Vim & Vigor - Winter 2016 - Gwinnett Medical Center - 38
THE TRUTH BY ALLISON MANNING
Mental illness is
not something you
"power through."
THE TRUTH ABOUT
DEPRESSION
TRUE OR FALSE:
Depression is much more than simply being in a funk.
It's a persistent feeling of sadness and a loss of interest in things that used to be pleasurable; the physical
symptoms include fatigue and irritability. But even with an estimated 350 million people worldwide suffering from depression,
a lot of myths persist. Sally Winston, PsyD, a clinical psychologist
who is a founding clinical fellow of the Anxiety and Depression
Association of America, helps us parse some of them.
FALSE. Depression is an illness that looks
for problems, Winston says. The brain roots
around for issues in life that inspire worthlessness, hopelessness or guilt. A sufferer might
feel like a loser, a bad parent or an ineffective
worker. "That wasn't the cause of why you're
depressed," Winston says. "You're depressed
because you have the illness."
W IN TER 2016
Depression is always about
something specific.
PHOTO BY LAFLOR/GETTY IMAGES
38
The invisible illness is more complicated
than just feeling down in the dumps
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Vim & Vigor - Winter 2016 - Gwinnett Medical Center