Depression is a Bad Word

              I’m old enough to remember that depression was a very bad word. I suppose I didn’t know much, except that it was bad, and not talked about. Perhaps it was the way that “crazy people” were portrayed in movies or book, I don’t know.

             It was “Mental Illness”.  And it was bad. I don’t recall knowing of anyone being mentally ill.  I heard a lot about “nervous breakdowns”.  They would go somewhere and rest and be taken care of. 

            If some explanation was given, it usually included working too hard, or maybe some tragic event that had upset them. I think the “nervous breakdown” was the easiest to understand and explain.

            There is definitely a stigma attached.  If you are labeled mental Ill, your thought of and looked differently.

By the late 4th century the Christian Church was using the term to refer to 'a weariness or distress of the heart' — a condition that was regarded as undesirable and requiring treatment. 

While initially associated with sadness it later became associated with the 'sin of sloth' and known as accidie. Accidie in the 1300s was listed by the church as a cardinal sin for it made, for example, monks lazy and sluggish. For St Thomas Aquinas, accidie was the result of shrinking from doing some good.

 But the concept of accidie is more complex than that, and interpretations vary. Some commentators related the origin of black bile to Adam's eating of the forbidden apple. With the weakening of the power of the Christian Church in the 15th and 16th centuries accidie became more and more associated with melancholia.

To Word My Thoughts

"I feel it sometimes very difficult indeed to word my thoughts as they exist in my own mind, which, I presume, is the grand cause of many apparent differences in sentiment which may exist among the Saints.."                                                         Brigham Young

            I’m told that age brings with it a struggle to find words to finish our thoughts. I heard someone struggling for the right word, and to cover his embarrassment, named that struggle, “A Senior Moment.” Since that day I have witnessed, that moment occurring on a regular basis.

            We all want to be understood. To speak well. To find the right words at the right time and be sure that our listeners understands. I want to limit the times that I must find other words, and then explain another way,  to make what I first said understandable.

            As bad as this may be in a conversation, in a talk it is absolutely crucial. To be aware that your audience is struggling is devastating. You are confronted with a decision, do I continue as if nothing happened, or stop and try to explain?

            . When defending a position or principle that you hold dear, to have your mind work flawlessly, find all the right words, and put them in the proper order and form, so that they come out of your mouth, and are easily understood. When this works properly it is a wonder. Certainly not appreciated enough until that gift slows down.

            To be understood is such a basic need. It builds self-esteem. It allows us to function among others. To feel that you are not understood lowers self-esteem.

            Reading is such a blessing. To find a passage that is so well said, so understandable, so expressive of your feelings, that you  pause and reread it over and over, trying to fully comprehend that someone is describing, what, for me had been indescribable. .

            Certainly, if you find yourself trying to write about feelings, you become sensitive to such passages.  I find it much simpler to have what I want to say summarized, well said by one that is talented and respected, and then use my own words to express the way I feel. The best I am able.

Some depressed people experience poor concentration, memory problems, difficulty in carrying on a normal conversation, and preoccupation with the fear of looking foolish. They have great difficulty making decisions or being creative. Unfortunately, these reactions feed the person's feeling of inadequacy and incompetence, which produce greater difficulty in performance and production, which leads to increased feelings of incompetence, and so on, dragging the person into a downward cycle of despair.                                                  David G. Weight