Depression and anxiety can happen to anybody, says Jamir

Students told not to be ashamed or embarrassed to talk about negative emotions

Dimapur, Feb. 10 (EMN): Rev. Dr. Ellen C Jamir on Monday told students that depression can occur to anyone irrespective of gender, class, or age, and “even kids can be depressed”.  She lamented many fail to seek treatment on time, thus causing more complications.

Jamir, associate professor of Pastoral Care and Counselling at Oriental Theological Seminary, was speaking as the resource person at a workshop on “Depression and Anxiety in Youth” held at Tetso College on February 10, informed an update from the institute. The one-day workshop was organised by the Student Christian Movement of India (SCMI) Tetso College Unit in collaboration with DOT Talks with an aim to disseminate information and create awareness on the issues of depression and anxiety among teens in the Naga society today.

During the session, she informed the gathering, which included students of Tetso College and ICFAI University, about various symptoms of the two ailments — depression and anxiety. “While the emotional changes in a person suffering from depression include feelings of sadness, grief or loss, feeling of hopelessness, loss of interest in things, feeling of low self-esteem, extreme sensitivity, lack of concentration, thoughts of death or suicide, the behavioural changes may include fatigue, loss of appetite or gluttony, loss of sleep or oversleeping, restlessness or lethargy, body ache, and self-harm,” she said.

The resource person attributed the cause of depression to be “an accumulation of stress while also pointing to other factors such as hormonal imbalance, inherited traits, early childhood trauma and other health issues”. She added that although it is not unnatural to experience bouts of loneliness, sadness, anger, and frustration sometimes, one needs to be concerned and pay attention when these negative emotions occur for two weeks or more at a stretch.

“Both depression and anxiety can be treated effectively if they are diagnosed in the initial stages whereas a problem in our society is that people seek treatment too late,” she stated.

“Depression and anxiety should be diagnosed and treated early because they affect a person’s overall wellbeing, emotional and mental health,” she reiterated while calling upon the students not to be ashamed or embarrassed to talk about such issues.

Asserting that prevention is the best and safest measure when it comes to depression and anxiety, Jamir advised the gathering to understand what causes stress and take steps to control it. She also recommended reaching out to a friend or mentor in times of crises and get treatment at the earliest if one experiences symptoms similar to that of depression or anxiety.