I realize that when you’re trying to talk to someone with clinical depression, it can be frustrating. It’s kind of a mine field if you have never experienced depression yourself. The situation’s complicated by an issue on the depressed person’s side. It’s very hard for someone with depression to communicate how depression feels.
But there are some things you can say, (and offer) that, while not guaranteed to make the depressed person feel better, could make it easier for them to talk to you and spend time with you.
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I talked in a previous blog about school avoidance, and how it can be caused by clinical depression and anxiety in a child.
My son Lawrence started kindergarten this school year. He was in a wonderful preschool the past two years, where he thrived. Of course we were concerned that he would have a little trouble adjusting to starting kindergarten, but while we got the “trouble adjusting” part right, we got the venue wrong. He’s had no trouble adjusting to kindergarten – it’s a problem with where he is the rest of the day that is generating phone calls to my husband and I.
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Depressed women face a higher risk of giving birth to pre-term babies than women who are not depressed, new research shows. According to the research study, published last week in Human Reproduction journal, women with severe depression are twice as likely to deliver early (at fewer than 37 weeks) as women who are not depressed. Women with less severe depression are 60 percent more likely to give birth prematurely.
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Occasionally, I wish that every single person on earth could experience one day of clinical depression. Not all at once, of course. Geez, would that bring everything to a grinding halt or what? No, I wish everyone could experience it as a rite of passage, like getting your driver’s license. Actually, I also wish this about being disabled. You wouldn’t believe how many people see me walking with my cane (I have Multiple Sclerosis, and sometimes need to walk with a cane) as some sort of impediment, and literally push past me so I don’t slow them down.
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So here’s a snapshot of me doing chores on a Saturday morning. I’m working at my computer in the living room and remember that I wanted to put the sheets from my husband’s and my bed in the wash. I head down to our room and notice on the way that my son hasn’t made his bed. I head back to the living room and tell him he needs to make his bed. While I’m in the living room, I notice that there’s a dirty plate, so I bring that into the kitchen, where I remember that I wanted to start the Scooba (the floor washing robot) on cleaning the kitchen floor. After I do that, I notice that the breakfast dishes are still on the table, and I put those in the sink. I finally sit down at my computer, where I remember half an hour later that I never put the sheets in the wash.
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A couple of months ago I read a few articles about a study that seriously makes me want to scream and throw things. “Antidepressants May Impair Driving Ability, Research Finds” says one headline. My first thought was, “Oh, crud.” But then, having years of experience in looking critically at studies, I made sure I read the fine print. Sure enough, there are a few big holes in the logic behind this study.
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