The value of people’s stories in understanding depression
“People think of depression as being just sadness. It's much, much too much sadness, much too much grief at far too slight a cause (3).”
This is the statement that follows Andrew Solomon’s intense introduction, which is full rendition of a poem by Emily Dickinson. This served its purpose well by giving a description of the disease. Those who have experienced depression are able to identify immediately with Dickinson, even before a medical description has been shared. This poem demonstrates what a patient suffers through before they finally reach out for help (if they ever do so).
The tone of the presentation is one that is reverent and earnest (intense with a sincere state of mind) however his demeanour was erudite - learned, polished, scholarly. Thus, eliciting contradictory emotions in the viewer. His words make us feel as if we are allowed to visit the most personal aspect of his self, however he acts like an overworked tour guide, as if he has grown detached to his purpose, to the process of sharing. In a way, it demonstrates the nature of depression.
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It usually presents as changes in somatic, psychomotor, cognitive and behavioral components of daily life (4). Depression has in many dimensions: as a disease, an identity and a way of life that is a result of both intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Although neurology has provided new insight into the relationship between neurotransmitter function and depression; to sufferers, there is a hazy overlap of historical and sociocultural interpretations of illness that present as a mosaic of the bio-psychosocial factors