Perspective: Although the stigma of depression has diminished, the importance of getting help has not.»
There was a time when depression robbed me of the will to live. I found myself thinking of that awful day after the recent suicide deaths of fashion designer Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain, host of CNN’s “Parts Unknown.” I remember the pain and desperation of the moment, the kind nurse who gave me a warm blanket, the taste of the charcoal drink the doctor gave me to block drug absorption, my frightened parents at the bedside, and the relief I felt that I had not succeeded. As the doctor handed my mom information about treatment, I could see for the first time that miserable day that there was another way out of the darkness. That was more than 30 years ago. Although I’ve struggled with depression since then, I have never again tried to take my life.
Suicide claims nearly 45,000 Americans each year according to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nationwide, the suicide rate has increased by 30 percent since 1999 and by 34 percent in Colorado. Middle aged men are most at risk but no age group is spared. Incidence of suicide is higher in the US than in neighboring Mexico or Canada but still below that of Lithuania, Belarus, Guyana, Russia, and South Korea, countries that have the highest rates according to the World Health Organization.
Anyone can fall into deep depression after a death or divorce, the onset of illness or legal problems, loss of home or job, problems with drugs or alcohol or other crises. Some of us are predisposed regardless of circumstances. More than 16 million adults in the US have experienced a major episode of depression during the year according to a government study.
Depression is like a shadow that darkens and distorts one’s perspective. It amplifies life’s pains and frustrations while diminishing life’s pleasures and joys. It enervates and isolates. It ravages self-esteem like a mental autoimmune disease and blots out any sense of accomplishment or purpose. Depression is bleak and suicide can seem like a way out, even though it’s a dead end.
Among those struggling with depression, suicide can spread like a contagion. It’s called the Werther Effect, named after a rash of suicides triggered by Goethe’s 1774 novel ”The Sorrows of Young Werther” in which the main character kills himself. Many readers did likewise. The suicide contagion spread across Europe even without social media. It happens today, too. In 2014, the US experienced a 10 percent increase in suicide for four months following the death of comedian Robin Williams. A publicized suicide seems to exert a certain suggestive power to those who are vulnerable. It makes the unthinkable thinkable.
Fortunately, national attention to the issue of suicide can also spur people to reach out to crisis center hotlines like 1-800-273TALK (8255) as happened this past week. A call to a crisis hotline or reaching out to a friend is an important first step that should be followed up with counseling and even medication.
I don’t know why I didn’t reach out until it was almost too late. Depression is not a sign of mental weakness or a character flaw any more than is a migraine or a brain tumor. Those who struggle with depression are in the company of Abraham Lincoln, Isaac Newton, Mark Twain, Winston Churchill, Ludwig Von Beethoven, and many other artists, thinkers, leaders, and even some newspaper columnists.
While the stigma of depression has diminished some since I was young, it still lingers unfortunately. That’s why it’s so important to talk about depression and the importance of getting help. We need to embrace people who are struggling and those who have lost loved ones to that struggle. Most of all, we need to show people that there is hope. Depression can be overcome. There is always another way out of the darkness.