Are You Depressed Right Now?
There may be people who have never heard the word "depression," but there is likely no one who has heard it only once. Depression. This mental state, characterized by low mood and decreased activity, has led one in ten Americans to take antidepressants. What about Korea? You might be surprised.
"Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the occurrence of depression and anxiety has more than doubled worldwide. Among them, South Korea’s depression prevalence has reached 36.8%, the highest in the OECD. It is a shocking statistic: four out of every ten Koreans experience depression or depressive feelings."
Before writing this—and before conducting proper statistical research—I thought of depression as a condition affecting a third of modern people. I knew countless people around me who had suffered or were suffering from it, and I had experienced such symptoms myself. While hasty generalizations are dangerous, it seems that "one in three" is no longer an exaggeration.
A disease of the heart. A disease of emotion. Perhaps it’s because the emotional word "depression" is included in the name of the illness? But the symptoms of depression are not limited to changes in mood. Its causes include not only psychological issues but also genetic and biochemical factors. There is no single "common feeling" that everyone with depression experiences; everyone is different. They are simply different, never "wrong." Physical changes also occur. The American Psychiatric Association lists these changes as: decrease or increase in appetite, insomnia or oversleeping, and fatigue or loss of energy.
Why Does It Bring Change?
There is no consistent answer. Will one ever be found? Perhaps. I don't know. Depression is caused by a complex interplay of various factors. There could be abnormalities in the neurotransmitter system, surprising genetic predispositions, the pressure of making a living, inherent personality traits, or the stress of human relationships.
If you asked someone with depression exactly why they feel that way, would they be able to answer easily? The majority would likely not even know why they feel the way they do. This is partly because they don't know how to express the feeling, and partly because a single emotion is built from a complex mix of many smaller feelings and environmental factors.
Society tells us that everyone is struggling, and that you aren't the only one in pain. But it’s because everyone is struggling that I am in pain, too. So, it is okay to express it. We are all too preoccupied with hiding our emotions.
Adults might need to learn about emotions from children. Most children do not hide their feelings. If they like something, they say they like it; if they hate it, they say they hate it. They are different from those of us navigating professional social lives. Go to YouTube and watch just one video from the channel ODG. The unintentional expressions of a child can make you feel deeply. Depressive feelings are the same. You don't have to try to hide your melancholy. It isn't wrong. Perhaps our transition from feeling depressed to suffering from clinical depression happens because we try so hard to hide our moods from others.
Living with Depressive Feelings
They say life is a "sea of suffering" (Gohae). Can we not think of depression as simply one fragment of this life? It’s just an illness—something that can be fixed if it needs fixing. It’s like a common cold, though its duration varies from person to person.
It would be sad to think of life as a mere sequence of pain. But perhaps what that teaching truly meant was: "You can drown and suffocate in the sea of suffering, you can swim through it, or you can float upon it. So, do not try to deny the pain, but do not let yourself be consumed by it either. Find the way to truly rise above it."
Therefore, it is important not to "sink." When you sense something is wrong within yourself—not just depressive feelings but any abnormal symptoms—you must not be deceived by that mood. Instead, accept it as a positive signal for further self-development. Insight into pain or suffering makes us stronger. With that insight, we can rise to the surface again. Those who keep tragedy close to them grow. Wisdom that is enriched by hardship, frustration, and pain, and nourished by the obstacles it overcomes day by day, will surely be of great use—if not for a while, then for an entire lifetime.
Clearly, there is pleasure in our lives, and there are colleagues or friends with whom we can share joy. Pain and sorrow. Pleasure and joy. Why not feel these things honestly and sincerely, and share them with the people you love?
References:
1. Depressive Realism, or Objectivity Stripped of Optimism
2. Buddhist Metaphors for Life: The Sea of Suffering (Gohae) and the Raft
3. Alexandre Jollien (2002). Le Métier d'homme. Paris: Éditions du Seuil.
4. Alexandre Jollien (2012). Petit Traité de l'abandon: pensées pour accueillir la vie telle qu'elle se propose. Paris: Éditions du Seuil.