Some years back, an elementary grade pupil committed suicide due to poverty. There was also that case of a young man who jumped off from the fifth floor of a mall because of unrequited love. Still another man with a bright future ended his life because of a health problem.
Suicide is real. It should not be taken lightly. If you know someone who is telling that he or she may commit suicide, the fact is that he or she may do it. Ending one’s life is not a joke, after all.
In Davao Region, suicide ideation (also known as suicidal thought) is increasing among young people. In fact, the region ranked third in the country of having youth considering suicide as a way out of all the troubles they are facing.
“From the data we have right now, the mean age at first attempt to commit suicide increased from 15.3 to 17.0 years old from 2002 to 2013,” said Dr. Agnes Sampulna, the regional director of Population Commission Region XI.
“Youth attempt suicide is due to family problems and quarrel with their partners or lovers,” she told Davao media in a press conference.
According to Dr. Sampulna, young people who have suicidal thoughts “have lower self-esteem, lower life satisfaction, and les happy than those who did not think of ending their lives.”
This is indeed very alarming.
One of the reasons why Filipinos commit suicide is due to depression. A few years back, the Geneva-based World Health Organization (WHO) listed 4.5 million depressed people in the country, considered to be “the highest incidence of depression in Southeast Asia.”
Only one-third of these depressed people seek professional help, the Department of Health reports. Besides, it is hard to detect depression among Filipinos. “People confuse depression for normal sadness,” Dr. Randy Dellosa, a psychiatrist, was quoted as saying.
Depression is a serious medical illness that involves the brain. It’s more than just a feeling of being “down in the dumps” or “blue” for a few days. It’s a kind of feeling that do not go away. They persist and interfere with a person’s everyday life.
The US National Institute of Mental Health have identified the following as symptoms of depression: sadness, loss of interest or pleasure in activities you used to enjoy, change in weight, difficulty sleeping or oversleeping, energy loss, feelings of worthlessness, and thoughts of death or suicide.
“After anxiety, depression is the most common mental health disorder,” notes “The Merck Manual of Medical Information.” Statistics show that 10% of people who see their doctors for what they think is a physical problem are actually experiencing depression.
“People who become depressed typically do so in their 20s, 30s, or 40s, although depression can begin at almost any age,” the Merck manual points out. “Depression affects a number of children and adolescents.”
The University of Maryland Medical Center says causes of depression are not fully known. However, some experts believe that depression is most likely due to a combination of genetic, biologic, and environmental factors.
Studies have found that close relatives of patients with depression are two to six times more likely to develop the condition than individuals without a family history. On the other hand, the basic biologic causes of depression are strongly linked to abnormalities in the delivery of certain key neurotransmitters (chemical messengers in the brain).
Many prescription drugs can affect brain chemicals and trigger depression. These medications include certain types of drugs used for acne, high blood pressure, contraception, Parkinson’s disease, inflammation, gastrointestinal relief, and other conditions.
While no one really knows what causes depression, there are foods that can trigger depression. Take the case of high fructose corn syrup – or any processed sugar – which reacts negatively with serotonin — the happy hormone and excessive amounts in the body is also known to decrease energy and leave a person feeling fatigued.
Eating foods high in sodium may also lead to depression, health experts claim. Some studies claim that too much salt leaves a person feeling bloated and lifeless, plus it throws off the neurological system which can lead to depression. The American Heart Association recommends 1,500 milligrams or less per day.
Some people believe that alcohol can help them forget sad moments of their lives. But that’s not true. Alcohol is a depressant and that’s all there is to it. The more alcohol they drink, the more they need – which will leave them feeling extremely depressed over time. “If you’re going to drink, we suggest limiting yourself to one or two drinks on occasion to prevent depression from sinking in,” one doctor suggests.
One of the best ways to fight depression, according to some researches, is by consuming the right diet. It has been seen that consumption of foods rich in B vitamins (avocado, sweet potato, banana, black beans, asparagus, and watermelon, to name a few) has a positive effect on the mood of a person.
Doctors suggest that those who are feeling depressed should start eating apples, legumes, fortified cereals, malunggay and other green leafy vegetables, along with vitamin C-rich food items like calamansi juice.
Selenium has long been renowned as a cancer-fighting food. However, very few are aware of the fact that a diet rich in selenium can help you fight the symptoms of depression, too. You can get it from seafood, poultry, mushrooms, sea vegetables, and wheat.
More than 50 percent of our brain is made up of fats. The right kind of fats, if consumed in appropriate amounts, can help it in running smoothly. Omega-3 fatty acids – which can be found in seafood, like salmon, tuna or mackerel fish, along with nut oils – are the ones that have been associated with boosting the mood of an individual and driving depression away.
