Wise Words About Depression, From a Teen

Invisible diseases are the toughest to cope with, in my opinion. Invisible health issues, such as chronic pain, celiac disease, or fibromyalgia, are difficult for people to understand because they can't see them. They can't see the problems that they cause and the effects that they have. A cast on your arm is easy to understand. Scars on your skin are obvious to see. But something hidden, invisible - not so much.

Depression is one of those illnesses and not only is it invisible, it's also a mental illness. This makes it even more difficult. As Kevin Breel says in his fantastic talk about depression, we are so accepting and understanding of any body part breaking, except for the brain. How true. 

If our appendix becomes inflamed and needs to be removed, we have surgery. If we get cancer, we get treatment. If we break a limb, we get a cast. But if our brain doesn't act right, if chemicals are not the right level or messages are interrupted, we're stuck. 

What makes Kevin's talk so compelling, so important, is his age (19) and who he is (a writer and stand-up comic). As he says in his talk, no one would guess that he struggles with depression. He's a handsome, popular, high achieving young man. Smiling and working hard, he's one of the last people you would ever dream as having a serious problem like depression. But he did. And he still does.

The good news is that people are beginning to talk about it more. When young people like Kevin speak out and celebrities like Jon Hamm and Bruce Springsteen talk about their experience with depression, those who have been hiding may begin to see that they're not alone. Why is it so important that we talk about depression? Because people need to know they aren't the only ones living with it. They need to know that other people have similar problems and that there is hope.

This week, there was an article in the New York Times article that discussed a treatment for depression, called transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS. TMS isn't for everyone and it may not work for all who try it, but maybe someone who needs it will read about it and benefit from it. If we don't write articles and blog posts about depression and its treatment, people feel alone.

If I can help you take just one thing away from this blog post, it's that you understand that people with depression are everywhere and may be among those who you least expect it. If you have depression, it can be difficult to reach out. The reasons are so varied and so individual, but they can range from fear of being thought less of ("What does he have to be depressed about? Doesn't he know what real problems are, how lucky he is?") to fear ("If my boss finds out, I might get fired.") And even if people do want to ask for help, sometimes they don't know how.

Depression has many descriptions. I see it as a hole, a deep, deep hole. And once you're in it, unless someone lowers a ladder, you feel like you'll never get out. If you are depressed, ask someone for that ladder. If you know someone who is depressed, please offer it. Let that person know you're there and that you care. 

Relaxing Sunday and.... Last Day of Blogathon 2013

We did it! Made it through all 30 days without missing a beat. Yay! So it's fitting that today is relaxing Sunday too.

I'll take a break from posting for a few days, refuel, so to speak. Unless a really interesting topic catches my attention. Tomorrow is Canada Day, our celebration of the country that has given us so much. We have our problems, there's no doubt about that. I live in Montreal, which seems to be political corruption and scandal central these days. I had a good laugh the other day though. Another mayor resigned from office, from Laval, the city beside Montreal, and the CBC news anchor in TV said, "Another mayor in Quebec resigned today, but not for the usual reasons."

I wish we had a mayor like Naheed Nenshi. What a jewel he has turned out to be. Calgarians, many of us are very envious that you have such a personable, unflappable, cool mayor. I don't imagine he set out to be cool, but watching him speak to the media, he is truly cool. Funny and direct, he got his point across in a kind but firm manner.

That's Canada, eh? From coast to coast, we have our problems, but there are always some shining examples of how great we can be.

Happy Canada Day to my fellow Canadians.

The Last Blogathon Saturday Round-Up for 2013

It's the second to last day of the Blogathon 2013 and we've covered a lot of stuff. This blogathon is also a great way for me to learn about and introduce you to new blogs or rediscover older ones. The theme day for today was supposed to be a Wordle, a cloud of words from your blog. Last year I made one without any problems but for some reason, I can't do it this year. So, I decided to check to see which posts were the most popular this month instead.

The three most-read posts are ones that pop up all the time, two are several years old. They must be serving a purpose because every day, people come to my blog when they search for this information online. They are:

Broken hips in the elderly can lead to death
How can you die from pneumonia?
and a more recent post, from last year: Fibromyalgia - yes, it's real/no it's not.

These posts were followed by some from this month's blogathon:

Fibromyalgia cause discovered?
Distracted (Texting & Talking) Walking - No Sympathy Here
and 5 health and fitness apps I like

Do you have any favourite posts, maybe something that made you stop and think about how you felt about the topic, or that you disagreed (or agreed) with something I've said?

Another Child Dies in a Hot Car

Sadly, it happens every year. Every. Single. Year. Children are left in hot cars and they die of hyperthermia, heat stroke (Watch That Summer Heat). Last year, I wrote about the senseless deaths by drowning (Drowning Isn't Noisy). It looks like heat stroke is this year's topic.

This week, a 2-year-old boy died after being left for a "significant number of hours" in a hot car. I don't know the whole story. I don't know who forgot or how that happened, but it has happened before and it has happened too many times. Sometimes, the children are deliberately left in the car ("I'll be back in a few minutes," which turns into much longer), sometimes the children get into the car without anyone knowing, but often, the deaths occur when the child is forgotten. How does that happen?

The theories I've heard is that people are distracted, they're thrown off their routine, they're forgetful, they're busy. But are we really that distracted, that routine-oriented, that forgetful, that busy that we forget that we have a child in the back seat? How can that happen?

I heard on the radio today a host asking for ideas on how this can be prevented. One woman called in and said there should be an alarm that buzzes if someone gets out of the front of the car, but not the back. I guess she figured it could be a weight-triggered alarm like the ones in the front seat that tell you that you've not put on your seatbelt yet. But do we really have to start adding more technology to our lives? And what if we depend on it and the alarm doesn't sound? Then is the child's death the manufacturer's fault for not reminding the parents?

A friend of mine had five children. She laughs when she tells the story of the time when her husband took the a few of the children out for a bike ride - and forgot the baby in his crib. She said, "oh, he was busy, he didn't think about it." I didn't think it was funny. I was horrified. If you're the parent-in-charge, how do you forget a child? I'm not talking about having two adults around and each thinks the other has a child - this is one parent who was responsible for the child.

We have so much going on in our lives, but we need to take responsibility for things too. My children outnumbered us, there were three of them and only two of us. And we were as busy as most people with similar lives. And I was a far from perfect mother and I know I'll be a far from perfect grandmother when the time comes. But I wonder, in what circumstances could I have forgotten a child in the car. And if I did, would I not notice it quickly? "Hey, where's _____?"

What do you think?