I'm Still Human: Understanding Depression With Kindness (Expanded Edition - 2021)

outcome of physical illness, e.g. feelings of hopelessness affects
compliance with cancer treatment. Conversely, people who are
depressed are more likely to develop physical illness. So, mental
and physical illnesses are inter-connected and affect one another.
For some people, the cause of depression can be mainly biological,
e.g. due to genetic inheritance, neurotransmitter or hormonal
imbalance. They may experience sudden mood swings without or
with just mild psycho-social stressors in life. Because of that, they
are often unkindly judged as ‘mentally weak.’ This is unfair – it’s
like to scolding a person with back pain and spinal problems for not
being able to carry heavy things. Please be empathetic and kind to
them.
Right understanding of the ‘causes and conditions’ of depression is
important; it affects whether a person will seek help early and the
choice of treatment plan. Instead of a sign of personal failure, it’s
more helpful to understand depression as a natural consequence of
various factors (e.g. brought up in a dysfunctional family, having
stroke with impairment, terminated from job recently) – one will be
more likely to accept and seek help.
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