Depression In Andrew Solomon's 'Capturing A Black Hole'

Capturing a Black Hole

It’s unreasonable to define something so arbitrary as depression in just a few sentences. For me, depression is a vacuum, something that pulls up everything: it takes away the good, bad, joy, sorrow, anger, etc. It affects the way you function and takes control of you. Professionals may define it by a set of symptoms and feelings. But for patients suffering with depression, it is more than just the symptoms; it can become an absence of self worth and an overwhelming feeling of loneliness despite the surprising amount of people who have it as well. These people typically blame him or herself and use the illness to define them as a whole. Depression is an illness of the mind, or a mood disorder; although it can affect a

As one of the “most common illnesses” (World Health Organization; WHO), over 350 million people worldwide have been diagnosed with depression; 19 million are diagnosed in the United States alone each year. Hopelessness and meaninglessness in life itself can become self evident to those who suffer with depression. This illness, as I prefer to define it, is a lack of something; it is a lack of interest, hope, desire, energy, happiness, love, and life. It takes so much out of you that you feel empty when it leaves. Solomon defines it as

They are able to look at how this illness is affecting the person and work with the patient to help themselves through medication, therapy, or support groups. The most frequently used methods to treat depression is medication. There are several different kinds of medication, but the most common are antidepressants. Some antidepressants include Prozac, Lithium, and Zoloft. Prozac has been proven the most efficacious, but Lithium was the most widely utilized in the past. The side effects of both of these are dizziness, hard tremors, weight gain, extortionate sweating, body rashes, metallic taste in mouth, sedulously assiduous thirst, and blurred vision. These antidepressants take about four weeks to start working. It may take anywhere from a couple months to a few years to overcome depression depending on how severe it is by taking medication alone. Another way to overcome depression is by using psychotherapy. Psychotherapy deals with a patient and a therapist. The therapist talks to the patient and tries to find the source of depression or problem. The patient must realize the problem, confront it, and overcome it. There are many different kinds of therapy like family or group therapy. Because people do not open up easy, therapy is not always