Some people say, it affects some people more than others, no one really knows what causes mental issues, and a lot of other ideas...
The problem with mental issues is... it's not quantifiable. there's no real way to take a blood test and check indicators which will lead to more serious issues.
BUT... how about we look at mental illness, like any other illness.
Let's look at cancer or heart disease...
People who smoke have a higher chance of lung cancer.
People who have poor diets and lack of exercise have a higher chance for heart disease and diabetes.
These illnesses usually do not develop overnight. It's not like a patient wakes up suddenly and the next day he has heart disease, or (certain forms of) cancer.
Yes, some of these illnesses are hereditary. But more often than not, we can keep a relatively healthy lifestyle and diet and we can minimize the risk of getting illnesses.
Smoking, drinking, sun tanning, increases the risk of getting cancer, not confirm, but there's higher chance, also, just cos someone doesn't smoke, drink or sun tan, doesn't mean they can't get cancer, lower risk, but doesn't mean no risk.
So let's say that there are a bunch of situations where the patient has unpreventable heart disease, or unpreventable cancers, or whatever illness.
Then there's a bunch of patients who have preventable or can reduce the risk of whatever illness.
In the medical field, doctors can test for cholesterol, blood pressure, cancer markers, etc.
And if a patient has poor results, the doctor will recommend preventive measures.
Change of diet, exercise, stop smoking, stop alcohol consumption, stuff like that...
Why don't we look at mental illness/depression in the same way?
I don't think depression develops overnight. It's probably a long drawn out process of days, months, years. Maybe stress in whatever form it persists in. Stress from work, personal stress, expectations, societal expectations, stress can come from forms that we don't even know exist. It can even come from ourselves for no good reason.
If we look at depression like this, then the question becomes... is depression preventable?
Maybe in some cases, it's not preventable, like other illnesses...
BUT... maybe for other cases, depression IS preventable.
The question is, what did we do about it?
The problem here is, depression is invisible.
There's no extra fat, no blood test, no blood pressure test, urine test, etc to test for it.
So we don't know, the doctor doesn't know when the risks are high...
If we see a friend who's fat, and eats a lot of fatty stuff, it's obvious, we all know that his risk of heart disease is high.
If we see someone who smokes 2 packs of cigarettes a day, we also have an idea that his lung cancer risks are high.
Well... no such indicators for depression.
A lot of times depression, starts out as some form of stress, like school, or work.
And as adults, we are expected to suck it up.
Maybe we have high expectations of ourselves and we stress to produce high quality work and we ourselves give ourselves undue stress.
And day after day, this pressure builds up. Some people are better able to handle this stress, some people aren't.
Same as other illnesses, some people have good genes, they any-O-how eat also no problem.
But some people eat a bit and they easily gain weight and have changes in their blood tests.
And the thing is... in schools, or when we talk to the doctor... it's easy to get info about preventing of other illnesses, there's so much write up on good diet, exercise, don't smoke, don't expose yourself to UV rays, etc...
BUT... there's so little warning about mental issues.
So little information and preventive countermeasures that people learn to recognize mental issues and try too make things better.
Stress.... People are expected to just suck it up and get on with life... and THAT in itself is a stress upon the person.
The actual thing that stressed the person and furthermore, the stress that the person needs to act normal. So its like stress x2.
And even worse... we don't admit it to ourselves. We don't recognize it. Cos... WE OURSELVES think it's a form of weakness. We ourselves have an expectation of ourselves to just suck it up, cos we think it's normal.
So the thing about it is... is depression preventable?
Well, I think it is.
It's like any other illness.
It develops over time, it's not overnight.
We need to learn to recognize it and be willing to take active steps to improve the situation.
Change WILL be needed.
And change will always be hard.
To stop smoking isn't easy.
To control food intake or start exercising or to lose weight isn't easy...
It's the same thing.
Active steps to improve mental health WILL be needed to improve the situation.
If someone thinks that things will change without themselves doing anything, then that person is probably deluded.
You see, I don't believe in helplessness. There's always possible actions to take. The actions won't be easy, and it will take determination and discipline. But... it's necessary, else there will be consequences.
(Yes, I recognize, some illnesses aren't preventable, but we always try our best to prevent it IF we can, whenever we can.)
It's the same for mental illness, depression, addiction, etc...
We need to recognize it early and take steps to prevent it from becoming a full blown issue.
I'm talking about before the person falls into depression. It's like before a heart attack, or pre-diabetes.
The treatment and actions taken once the illness has taken effect is very different from before the actual illness.
Most of the time, we will try to prevent heart attack or diabetes way before the onset of the issue. It's a lot harder to tackle the issue once the problem becomes critical.
(Same as debt. It's better to handle the debt when it's a $5k debt than when it becomes a $50k debt.)
Why don't we talk about preventing the onset of depression?
Most of the time, people talk about trying to help someone with depression. That's already very tough, cos the patient, mentally isn't in good condition for treatment.
Pretty much the same as any other medical condition. Prevention is better than cure.
Now... it's easy to view what I say as being insensitive to mental issues.
I'm not trying to be.
I don't think anyone views, saying someone needs to change their diet and exercise to prevent heart disease as being insensitive.
Similarly, I believe that when someone in in poor mental condition, not necessarily already in depression, well, they have to recognize the issue and take active steps to get out of it.
See, the truth is...
I'm not particularly absolutely happy in Paris.
I've said it before. It's cold, it's boring, I've no friends and family around, it's like NS not for my country, but for my wife. I don't like to spend money, so I don't go around and just seek out wanton entertainment.
And I can see myself easily spiraling into depression if I'm not careful about it.
A week before I went back to SG, I was in pretty bad shape, sad, feeling down, cold, etc.
Maybe it's seasonal affective disorder. Just the changes in season.
And maybe readers would be saying... that's easy, he just needs to go and make friends, he just needs to go out more, he just needs to take up some courses, learn french, etc...
And what are these readers doing? Well, basically telling me ways to prevent it, on how to feel better. Is it insensitive? Maybe, maybe not...
You see, people do want to try to help me feel better, but maybe I don't like the options they have suggested.
In the end, it's up to me to do something about it. If I sit around in the house and mope and feel sad and grumpy with the weather and being bored... that's my fault.
If someone continues with a poor diet and lack of exercise... who's fault is it when he gets a heart attack?
So if I look at the path to depression... Not depression itself. But the path to depression... or maybe ANY illness.
It's similar.
Recognize the signs that things are not going well, and take steps to get better.
Eventually, I found out that just taking some walks and getting out of the house are good to make my mood better. Even in the cold. But if I continue to just stay in the house, and be lazy, then it's my own fault. if my mental condition worsens.
Also, I discussed with my wife about the progression of our stay and how long we will be staying out of SG, etc... and we came to some form of understanding, etc... So all these things help to keep my mental condition well.
So... are mental illnesses preventable?
I think that many of them are. The problem is identifying it and recognizing it before it becomes something worse. Then next, we need to take active steps to improve the situation and not give ourselves excuses.
Examples of excuses... But I can't... But I'm not like that... But I don't like...
In the end, for many cases, it's up to the patient to keep themselves healthy, physically, or mentally.
Next time you talk or think about depression or mental illness, maybe we should talk about the journey to depression and look to other illnesses as examples on how we handle similar medical issues.
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