After a painful loss, the doctor explained what is the disease that most afflicts young people of working age: here is the paradox

After a painful loss, relatives of the doctor say that he has suffered from depression in recent years. Psychiatrists say that among those who have left life, mostly emotionally stressful professions: doctors, civil servants. Hence, Eglė Šantaraitė’s conversation “Good evening, Lithuania” with psychiatrist Martynas Marcinkevičius about this disease, which often remains undiagnosed.

“The World Health Organization has even established that depression, according to an indicator such as the worst year of the disease, ranks second after cardiovascular diseases, that is, not so common, but very widespread. The most painful thing is that it is a disease of young people of working age, which has been suffering for many years and people have suffered for many years ”, says M. Marcinkevičius.

According to him, depression is one of the main causes of suicide.

“As for Lithuania, we have very poor mental health in all indicators. We have a special problem with depression which, unfortunately, in our Lithuania depression often remains undiagnosed. This is due to the so-called stigma, because people do not He is only afraid to see a psychiatrist, he is even afraid of the diagnosis itself.

This is an indirect, but very telling, indicator that Lithuania consumes three to four times more sedatives than the Scandinavian and other Baltic countries. These are the antidepressants that we consume two to three times less. This means that a large part of depression, unfortunately, remains undiagnosed and untreated, “lamented the psychiatrist.

Therefore, Marcinkevičius said, untreated depression very often becomes a cause of suicide or alcoholism. He also explained how to deal with loved ones who see that their loved one may be depressed.

“It is a very important question, because in addition to the symptoms of depression (bad mood, slow thinking, slow actions, lack of satisfaction with life), self-esteem is also very common. A person feels that it is useless, unnecessary and that it’s not worth it for others to try to do something about it, etc.

In fact, it is sometimes difficult for a person to perform basic actions: getting out of bed, eating, washing, etc. Therefore, it is very difficult for them to access that help, especially not only because of the stigma but also because of the symptoms of the disease itself. For this reason, the help of family members, colleagues, people who see them is very necessary in this case, to encourage the person and, on occasions, take them to that mental health professional ”, he said.

The psychiatrist emphasized that doing nothing would definitely not help, because the worst and that also often happens when people say “well get involved!”

“Or” everything will be “what you choose” here. That is the saying. The paradox of depression and is that <...> very often he attacks people who seem fine. But it would also be the case, if we say that a person with an oncological disease who has had a heart attack, “get up,” said M. Marcinkevičius.

He also pointed out that if it is noticed that a loved one has lost the joy of living, is depressed, does not want anything else, has slowed down, finds it difficult to carry out daily activities, in which case it should be. Mental health.

“If you are afraid of a psychiatrist or psychologist, at least visit a family doctor. They also often know how to diagnose depression.” I would like to pass on the good news that depression is one of the most effective treatments for all illnesses. mental, “he said.

In assessing the situation of a doctor who had recently resigned, the psychiatrist wanted to leave two clear messages.

“One message is that, unfortunately, most suicides occur among doctors, socially sensitive professions and with emotional stress. Therefore, most suicides occur among doctors, police, social workers, since here there is a huge psycho-emotional burden.

The second thing is that what is happening now and this publicity, when a person commits suicide and with all the details, is a crime, because it is the so-called pour effect that the recent death of a teacher has, especially of successful people like the doctors. , <...>, then very often attracted by a large number of similar suicides. We have to talk about these cases, but so that it is not possible to trace a specific person, “said the psychiatrist.