Mental Illness and Depression (v)
Monday, 30 October, 2006
(We have a break between Parts I and II. During the break, Emma gets everyone to have a go at filling in the Stress-O-Meter so they can gauge their current stress levels. Results are not shared in the big group.)
Part II: Depression and the Christian
Now that we've spent a bit of time looking at the Bible, let's have a look at depression and what it's like for the Christian.
Causes
Generally-speaking and to over-simplify, there are two types of depression.
Physical
The first, as I said earlier, is caused by some sort of physical problem: a chemical imbalance, a genetic predisposition or some other medical problem. It affects the way the synapses in your brain react and pass on information.
Situational
The second type of depression is more common and it has to do with the situational/ stuff I was talking about earlier.
This sort of depression can be caused by things like difficult relationships, chronic illness, long-term unemployment, protracted grief, financial woes and, of course, stress.
Stress comes from all sorts of things, but one of the major things that creates stress is change. Have a look at the stress test you've just done and pick out all the items that have something to do with change. There's death, divorce, marriage, pregnancy … that's a lot! Taken alone, each one on that list is more or less manageable. But when you're going through several of them at once, things can get a little out of hand.
Imagine your capacity to deal with stress being like a cup or a jug. [Get out jugs and plate] Everything that stresses you out adds to what's in your cup—for example,
- Dealing with your parents' divorce [pour water to ½ full];
- Looking after your husband who has depression [pour water to ¾ full];
- Work deadlines [pour water];
- Worrying about money [pour water];
- Giving a talk at women's fellowship [pour water to full];
- Reversing out of the driveway [pour water to overflowing];
Reversing out of the driveway is such a little thing but can you see how it might totally reduce you to a nervous wreck when it comes on top of everything else? The more room you have in your jug, the more you are able to deal with stress. The less room you have in your jug, the more likely you will feel overwhelmed when stressful things come along.
A Psychology PhD student told me recently that she thought that situational depression was on the rise. Why? I think there are a number of reasons:
- Firstly, the increase in divorce and society's acceptance of sexual permissiveness has led to greater family dysfunction. More and more children are being raised in broken families, blended families, single-parent families and, now, families based on homosexual partnerships. This has an adverse affect on kids—physically, mentally, emotionally, academically and socially. This is not to say that two-parent families are immune from this; a lot of two-parent families are dysfunctional too. But children in two-parent families tend to do better than children who aren't in two-parent families.
- Secondly, developments in technology have led to greater social isolation. Cars close the travelling distance so we no longer have to stay in our local communities. This means we usually don't know our neighbours. The internet makes it possible to still remain connected with the world but never leave the house. You can chat to friends, pay the bills and even order the groceries online.
- Thirdly, our society places a lot of emphasis on the individual: it's iBook, iPod, iTunes, MySpace, YouTube. We're far less community-minded than we used to be.
- Fourthly, the pace of life has changed. This is partly due to technology as well. It's ironic that electronic devices, which were supposed to save us time, cause us to fit more in with the time we save. We're living in the options generation. Should I stay here or go work overseas? This evening, should I watch TV, go see a movie, catch a live show or go out to dinner? If I go out to dinner, should I have Italian or Thai? Do I feel like red duck curry or pad see eow?
- Fifthly and finally, the pace of life may be faster but so is the drive to get ahead. We are a very materialistic society. We strive to work hard so that we can enjoy the "good" life. This year the Australian Bureau of Statistics released a report that found that men working full-time did an average of 43.2 hours a week. Women working full-time did an average of 39.3 hours a week. This was a significant increase from 1985 when men were doing around 41 hours per week and women were doing about 37.5. Long work hours put a further strain on family relationships, and as a result, a lot of families just break down.
Spectrum
So we have depression caused by physical problems and depression caused by situational problems. But as I said earlier, this is a very broad generalization: according to the Black Dog Institute, every individual is different, and some might have a bit of both. I used to think that Ben's depression was completely caused by physical chemical imbalance. But now it's clear that some of it is caused by situational stuff as well.
In addition, the severity of depression differs from individual to individual—from mild to suicidal. No two depressed people are alike.
Current:
seen: Moon 15/10/2009
read: The Incredibles 11/10/2009
seen: She's the Man 05/10/2009
read: I Kill Giants (Joe Kelly and J. M. Ken Niimura) 04/10/2009
read: Astro City The Dark Ages Book 1: Brothers and Other Strangers (Kurt Busiek, Brent Anderson and Alex Ross) 04/10/2009
seen: Children of Men 02/10/2009
seen: Metric (The Metro) 30/09/2009
seen: 500 Days of Summer 25/09/2009
seen: The September Issue 18/09/2009
seen: Gilmore Girls: Season 1 17/09/2009
read: Flight (Volume 1) (edited by Kazu Kibuishi) 16/09/2009
seen: Ponyo 11/09/2009
read: Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? (Neil Gaiman and Andy Kubert) 05/09/2009
heard: Aimee Mann (Enmore Theatre) 04/09/2009
heard: Ben Folds Solo (Opera House) 31/08/2009
read: Phonogram: Rue Britannia (Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie) 26/08/2009
seen: Northanger Abbey 20/08/2009
read: The Princess Diaries (Meg Cabot) 18/08/2009
seen: The Phantom of the Opera 17/08/2009
seen: Who Framed Roger Rabbit? 10/08/2009
seen: District 9 10/08/2009
read: Shortcomings (Adrian Tomine) 02/08/2009
read: AIR Volume 1: Letters from Lost Countries (Willow Wilson and M.K. Perker) 28/07/2009
seen: Persepolis 25/07/2009
seen: Ghost Town 25/07/2009
heard: Gutter Twins (Seymour Centre) 23/07/2009
seen: Coco Avant Chanel 20/07/2009
seen: Gutenberg! The Musical (Seymour Centre) 16/07/2009
seen: So You Think You Can Dance? Australia Live Tour (Sydney Entertainment Centre) 11/07/2009
seen: Every Little Step 07/07/2009
seen: Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen 03/07/2009
seen: Synecdoche, New York 30/06/2009
seen: Charlie's Angels 27/06/2009
seen: Penelope 26/06/2009
seen: Coraline 10/06/2009
seen: The Sky Crawlers 08/06/2009
seen: The Bourne Ultimatum 07/06/2009
seen: The Bourne Supremacy 07/06/2009
seen: The Bourne Identity 06/06/2009
seen: Stick it 05/06/2009
Comment:
Congratulations again 
Don’t laminate your ultrasound picture That is my advice.
Congratulations! This is so fantastic!
Thanks so much for sharing all of this… people swap engagement stories but rarely pregnancy stories! And it’s kind of similar don’t you think, all this excitement leading up to a big day!
So happy for you guys! Actually never been more excited for anyone except my sister! I think it’s because I think that you will both be amazing parents and love the idea that someone could grow up in your family.
Looking forward to many more posts on the topic.
Lovely news, Karen.
Thanks everyone! I will be sure to ask for help when I need it!
Great pic!! Peanut is cute! :D
Praying for you all!
xx
:D
I had a similar sort of morning sickness.. except I threw up! I’m suitably impressed that you coped OS.. that must have been tough.
It sounds like you’re doing marvelously otherwise!
Book recommendation on something a bit less technical and a bit more human: ‘Birth’ http://www.birthnet.com.au/
Praise be to God indeed! Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.
Congratulations, Beilharzen! Welcome to the slightly-bewildering world of pregnancy (and birth...and children...). God has blessed you greatly with this new life. We’ll be praying for Peanut’s growth and development, and for you guys as you prepare.
I’m sure you’re surrounded by baby veterans, but always happy to help with books/advice/recommendations/listening.
B&L;
Excellent job Karen! You SHOULD be pleased with yourself!
Have you discovered http://www.ravelry.com ? It is an excellent site with thousands of free patterns in its database, lots of support, tips, forums etc and of course - friends like me? Look me up when you get there - fionag77
PS Are you just wearing a bulky dress or are you sporting a bump under that dress?
oooh.... It’s done and it looks great on you! xxx
Well done on all that hard work! It looks great and will be very snuggly come winter!
Thanks for letting me know, Timo!
Hi there,
Thanks for pointing out the shortcoming on our website. I’ll pass it on to my colleagues and hopefully it will be rectified soon.
The documentary at Fashioning Now was by Holly Kaye-Smith; I’d be more than happy to put you in touch with her if you’d like.
Again, thanks for the comment, much appreciate it!
Kind regards,
Timo Rissanen
Thanks Mark! Much appreciated!
Rich survey, Karen. Particularly I was struck by the notion of Jesus being clothed with our sins. I heard recently somebody suggest the crown of thorns was a kings crown but it was made of the symbol of the curse in the Garden - thorns. I would like to read your thoughts about Joseph’s coat of many colours.
Looking forward to the next installment. Regards,Mark
It is lovely - and looks great on you.
You’ve made me want to read it - though I may need an interpreter at times!
Well done with the sewing!
I think it looks good - very relaxed and spring-y.
Hey Sandra! Thanks for the tip! I read it yesterday, but I struggled a bit because Lewis doesn’t start from the Bible. I wasn’t convinced by his argument. What did you think?
Interesting post Karen - Thanks
I like the ending too! :D
xxx
Fantastic post, Karen. Just great. Thanks!
Thanks Bec! Eternal life just keeps getting better and better ...
I do like the way you ended this post - excellent thought.
Personally I don’t feel that way. Maybe that’s something you should blog about?
Wow. Lots of things to pick up on there. It’s been interesting to see the changes to your blog these last 6-12 months: Twitter is certainly more immediate, but are there (gasp) downsides to having its constant buzz in the ear?
Is our (already fractured) ability to concentrate on a single relationship at a time further jeapordised by the regular buzz of tweetdeck (and worse yet, by the imagined sense of loss that goes with being off the grid)?
Or am I just projecting my own fears?
Hi Karen!
If you’re still thinking about this… I just read CS Lewis’s essay “Learning in War-time” which exactly addresses this issue (ie. how can we justify cultural & aesthetic pursuits when people are going to hell around us?). Have you read it? i’d be interested to hear what you think..
(i have it in his little volume “Transposition and other Addresses”, but it’s easily findable online)
I’m doing my own series on the trials and tribulations of writing on my own blog here http://sedshed.blogspot.com/search/label/From%20Head%20to%20Hand
It’s coming along slowly
Coincidentily, I stumbled upon the above Phonogram vs. the Fans cover when digging around for ID concepts for Salt. A disturbingly brilliant image.
Thanks Karen. At the very least, this post gives some context to your myriad of phonogram tweets. At best, it has reinvigorated my stagnated appreciation of comics.
Seriously, though 4,549 words. Is that the best you can do? I say, longer!
Hey @RodeoClown! Yes, I neglected to mention Gillen writes about gaming. Guan said once he had the ideal job: writing, comics and games.
As far as I know, McKelvie doesn’t trace photos; he just draws (so talented ...)
You should give Phonogram a try. Be warned, though: series 1 is a little different to series 2—still clever but there are some things that are a bit strange in it if you’re not used to the fantastic.
Whoops, I stuffed up that link, sorry.
It was to Rock Paper Shotgun where he writes (he also has a standalone blog as well.
I didn’t know Gillen wrote comics until I saw the last phongram reference you made on here. It’s odd as I only knew of him as a videogame jounalist (which he is also really good at).
I read the sample issue of phonogram they have up at the Image comics (I think) site.
It looked pretty interesting - I like the subtlety involved in telling the story - the references aren’t all forciby thrust into your brain by the writer.
Do you know if the art is done by tracing photos or just dtawn?
I certainly don’t understand enough about pop music to really get that comic series, but I’m glad you’ve shared how you came to appreciate comics.
I’d say go and make some short comics. Seems like it will make the longer stuff easier to put together.
You’re right. I don’t really understand. But I do so love reading your writing. It’s like you’re speaking inside my head and excitedly telling me something.
Thanks Sarah! Feel free to share your own thoughts on the subject.
I’m a Christian, I’m a writer (well, I’m working on my first novel which is nearing completion) and I felt your post so PERFECTLY captured the dilemmas I’ve been thinking about.
KAREN!!!! it looks so amazing!!! i cant believe how beautiful it is. Everyone at work is just amazed at how talented you are. I’ll get in contact with you soon xx
I love it, Karen. You must teach me how to do this.
Blinks:
Vision therapy as a treatment for ADHD, learning disabilities and even autism. The scientific community's opinion. The results of concentrated therapy.
Kieron Gillen on Phonogram, Siege, Ares, Loki and his collaborative relationship with Jamie McKelvie.
Superheroes and how they have changed the way we see urban landscape. Their attraction to New York.
Kieron Gillen talking about Phonogram's run and the effect it had on its audience.
Guy Gavriel Kay's official website.
ESV in MP3 form: complete BIble is USD 30.00.
The hazards of noise for children because their ears are more sensitive.
Digital billboards: distracting for drivers or will the regulations keep them from becoming hazards? Do the benefits outweigh the disadvantages?
By William Poundstone. Sounds like an interesting book.
The future of shopping with mobile phones. Aggressive merchandising. Privacy issues.
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Comments
I think any perceived rise in the incidence of situational depression might also be due to the breakdown of societal taboos in admitting (to others or to yourself) you actually have depression. People have always felt stressed, socially isolated and lacking control over their lives (it’s not a given that previous generations automatically enjoyed greater community cohesiveness, etc.), and have been in abusive relationships (and, without the social sanction of divorce, having no choice but to stay and endure). A lot of it was also masked by drink. I have heard older people speak nostalgically that no one was ever depressed (as if it was a sign of weakness) in their day, even people who had been through the war--and yet there was a disturbingly high rate of suicide and alcoholism among returned servicemen.
Given the low levels of reporting, however, it’s difficult to argue this case empirically.
Good point, Deb.
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