One last time, let’s debunk misconceptions and stigmas around depression that some people in Singapore might have, starting with the first 5 we mentioned in the previous post:
a. “It’s just something emo(tional) and angsty teenagers made up/something that sad people invented to get attention.”
Not even close. Depression is a very real disorder that doesn’t just strike “angsty” teenagers. In fact, as seen in our statistics post, it strikes many, many people across the world, regardless of gender or age, and is definitely not an invention.
b. “If I feel sad for some days, I must have depression.”
Well, it’s complicated. Although sadness is prevalent in depression, depression is not just feeling sad. If you’re sad over getting bad tests results or if you’re upset over your favourite character’s death, you aren’t immediately diagnosed as depressed. However, if your sadness is persistent for most days for at least 6 months, or 2 years or more, you may just be diagnosed with it.
c. “Depression is a sign of weakness.”
WRONG! Depression affects all kinds of people, like we said. It doesn’t affect people because they aren’t strong enough to avoid getting upset and sad over everything, as some might think. In fact, most people with depression and mental illness in general are probably stronger than most neurotypical (average) people since they have to hide their mental illness from almost everyone they may know.
d. “Men don’t get depression. Only women get it because they’re weaker than men.”
Wrong again! Like we said above, depression affects all kinds of people. And in this post, we showed you that 57,000 men in Singapore were affected by depression in 2016. That may not be as much as the 102,000 women beset by it, but it is still a huge number. A huge reason why people may believe this statement is because stereotypes surrounding men prevent them from showing their emotions, so we don’t know if they’re struggling with depression and/or other mental illnesses. But that does not allow us to dismiss it.
e. “It’s always brought on by traumatic life events.”
Not really. Traumatic life events can bring on a depressive episode, but it won’t really bring on depression in a person itself. People can feel depressed about the loss of a loved one, or their job, but this is not the same as depression. As mentioned above in point b, it takes quite a long time for doctors to accurately diagnose depression.
Source:
Breaking Through The Stigma on Mental Illness 