DEPRESSION IS NOT FOREVER

“DEPRESSION is a prison where you are both the suffering prisoner and the cruel jailer” – Dorothy Rowe 

Depression is found to be one of the significant contributors to mental health in young children and teenagers of Sri Lanka today. While being a teenager is difficult enough, COVID – 19 has made things harder with all the schools being closed and events being canceled all around. Teenagers or children in simple terms are missing out on their big moments in life. Facing life-changing incidents such as COVID -19 has left everyone, especially the children, feeling anxious, disappointed, isolated and in the worse case, depressed, as no one was ready for such an episode. It becomes extremely important to ensure that children do not lose hope or feel isolated as this could lead to severe depression and harm the entire generation as a whole. Children should be advised on how to practice self-care and look out for each other’s mental health.

What is depression?

Depression is a commonly found mental disorder that elicits variations of moods, loss of interest or pleasure, low levels of energy, feeling guilt, disturbed sleep or appetite. Depression often pairs with anxiety which can either be chronic or recurrent leading to substantial impairments in one’s ability to deal with their everyday needs and responsibilities. Worse case, suicide

“1 million lives are lost due to suicide annually, which calculates to 3000 suicide every day” (WHO,2012).

Can depression be identified and cured?

Depression is not forever, with basic psychosocial support and antidepressants or psychotherapy, depression can be held down. While several therapies and medications are found effective, assistance through a psychologist is also an important approach as it helps to reduce and treat depressions in several other ways. Reducing or combating the burden of depression can be effective based on the strategies implemented. Depression can be prevented as a whole by being able to self–identify or identify others when in trouble. By attending programs that focus on cognitive, problem–solving, or social skills development can be useful in order to strengthen the knowledge on how to identify and deal with depressions ideally.  

How can you help?

Become a registered Psychologist, by upgrading yourself with a recognized bachelor’s and Master’s with 1 year of clinical training at a Hospital and help those in need of the right assistance.

AIC Campus, an award-winning transnational higher education provider in Sri Lanka, is providing students the chance to study the science of psychology and pursue a career in child psychology. Call 0779783344 TODAY For more information.