Four people's depressions

It is important that you discover your depression as early as possible. It is also important that you start your treatment as early as possible. It can be helpful to get an insight into others' treatment, and we therefore present four different people's depressions here.

Alberto

Alberto has retired. He cannot understand why he feels so tired because he no longer needs to do any work each day. Six months ago Alberto lost his wife, to whom he had been married for 28 years. She died of cancer. Alberto finds it difficult to get on with life. He constantly thinks: "I hate getting old. It feels lousy. Nobody needs me anymore". Alberto does not know that these are symptoms of depression. He only discovered it when his doctor made the diagnosis. The doctor also made sure that he started with his treatment.

Norma

Norma has reported sick. She does not dare to go to work. When Norma is at work, she feels inadequate and worthless. She feels that she can't manage anything at all. Just the thought of solving a task gives her a panic attack. After a long period of time, Norma begins contemplating suicide. To her everything is very painful. She always thinks: "It's all hopeless. I'm a failure. It will never get any better".

Manuel

Manuel has fought against his craving for alcohol for many years. He tries to repair his low self-esteem with the alcohol. It dampens the fear of "not being good enough." When Manuel drinks, he feels stronger. He feels that he has more control over things but when he sobers up, he has feelings of guilt. He gets anxious and his self-esteem gets even lower.

Manuel changes jobs at a relatively late age. At the new job, he is scared that he will be caught making mistakes. He constantly believes that his boss will fire him. He also believes that his colleagues are looking for mistakes in him. He believes that they will use these mistakes against him. He always thinks:

• "I must not make any mistakes".
• "I have to be perfect".
• "They must not discover how bad I am at everything."

Elma

Elma is fighting against anxiety. She has done that all her life. As a child her stepfather abused her sexually. Elma has also gone through two marriages where she was abused and hurt by her violent and alcoholic husbands. Elma gets more depressions and starts to isolate herself. One day in the supermarket, she became overwhelmed with anxiety. She broke out into a sweat and had chest pains. She was then rushed to the Emergency Room. She believes herself that she has a bad heart and is about to die. But the doctors tell her that she isn't going to die. After the experience in the supermarket, Elma does not dare to go out into the streets. She always thinks: "I am going to die, there is something wrong with my heart".

The depression is discovered late

Common to Alberto, Norma, Manuel, and Elma is that they discovered their depression late. For a long time they felt "inadequate" and not "good enough". Their spirits were low and they were very worried. They also became anxious very easily. The way that they expressed their feelings reflected the most severe psychological symptoms of depression. They also had physical symptoms such as tiredness, sluggishness, and pain. Through professional help, it occurred to them that they were suffering from depression. They find it difficult, however, to believe that they can get treated and that their symptoms will stop. They learn about their thoughts and feelings through cognitive behavioural therapy.