It's snowing!

Sunday, November 8; 11/08/2009 05:12:00 PM

i think the government's efforts in raising awareness for depression has been very successful so far..

when u mention mental illness everyone thinks of depression...sometimes it really gets very annoying...u noe ar...even simple english being depressed and being paranoid already means different things...so wad makes pple think the clinical terms are the same..haix

in fact i was very surprised when the nurses at the A&E of a very 'atas' hospital in singapore thought the same way...

"huh? r u sure your mum has depression? she looks quite happy u noe?"

-_-" since when did i say my mum has depression?

actually psychiatric illnesses come in many forms and sometimes they may overlap..so there may be overlapping symtoms..

here are three that i noe of...

From wikipedia

Paranoia:

Most recently[1], the clinical use of the term has been used to describe delusions where the affected person believes they are being persecuted. Specifically, they have been defined as containing two central elements:
The individual thinks that harm is occurring, or is going to occur,
The individual thinks that the persecutor has the intention to cause harm.
Paranoia is often associated with psychotic illnesses, sometimes schizophrenia, although attenuated features may be present in other conditions such as (delusional parasitosis); that the person is on a special quest or has been chosen by God (or another deity); that the person has had thoughts inserted or removed from conscious thought; or that the person's actions are being controlled by an external force. Therefore, in common usage, the term paranoid addresses a range of mental conditions, assumed by the use of the term to be of psychiatric origin, in which the subject is seen to generalize or project fears and anxieties onto the external world, particularly in the form of organized behavior focused on them. The syndrome is applied equally to powerful people like executives obsessed with takeover bids or political leaders convinced of plots against them, and to common people who believe for instance that shadowy agencies are operating against them.

Depression:

Major depressive disorder (also known as clinical depression, major depression, unipolar depression, or unipolar disorder) is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities. The term "major depressive disorder" was selected by the American Psychiatric Association to designate this symptom cluster as a mood disorder in the 1980 version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III) classification, and has become widely used since. The general term depression is often used to describe the disorder, but as it can also be used to describe other types of psychological depression, more precise terminology is preferred for the disorder in clinical and research use. Major depression is a disabling condition which adversely affects a person's family, work or school life, sleeping and eating habits, and general health. In the United States, approximately 3.4% of people with major depression commit suicide, and up to 60% of people who commit suicide have depression or another mood disorder.

The diagnosis of major depressive disorder is based on the patient's self-reported experiences, behavior reported by relatives or friends, and a mental status exam. There is no laboratory test for major depression, although physicians generally request tests for physical conditions that may cause similar symptoms. The most common time of onset is between the ages of 30 and 40 years, with a later peak between 50 and 60 years. Major depression is reported about twice as frequently in women as in men, and women attempt suicide more often, although men are at higher risk for succeeding.

Most patients are treated in the community with antidepressant medication and some with psychotherapy or counseling. Hospitalization may be necessary in cases with associated self-neglect or a significant risk of harm to self or others. A minority are treated with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), under a short-acting general anaesthetic. The course of the disorder varies widely, from one episode lasting months to a lifelong disorder with recurrent major depressive episodes. Depressed individuals have shorter life expectancies than those without depression, in part because of greater susceptibility to medical illnesses and suicide. Current and former patients may be stigmatized.

The understanding of the nature and causes of depression has evolved over the centuries, though this understanding is incomplete and many aspects of depression are still the subject of discussion and research. Psychological, psycho-social, hereditary, evolutionary and biological causes have been proposed. Psychological treatments are based on theories of personality, interpersonal communication, and learning. Most biological theories focus on the monoamine chemicals serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine, which are naturally present in the brain and assist communication between nerve cells. Monoamines have been implicated in depression, and most antidepressants work to increase the active levels of at least one.

Panic Disorder:

Panic disorder is a serious health problem that in many cases can be successfully treated, although there is no known cure. It typically strikes in early adulthood; roughly half of all people who have panic disorder develop the condition before age 24, especially if the person has been subjected to a traumatic experience. However, some sources say that the majority of young people affected for the first time are between the ages of 25 and 30. Women are twice as likely as men to develop panic disorder.[1]

Panic disorder can continue for months or even years, depending on how and when treatment is sought. If left untreated, it may worsen to the point where the person's life is seriously affected by panic attacks and by attempts to avoid or conceal the condition. In fact, many people have had problems with friends and family or employment while struggling to cope with panic disorder. Some people with panic disorder may begin to lie to conceal their condition, because of the stigma of mental illness. In some individuals, symptoms may occur frequently for a period of months or years, then many years may pass symptom-free. In others, the symptoms persist at the same level indefinitely. There is also some evidence that many individuals (especially those who develop symptoms at an early age) may experience a cessation of symptoms naturally later in life (i.e. past age 50).[citation needed]

Panic disorder sufferers usually have a series of intense episodes of extreme anxiety during panic attacks. These attacks typically last about ten minutes, but can be as short-lived as 1–5 minutes and last as long as twenty minutes or until medical intervention. However, attacks can wax and wane for a period of hours (panic attacks rolling into one another), and the intensity and specific symptoms of panic may vary over the duration. Common symptoms of an attack include rapid heartbeat, perspiration, dizziness, dyspnea, trembling, uncontrollable fear, hyperventilation, etc. Some individuals deal with these events on a regular basis, sometimes daily or weekly. The outward symptoms of a panic attack often cause negative social experiences (i.e. embarrassment, social stigma, social isolation, etc.).

Actually these illnesses can be very treatable by medication as these are generally associated with chemical imbalances in the brain..so long as medication is taken regularly to balance the chemical imbalances, the condition remains controllable..

ya tt's easy to say..the difficulty is in getting them to take the medicine...

Sunday, November 1; 11/01/2009 11:33:00 PM

time passes...

unknowingly 1 week has passed since we sent my mum on her last journey...

i wonder how is she now...

i hope she is doing well...

many weeks ago, i had planned to write a post to show my appreciation for my mother even though i know that she doesn't read my blog..

i didn't expect it to become a tribute to the memory of my mother...

23 years ago, a 22 year old girl gave birth to her daughter 20 days before her 23rd birthday...

but now 23 years later, when all her children are grown up, she is no longer around to enjoy the fruits of her labour...

i had always admired my mother a lot...

giving birth to me at 23...

sacrificing her youth to be a stay home mum..

to care for and nurture her children...

i'm 23 and i think that i haven't seen the world yet, i havent had enough fun yet...

i simply can't imagine doing what she did...

sometimes i can't help but keep recalling my last conversations with her...

i can't help but think..

if i had noticed that she sounded unusually distracted...

if i had responded differently..

if i had shown more care and concern for her in her last days...

if i had been more observant...

would the outcome be different...

what made her do what she did?

was she really really scared?

was she tired of being scared?

was she tired of taking the medicine?

was she tired of the endless cycles of being well and relapsing again?

it wasn't her first relapse?

what made the difference?

did she think that nobody cared about her?

was she afraid of being a burden to us?

did she think that nobody believed her any longer?

did she wish that someone would notice what she was going to do and try to stop her?

maybe that explains her telephone calls before she did what she did...

i really cant bring myself to type out the cause of her death...

even though everyone tells me that i shouldn't reproach myself..

although i thought that there weren't many signs of what she was going to do..

but after going throught the house after she passed away

thinking of her actions the few days before she passed away paints a different picture...

was i too unobservant?

when i first got the news..

i couldn't believe it...

i didn't want to believe it..

i was expecting her to appear at the door any moment asking us to open the doors for her saying that she lost her bags and her keys...

when the police called to confirm her identity

i still didn't want to believe it...

i desperately wanted her to come back...

i still can't believe that she's no longer with us...

i miss her a lot...

her clothes are still in her cupboard...

her clothes which were not washed before she passed away have been washed

i know that we are supposed to clear her stuff..

but clearing her stuff would make everything seem so final

like she's really gone...

now that she's gone we truly hope that it is a release for her..

that she's in a world where there's only happiness

that she's healthy and happy...

she will be missed dearly...

i love you, mummy

these few words that seem too mushy to say to her...

that i had hoped she would be able to sense through my actions...

only now am i saying it...

too late?

if u r wondering why i'm playing some old song on my blog, it's my mum's favourite song...