Depression

Depression is a dark hole that swallows one into oblivion. It is difficult to treat because one does not know he/she has it and therefore he/she is not willing to put forth the effort to regain the life enjoyed before. My friend, I’ll call him Jim, has sunk into depression and he doesn’t know it. He has no interest in anything and only waits to die.

I’ve known Jim for more than 40 years. He and I have spent hours making each other laugh and just having a good time. Not anymore. All my efforts to make him laugh are unresponsive. More and more, he seems to not want to talk to me, or anyone else. He just wants to die. The saddest part is that I can’t help him. Only, he can help him and he won’t.

I don’t profess to know a lot, but I do know that the way out of the darkness is to first get up and start looking for the light. By that I mean that one must find someone or something that gives a sense of responsibility and a duty and then spend the effort it takes to dedicate oneself. Get a pet. A dog, or cat, or a chicken or something that is dependent upon you. Look around and see other people that depend upon you - a spouse, a child or grandchild or neighbor. As, you may agree, people need to be needed.

When I first contracted Lyme disease I experienced a long period of time that I made myself schedule something the next day that had to be done, before I went to sleep at night. It might be having coffee with a friend or business associate. Something. Anything. The one I hated was mowing the lawn, but I did it anyway.

Today there are many medications used to treat depression, and some of them help. But the problem is that many old people fall into depression and never seek help or treatment. They don’t know they are depressed. They just think the way they feel is part of getting older. My friend Jim.

I’m not sure if his wife or children see what’s going on in his life. I doubt they do. And, I’m not playing doctor, but I do have enough education and experience to recognize where Jim is and is going. He has stopped laughing.

I read somewhere, "You don’t stop laughing because you get old. You get old, because you stop laughing."

PMO
2017