depression: choice or a state of mind?

Depression.
a very common word that we would often hear, at least on a weekly basis.
but lately, its been in my day to day vocab context.
not to worry, i'm not gonna go ahead and write a 7000 words post on how depressed i am.
instead, i'm going to talk about the state of depression, generally.

to begin with, according to the Medical Encyclopedia, it can be defined as a medical illness in which a perso has the feeling of sadness, discouragement, and a lack of self-worth. the main causes for this specific form of illness can be:

• Changes within the family
• Chronic pain and illness
• Difficulty getting around
• Frustration with memory loss
• Loss of a spouse or close friend
• Trouble adapting to a life change such as moving from a home to a retirement facility

okay, enough with the book stuff. lets talk about the public's perception of this topic. overall, depression is viewed as equivalent to mental illnesses, a.k.a craziness. when a person shows the symptoms of going through depression, or merely a rough patch, people surrounding him or her would immediately jump to the conclusion that this particular person has lost or is loosing his or her sanity. the instant reaction that follows this conclusion(assumption) would be to keep a certain distance from this person and go around informing everyone to do exactly the same thing.

now come the 54 thousand dollar question: Is this the right thing to do?

well, i am confirmative that many would defend their actions by claiming that this is for the sake of both party, the depressed individual and themselves. some would even go to the extend of outlining proofs or evidence that support their actions, such as 'we lack the medical practice to handle such people, hence we might worsen their condition' or 'we might end up being the next columbine or virginia tech'. truth to be told, we cannot put the full blame on these people wanting to clean their own asses. selfishness is after all one of the natural attributes that had escaped the Pandora's box.

but if everyone shares the same attitude, mindset and prejudice towards these people, where does that leave us? and most importantly, where does that leave them? most of us would fail to see that the symptoms, or the ways the depressed express themselves are already a cry for help. would we let a drowning person sink, or would we dive into the spine-chilling water to drag them onto shore, or should we at least throw them a life-jackett?

yes, i agree that some of us may not know how to swim or even float ourselves. but should that prevent us from at least running around screaming for help?

so, no, we cannot turn a blind eye on these people. these people who are reaching out for help, yearning for the slightest hint of attention from others. because if we do, we might want to refrain ourselves from reading tomorrow's headlines. I know i would.