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what is depression? · feel your feelings with Ethan Jewell

• 0:00
  Depression is often compared to sadness.
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  However, it is a completely different monster.
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  It's difficult to understand if you haven't experienced it, and
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  if you have experienced it, you realize you wouldn't wish it
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  upon your worst enemy. It is a difficult and widely
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  known illness. However, there seems to be a lot
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  of misconceptions around depression In these podcast
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  episodes. I often talk about mental
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  illnesses, but I never talk about what exactly they are in
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  the effects that they can have. So this is the first episode of
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  many where I will be doing just that to hopefully bring more
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  understanding to these sometimes difficult to grasp mental
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  illnesses. My name is Ethan Jewell and
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  welcome back to another episode of Feel Your Feelings.
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  Depression is the mental illness that I've struggled with the
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  most during my time in therapy. I got loosely diagnosed with it
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  and it made a lot of sense. As I looked into it more, my
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  symptoms matched up almost directly.
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  That was nearly four years ago and I have been trying to deal
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  with it ever since. It is already a difficult
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  illness to understand as somebody who has experienced it,
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  so I want to really talk about it and go in depth.
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  Before we do that, I want to remind you, I'm not a doctor and
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  I'm not a professional in the mental health industry
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  whatsoever. I'm a normal guy who has just
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  felt some really big feelings and wants to approach mental
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  health from a more casual and understandable standpoint.
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  So don't take what I say as mental health advice.
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  Don't take it as a professional. Take it as a friend who wants
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  you to understand the feelings that you may be feeling.
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  If you've experienced depression, you're not alone.
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  According to the American Psychiatric Association, one in
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  six people will experience depression in their lifetime.
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  That is a lot of people. We treat depression as a very
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  taboo thing. Like not a lot of people will
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  experience it, but one in six people will.
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  It is quite common. So what exactly is depression?
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  It's a mental illness that affects mood, motivation, the
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  way you think, the way you act, and generally every aspect of
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  your life. It is very disruptive.
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  It doesn't lay below the surface.
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  No, it follows you around. Everywhere you go, it is a cloud
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  hanging over your head. It is a big shadowy figure
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  standing in the corner of the room, always watching you.
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  Unfortunately, a common misconception is people mix up
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  what it is like to feel depressed and what it is like to
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  have depression. They are two very, very
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  different things. You see when you are feeling
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  depressed, you are experiencing an emotion.
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  It could be caused by an argument, a bad grade, a bad
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  day, the weather, or just a passing life circumstance.
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  That's even more common. Almost everyone feels depressed
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  time to time. However, when you're dealing
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  with depression, you are experiencing a state of being.
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  Depression does not just come and go, it lingers.
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  It can stay with you for years and years.
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  It is an illness that needs to be addressed.
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  So let's start by talking about how depression can happen.
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  Like any mental illness, there is a wide variety of reasons
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  that somebody could be dealing with depression.
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  So let's go over a few of them. Some of them are because of
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  circumstance or environment. This includes exposure to
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  violence, abuse or neglect, especially while the brain is
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  developing. But it can happen at any point
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  in your life. It can also be caused by
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  situations or feelings such as low self esteem or stress.
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  Or you can simply inherit depression.
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  It can run in the family, it can run in your genetics, and you
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  experience depression without any environmental or
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  circumstantial causes. This can happen rapidly.
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  For some people, one traumatic event is enough to cause
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  depression. Unfortunately, many people don't
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  realize that they think that horrible things have to happen
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  to you for months on end in order to get symptoms of
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  depression. However, it can happen very
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  quickly. It can happen very, very easily.
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  Many people are right off the fact that they might be
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  depressed because they haven't experienced enough trauma.
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  But depression does not discriminate.
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  It doesn't care if you've experienced only a mild amount
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  of trauma or if you've simply inherited it within your genes.
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  It doesn't care. And that is very difficult,
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  because the first step of understanding your own
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  depression is accepting the fact that you have it.
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  Next, the effects of depression. This is a very heavy illness to
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  deal with. Literally one of the symptoms is
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  feeling heavy and weighed down. But the list of symptoms is long
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  and extremely debilitating. Depression can affect the way
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  that you live. It can literally keep you from
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  getting out of bed in the morning.
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  It can stop you from seeing friends and family and engaging
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  in the things that you love. It can be absolutely
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  devastating. Some of these symptoms include,
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  but are not limited to, low mood or sadness, feeling hopeless and
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  helpless, having low self esteem, feeling guilt ridden,
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  having no motivation or interest in doing things you love,
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  finding it difficult to make decisions, not getting
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  enjoyment, feeling anxious, moving or speaking more slowly
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  than usual, changes in appetite, sleeping too much or not at all,
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  or having suicidal thoughts. There are many other symptoms as
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  well. Depression affects your life in
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  a multitude of ways. According to psychiatric
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  guidelines, if you are experiencing at least five of
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  these symptoms persisting 2 weeks or more, you could be
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  diagnosed with depression. So if any of these sound
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  familiar, if you feel as though these symptoms are affecting
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  your life and you're dealing with them, please take it
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  seriously. Depression should not be joked
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  about. It shouldn't be pushed under the
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  rug and dealt with later. It is real.
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  It can lead to feelings of hopelessness.
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  It can lead to you literally losing your ability to enjoy
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  life, and it can lead to the idealization of suicide.
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  This is a very, very, very serious illness.
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  It can also cause physical changes.
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  You see, in some studies of depression, they find smaller
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  frontal lobes on people who have been suffering with depression.
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  Certain neurotransmitters such as serotonin or dopamine
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  neurotransmitters, which are responsible for things like
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  regulating happiness and regulating sleep.
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  Those neurotransmitters are stunted and unable to function
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  correctly. Your Pydian rhythm and the
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  things that naturally cause that to happen can be affected as
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  well. This is real and difficult, and
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  the unfortunate reality is we still believe that people can
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  just get over it, that people can simply experience it for a
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  while and then one day they'll cheer up.
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  People believe that you should just smile more and you'll feel
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  better. But that's not how it works.
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  It's not how it works at all. It's very serious and it needs
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  to be treated as such. So if you believe you're
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  experiencing depression, or you believe a friend or loved one
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  is, please be kind to yourself or be kind to them and consider
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  trying to reach out for help. Consider trying to urge your
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  friend to reach out for help because help is available.
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  So let's talk about some of the solutions for depression.
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  According to the National Institute of Mental Health, it
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  takes the average person struggling with a mental illness
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  10 years to ask for help. Please do not be a part of this
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  statistic. Depression is a treatable
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  illness, highly treatable, and if handled by professionals, it
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  can be cured entirely. So let's talk about how the 1st
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  way is through medications such as antidepressants.
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  Antidepressants can be prescribed to help modify one's
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  brain chemistry. For some people this works like
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  a miracle, and for others it does the opposite.
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  I would recommend consulting with the professional and
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  finding what treatment could be best for you.
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  Therapy is also seen as an effective treatment for
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  depression, specifically cognitive behavioral therapy or
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  CPT. This kind of therapy focuses on
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  recognizing the pattern of negative thinking that
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  depression brings and reframing those thoughts we see.
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  Depression convinces you that everything is bad, and it
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  eventually leads all of your thought processes to be
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  negative, bringing an overall bad and gloomy outlook to your
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  entire life. However, through the use of CBT
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  or medication, or often both, it is possible to reframe those
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  thoughts. Please don't expect yourself to
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  just get over it. If you think you are
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  experiencing depression, know that it is more than just a
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  sadness. You can't expect yourself to
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  simply heal without any help. You wouldn't expect your broken
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  arm to heal itself, so don't expect a broken brain to do the
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  same. Now that you understand
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  depression, I urge you if you or a loved one are struggling,
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  reach out to a professional. It is worth it.
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  This illness is treatable, but it can be deadly if gone
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  untreated. I believe in you.
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  Nobody deserves to go through the difficulties that depression
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  brings, and especially nobody deserves to do it alone.
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  When there is help available that's going to wrap it up for
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  today's episode. Thank you so much for listening.
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  If you need help feeling your feelings, go check out my music
• 9:51
  on all platforms under the name of Ethan Jewell.
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  I almost guarantee it'll make you cry.
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  Please shoot me a message on my Instagram at Jewelboy with an I
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  under score and let me know what you thought about today's
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  episode. I'll be doing several more
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  episodes just like this, but about other mental illnesses.
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  So thank you for being here. And as always, thank you for
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  feeling your feelings. I'll see you next time.