Geek's Talk V: Depppppppppresssssssss..sion

Ahaaaaaa .... i bet, many of us (especially me), are facing with this kind of condition. Depression, or in more scientific term - affective disorder, is a puzzling phenomena. Why ? .... it is not only can lead to extremely unpleasant states of mind, or undermine our abilities to do our daily chores, but it can also induce people to commit (or at least have intention) suicide (harammmmmmm ..yee). During one of my discussions with Prof. Dr Pim Cuijpers (one of the prominent researchers in affective disorder at Vrije University, Amsterdam), i had posed a few questions.

"Has depression has been for many millions of years, or is it recent?"

The answer (at least according to him) - it has been with us since the beginning. (takutttnyee)
well, it lead to the next question (byk sungguh soalan yee ),

"Does depression arise in other species?" (apa la punya soalan ni azizi?)

He answered "indeed, it happens to all species. For example, under certain circumstances - traumatic event will lead to serious physical changes - as a matter of fact will reduce their chances of survival, at times - close down and die" (wahh penuh ayat ni ..... maklumlah dah cekap ambil nota sekarang).

Kudos to Prof. Dr Pim Cuijpers
(yang baik hati dan byk membantu saya dalam penyelidikan pemodelan kemurungan)

(tuan empunya blog yang sedang depress ......... tapi makan tetap makan kan)

Yup, that is depression. It is a very old problem. Over thousand years ago, the Greek physician labelled it as "melancholia". However, early Muslim scientists had pioneered the work of depression analysis - by referring to the concepts of mental health and "mental hygiene" as introduced by Abu Zayd al-Balkhi. In his Masalih al-Abdan wa al-Anfus (Sustenance for Body and Soul), he was the first to successfully discuss diseases related to both the body and the soul. He used the term al-Tibb al-Ruhani to describe spiritual and psychological health, and the term Tibb al-Qalb to describe "mental medicine". He criticized many medical doctors in his time for placing too much emphasis on physical illnesses and neglecting the psychological or mental illnesses of patients, and argued that "since man’s construction is from both his soul and his body, therefore, human existence cannot be healthy without the ishtibak [interweaving or entangling] of soul and body." He further argued that "if the body gets sick, the nafs [psyche] loses much of its cognitive and comprehensive ability and fails to enjoy the desirous aspects of life" and that "if the nafs gets sick, the body may also find no joy in life and may eventually develop a physical illness.

Komputer pun boleh depress mcm ni!

So, how do we know either we are depressed or not? There are a couple of instruments can be used to identify the state of depression. But, depression is not as simple as it seems. We, basically we can evaluate ourself (or someone) or to identify simple signs of depression (but this is just basic signs - it is not applicable solely to diagnose the levels / types of depression).

1. Loss of energy and interest. (overcharge energy sokmo ni)
   
2. Experience problems in sleeping. (ok, tak depress - sbb tidur terlebih2 pulak kan)
   
3. Seeing future and everything as "hopeless" and pointless. (nopps.. selalu berangan mcm2 ... takde masalah la kan?)
   
4. Stop engaging in behaviours that have been enjoyable in the past. (ermmmm ... takde geng ... macamana ni?)
   
5. Major changes in appetite and weight (makan byk tu tanda2 kemurungan jugak ....ayoooo )
6. Mood swing (kejap ok, kejap tak .....- takleh komen la kan. )
   

So, what can trigger the depression ? There are many factors, but the most prominent factors are;

1. It is in you (the genes / heredity )
2. Gender (women are likely 25 % probable of having depression)
3. Vulnerable personality (having too negative perception about everything, less coping)
4. Excessive hormonal changes / alcohol abuse
   
5. Early childhood trauma
   
6. Environment (financial, relationship, no social support, loneliness)

(bankrap laaaa ...... jgn ikut yee)

How to reduce the risk of having depression? The answer is simple.

1. Identify your possible causal of stress (bos ke ... org sekeliling ke .... )
2. Go on easy to yourself (ramai org yg terlalu perfectionist senang kena kemurungan)
3. Learn how to relax (Since some stress is inevitable, knowing how to deal with it is important. There are many relaxation techniques that can help, including yoga, deep breathing, and meditation (as a Muslim - solat will help a lot). It is particularly effective for relieving depression and stress.
4. Exercise (Physical activity burns up stress chemicals, like adrenaline, which promotes a more relaxed state of mind)
5. ...... come to Amsterdam ( i will entertain you - heh...heh....hehh .. macam2 ada - tapi tiket sendiri tanggung la ya)