The Difficulty of Facing Anxiety And Depression Explained By This Amazing Comic

This comic has recently become viral and I think that the main reason why people like it is the fact that it discusses a really interesting subject. Anxiety has been a common topic, especially for the last fifty years.

Technology's growth has led to modern life's really fast rhythms that can easily exhaust someone's body and mind. As a result, time's meaning has changed a lot through the years. Gone are the days when people used to live relaxed, without worrying about everyday matters as much as they do nowadays. They didn't need to look at their watch every five minutes, they didn't own smartphones or tablets, they didn't have the same access to information... And maybe this sounds like they were really unlucky for not having met technology and its advantages, but if you think about it, these people were calm and relaxed.

The problem with anxiety is that it can lead you to something even worse, that's called depression. Many people suffer from depression and, as anyone should know, it's not something minor. Another myth about depression is that you should take drugs all of the time. The truth is that you can only take drugs your doctor has suggested, because a lot of drugs that are claimed to cure depression have actually harmful effects. Moreover, there are also other ways to fight depression that can be combined with drugs, such as exercising. The brain is linked with the body; as ancient Greeks used to say "a healthy mind in a healthy body", which means that if you want to cure one of the two, then you need to look after the other too.

American psychologist Lisa Cosgrove and others have investigated financial ties between the Diagnostic and Statistical Manuel of Mental Disorders (DSM) panel members and the pharmaceutical industry. They soon discovered that of 170 DSM panel members, 95 (56%) had one or more financial associations with companies in the pharmaceutical industry, and one hundred percent of the members of the panels on ‘mood disorders’ and ‘schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders’ had financial ties to drug companies. The connections are especially strong in those diagnostic areas where drugs are the first line of treatment for mental disorders. In the next edition of the manual, it’s the same thing.(source)(source)

As it's probable, the DSM is more connected with politics than science, since its diagnostic criteria are not based on science whatsoever:

No blood tests exist for the disorders in the DSM. It relies on judgments from practitioners who rely on the manual. – Lisa Cosgrove, PhD, Professor of Counseling and School Psychology at the University of Massachusetts, Boston (source)

The very vocabulary of psychiatry is now defined at all levels by the pharmaceutical industry. – Dr. Irwin Savodnik, assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California at Los Angeles (source)

What is the main reason for depression nowadays?

What is questionable is whether depression is linked to biology. As Neuroplasticity proves, our thoughts and our perception of the environment around us can re-wire our brain(source)(source).

Researchers have noted differences in the brains of people who are depressed as compared to people who are not. For instance, the hippocampus, a small part of the brain that is vital to the storage of memories, appears to be smaller in some people with a history of depression than in those who've never been depressed. A smaller hippocampus has fewer serotonin receptors. Serotonin is one of many brain chemicals known as neurotransmitters that allow communication across circuits that connect different brain regions. (source).

However we need to focus more on what a person has experienced through his life, because that's what really contributes to the bad emotions that accompany depression. There is a number of factors that may increases the chance of depression, including abuse, death (or another type of loss) and serious illnesses.

Nowadays feeling depressed is common because of technology and its results; working long hours, living in big cities and not being around nature are some very serious factors. We think that our lives are full, but actually our lives are full of crap and monotony. The "blank" feeling of calmness is something we need too to be fulfilled.

The below comic will shows the results of depression. We all need to realize by watching this that depression is something that could happen to anyone of us; it's a really common phenomenon and people who face it need help from others but from their inner voice too. We need to believe in ourselves and fight all the negative emotions.

Comic was put together by Nick Seluk, the artist and Sarah Flanigan, the story teller.
































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