of unhealthy and counterproductive thoughts and behaviour-in a way that it is difficult to find the way back to normalcy.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has predicted that by 2020, depression will be the second biggest health problem and the leading cause of disability and death worldwide, second only to heart disease. According to studies conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore, India, one in every fifteen adult Indians suffers from a depressive illness. At least 10 percent of the population suffers from depression that needs professional and medical help, and as much as 40 percent of the population is demoralized and likely to cross the line to clinical depression sometime in their lives.
What do such alarming statistics prove? They show that each and every one of us is vulnerable to being in a state of depression at some point in our life, whether we realize it or not. And that s the primary reason why we need to know more about the disease, its symptoms, and ultimately ways to prevent and cure it.
Why Are We Such a Depressed Lot?
Is the root cause of depression wrong parenting, tough competition, long commuting hours, or loneliness? Or is depression an outcome of unreasonable expectations? In a report released by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) in 2009, 15 people kill themselves in India every hour and one in every three victims is aged between 15 and 29 years!
The truth is that in modern methods of communication have actually hindered other forms of human interaction. It s a fact that we now chat with unknown people on the Internet, but don t even know who our next-door neighbour is. Even those who say they enjoy healthy relationships, have successful marriages, satisfying careers, and monetary security admit how often they face times when they feel isolated and disconnected with the rest of the world. Feeling alone is as common today as the pressures of work, deadlines, and other daily anxieties. If you internalize pressure, it can make you feel alone and take a toll on your health.
I remember visiting an elite school in Mumbai a few years back where I had been invited to give a talk on parenting. My message to parents was simple: Don t overstress your children by asking them to study for long hours; their overall development is what is more important. On hearing this, one parent got a little angry and rudely asked me if I was willing to take the responsibility of getting her son admission into a top college if he scored less. And if I were, she would be happy to let him indulge in video games and cricket. I caught a hint of mockery in her voice. But I calmly replied that though I could not guarantee admission to a top-grade college, I was certain that reduced pressure on children might end up saving their lives.
As other parents applauded my answer, the whole situation got me thinking What next? How do I get into the minds of parents and tell them that building pressure does not guarantee excellent marks? Ironically enough, some of my younger patients often complain that their mothers need more help than them. The moment they return from school, their mothers, instead of asking how the day went, want to know how much they scored in dictation!
Parents are often quick to express negative feelings to children, but somehow don t get around to describing positive feelings, which are crucial in establishing a positive body image for the child. My own clinical experience is replete with families who, due to lack of awareness about depression, inadvertently pass it on to their children, who in turn pass it to the next generation. It s a vicious cycle that never ceases.
The heart-wrenching narratives of so many of my patients, and my encounters with a range of people from all walks of life-from India and abroad-will help validate my stance as well as provide invaluable guidance to those seeking help. The book is written not only from my knowledge of depression, but from the very depths of my soul. I have seen people in my clinic sobbing, crying, yelling, and reacting violently to pain. I have seen people becoming numb to all emotion. I have seen people dissociating from reality because it s too painful for them to face the real world. Such patients usually suffer from memory lapses. When asked about their disturbing memories, they usually say that they don t remember anything from their past. Their helpless eyes, though, speak volumes about their condition.
When patients come to me for counselling, they always ask if my therapy will change their troubled home environment since they have to go back to the same grind every day. I tell them that even though I can t change their surroundings, I can give them the strength to face the crises. I always tell my patients that I know that sitting on my therapy couch is not easy; it s very difficu