Clinical Depression And Its Impact On Today’s Society
Clinical depression is well known for being one of the most common psychological disorders in the most industrialized countries or countries with Western culture.
However, this does not mean that human beings have more biological predispositions to just “get sad.” In fact, if this alteration of mood has spread so much in the most industrialized countries, it is because our way of life, although it is capable of giving us a lot of well-being and a better ability to avoid death for many years, also exposes us to certain situations that make us vulnerable to depression.
Major depression: a phenomenon linked to the current way of life
The fact that depressive disorder exists linked to the way of life of societies is nothing new, nor something that occurs only with mood alterations. Virtually all psychological problems They can be promoted or weakened by how we become accustomed to interacting with the environment and with ourselves, which depends both on the culture in which we grow and learn, and on the material reality of the countries we inhabit.
And the differences between living in 21st century Spain and living in Ancient Greece are not only reflected in our way of thinking and interpreting reality; They also have an effect on the predisposition to develop one or another psychological disorder. And in our case, it seems that we are especially exposed to clinical depression simply by living in “current society.”
It is believed that if there are currently many people who will develop clinical depression throughout their lives, this is in part because, simply, we reach older ages and have our basic needs met (or, at least, more met than before). several centuries).
Thus, depression would be a typical disorder of societies in which Not having autonomy or being able to take care of oneself does not mean dying in a short time, since behind each individual there are health institutions and social support networks that provide the necessary resources to continue living. Thus, clinical depression is defined as a disorder of those who limit themselves to surviving, despite encountering serious problems to justify their existence as individuals.
This means that the typical symptoms of clinical depression are associated with passivity and sedentary habits. Those who suffer from this psychological phenomenon are not capable of feeling excited about almost anything, and they do not get involved in hobbies or projects that at another time in their life they would have loved. Furthermore, on many occasions their ability to experience pleasure is diminished, something known as anhedonia.
It is true that we know of ancient and even prehistoric societies in which it was not unusual to care for people with chronic disorders throughout their lives, but it is difficult to imagine an archaic model of social organization in which it would be possible to sustain people for months or years. majority of people with depression, which in many countries today amount to around 7% of adults.
But beyond the simple fact that in contemporary societies life expectancy has increased a lot, it has also There are other cultural factors common in the West that seem to facilitate the onset of clinical depression Let’s see how they do it.
Daily life factors that reinforce depressive disorder
These are different habits and routines that feed clinical depression and that our current way of life encourages.
1. Rumination
Our lifestyle fills us with opportunities to spend a good part of the day thinking over and over again about things that concern us. This vicious cycle of unpleasant and intrusive thoughts is called psychological rumination and it is one of the factors that maintains depression (a fact that is why, in psychotherapy, we attach great importance to helping patients combat it).
Rumination is not only fueled by free time in which we have no plans and let our mind wander through a series of negative thoughts; Furthermore, tools like the Internet can cause us to constantly expose ourselves to content that feeds our worry and despair. Let’s think for a moment about the teenager who feels bad about her body and looks for hours at photographs of models, on the one hand, and blog or social media entries from other young women who share their most pessimistic thoughts or even their desire to end into your life at some point.
2. Social isolation
Nowadays it is perfectly possible to spend several weeks without talking to practically anyone, or without leaving home at all. This type of extreme social isolation reinforces the possibility that depression will arise and persist for various reasons: the deterioration of physical health, the lack of references on how to deal with sadness or melancholy, the lack of reasons to think that someone cares about us, etc.
Lack of sleep is also surprisingly common today, and is another phenomenon that increases the risk of clinical depression. The unstructured work schedules typical of the self-employed life, excess work, or loneliness or lack of plans, for example, enhance the possibility of that we do not sleep enough hours or at the right time
4. Competitiveness
The competitive mentality taken to the extreme, so typical of the labor market today, makes us tend to constantly compare ourselves with others This creates many opportunities for us to feel bad about our way of life and to become frustrated for not reaching unreasonable goals, even though we objectively have our physiological needs covered.
Are you looking for help to generate new habits?
If you think that your way of living is leading you to wear down your psychological well-being, The best thing you can do is go to psychotherapy Psychologists are professionals with experience when it comes to helping to generate new daily habits that allow us to aspire to greater happiness.
To see the contact details of the Begoña Fernández Psychology Center, the place where I serve in Madrid, click here.
