‘Depression has many masks, many forms'

Depression is fast becoming the ‘common cold of mental illnesses’, affecting 121 million people across the world. We now have the first book in India on depression, Beating the Blues: A complete guide to overcoming depression, penned by psychologist Seema Hingoranny. “People fear depression, more than anything, and that is why they do not know how to deal with it,” Seema says, explaining why she decided to write this book.

Depression stems from negative experiences in people’s life, some which may have been around since childhood, Seema explains, “Many times medication is not required. What is required is a lot of talk therapy and working on negative beliefs.” Medication is needed when a person has very severe genetic depression that runs in the family, she adds. Working on negative experiences is often enough to cure  depression for many people, Seema says.
There are some clear indicators of depression that we can watch for, Seema says. “Persistent sadness, lots of anxiety, not sleeping well at all, an appetite that’s gone for a toss and low self-esteem. If these persist for two-three weeks and continue on to two-three months, that’s the time one needs to take help,” Seema elaborates.

Fashion designer and social activist Shaina NC, believes that in the rat race of life, we are doing ourselves much harm and Seema’s book is something that we will all need. “It will be great as a preventive resource against depression. It can help us cope and Mumbai will be a much happier city,” she adds.

Dr Indu Shahani, Sherrif of Mumbai says, “Physically you can be ill, your liver can fail, your kidneys can fail — but why can’t your mind fail.” Seema explains that brain is a part of the body, like any other, and your thoughts can betray you. It’s the social stigma and the taboo of going to a psychologist, that deters people from getting the help they need. “Depression has many masks, many forms that need to be dealt with,” Seema says. “I hope for the day when people will openly say that ‘I’m sitting with my shrink’ instead of hiding the fact due to social implications. That is when we will truly be able to fight depression.”