BURNOUT, DEPRESSION AND SUICIDE.

 

Like living between a rock and a hard place, life has suddenly become more difficult to understand.  With the many unemployment rates, crimes in the streets, environmental pollution and to top it all, the spiralling upward cost of living has made it even more stressful for the human race.

Today’s society is full of people learning to get opportunities in the working environments. Unluckily even with their best quality acquired knowledge and skills with certification, there isn’t employment. Job markets have become so competitive that one has to fight through their ways to at least get recognised. This has happened through connections or even by lady luck's choice.

Imagine a freshly made graduate from the University who has to fight for a chance in the working society.  There could be reasons why they fight for better chances.  Some want to get the jobs so that they can be fit in the society – prove that they are capable of being independent and that they no longer need to depend on their parents or guardians to earn a living. Others want to  prove that it was worth being educated. For some, they want to compete with their friends’ lifestyles and see who is doing better .

What happens in a situation whereby one is not able to get employed in this competitive market? They start being stressed. Anxiety breaks in and finally some will turn from being the educated fellows who had perfect knowledge and skills or even experience to the society’s laughing stock.  It’s like wearing a mask to hide the real you during your learning days only to unmask it when you fail and people see your “true “ picture of a failure. It so ridiculous that the once educated through school brings shame to those around them.

Intense psychological process affects the human body leading to homeostatic balances in the body resulting into severe consequences for an individual. This is  now the state where we start to witness a conflict between the mind and emotions. For example,  a graduate may walk into an interview room feeling excited about his or her ability to qualify for a particular position. However, on failing to get the job, s/he starts thinking of so many things in the mind. How am I going to face the people depending on me? What will my friends say about my state of being jobless? How will I pay my rent, bills and food ? Such questions may trigger in the mind of which finally affects the emotions- their thinking, mood and or even behaviour. This is now the onset of stress.

When one is stressed, they cannot reason or think properly. A feeling of shame, frustration depression and anxiety fills their surroundings. Emotional responses which are not appropriate try to fight in their mixed emotions.  At times they can be happy, sad, moody depending on what they are going through.

Some individuals turn to substance abuse when stressed. Taking drugs like cocaine, excessive consumption of alcohol, bhang  and many other illegal drugs. These they take gradually and with time, they become addicted to these drugs to a point that they cannot be controlled. You May find someone who has never been interested in taking drugs finally starts taking.

Depression follows suit after one has been stressed. Knowing that a person is depressed is easy. Their mental state is characterised by a feeling of sadness, despair, feeling unworthy or even hopeless. When a person is  depressed,  they become a danger to themselves or  even the society.  The individual must have professional help. Losing a loved one, separation of parents, departure of parent or a child, business failure, divorce, can be some cases of depression.

It is always important to be on the lookout of your friends, family members, colleagues and the people around you.  Someone can go through severe depression right under your nose and you may fail to notice that.

Symptoms of depression.

•      The person has trouble with                concentration and memory.
•        Feels guilt about inconsequential        events.
•       Excessive sleep.
•       Insomnia.
•       Feeling hopeless and worthless.
•       Withdraws from activities and interest.
•      Decreased interaction with family and friends.
•      Becomes less productive at work.
•     Relationship with co-workers becomes minimal. 
•  Weight lose/ gain.
• Decreased sexual drive.

Currently, the world is full of news about people who have intentionally taken their lives. A depressed person is likely to commit suicide.  This comes with some warning signs before the actual thing happens. The highest number of suicides in the world today has created headlines on news. People are dying because of so many reasons. To some, none ever took their time to reach out for them when they needed someone to talk to. This brings to our attention about some common suicidal behaviour.

•        Suicide threats.
•      Suicide attempts.
•     Suicide gestures.                                       The person's actions or behaviours may suddenly change greatly. A very thrifty person may suddenly begin spending more money than he earns. 

• Crisis: This is the point at which the usual problem-solving or decision- making methods are no longer adequate.  At this point, the person may be so overwhelmed that he selects suicide as the only way to solve his problems.

Causes Leading to Potential Suicide.

• Depression: Feelings (moods) of sadness, despair, and discouragement describe depression. 
• Depression may be disruptive to the individual causing:
•  Ability to think decreased.
• Diminished physical ability.
• Guilt.                  
• Self-condemnation.
•   Hopelessness. 
• Disorders of eating.
• Sleeping disorders.
•  Mental health is creating awareness of what happens to us that has an effect in our lives .can be physically induced and later on has an emotional damage as well as the psychological ailment.

 It is  kind to check on your friends, neighbours, family members and colleagues. It can be as simple as a short message e.g “ I thought of you and just wanted to say hi.”

Be there to just listen to them. You never know what one is going through until you listen to their story.  Someone may not be asking for anything but for you to listen.

Ask to give advice directly and don’t assume that they are going to go through it and be fine. Don’t give advice without knowing if the person needs it. Know your limits of advice to give.

To maintain your well-being as an individual, recognise your inner strength.