Seeking to understand depression
MEN suffering from depression are four times more likely to kill themselves then women, with suicide the biggest cause of death among young men under 35.
To try to understand the illness, the Times & Speaker spoke to the family of a suicide victim, a man who tried to commit suicide several times and a medical expert.
Carl O'Shea, from Uddingston, was 25 when he took his own life in February last year, soon after release from hospital.
His sister, Kirsten Clark, said: "Carl had a severe breakdown in November 2005 and had to be hospitalised.
"We had to fight to get everything we could for Carl as people with depression often pretend everything is okay and it was hard to say just how ill he was.
"After a time he seemed to improve. He was signed off sick from his work as an accountant but we all expected him to return.
"When he came home he seemed to be getting back to normal and I even gave him my old car, but one day he drove off in it and was missing for a week. By the time we found him he had killed himself.
"Since then our family has raised over 38,000 for the Scottish Association of Mental Health and raised awareness of the illness.
"Education surrounding depression is improving but there can still be a stigma attached to it, so there is a long way to go."
SAMH media volunteer Chris White (40) and his second wife, Fiona ,are expecting their first child, but 13 years ago he was suicidally depressed.
He said: "Problems came to light in 1994. My marriage was breaking up, I was under a lot of pressure from work and there were issues from my childhood that I had never dealt with.
"I felt these were things men didn't talk about, then one Sunday afternoon I was arrested after trying to jump from a bridge over the River Clyde. I was committed to hospital for the next three or four months.
"I was in and out of hospital and had more suicide attempts and began self harming, but around 2000 I realised it couldn't go on.
"In 2003 I returned to work and I re-married in 2005. It was very helpful to be back at work and in a stable relationship.
"I've had to re-educate myself that, while I still have low moods or bad days, everyone else does too.
"There is no need to have extreme reactions to adversity. Having a child is scary but I am now looking on it as an exciting challenge."
NHS Lanarkshire mental health expert Dr Alistair Cook said: "Depression is a spectrum of illnesses ranging from severe psychotic disorder down to a bit worse than a normal low mood.
"We all have periods when we are a bit down and depression is diagnosed when it starts to affect biological and social functions.
"It mainly affects positive thinking and self-confidence, and can result from either genetics or problems with the likes of employment, family breakdown, money, drugs or alcohol.
"Most people become depressed in their 40s or 50s. It is more common in women but most people will have had it for a while before they are diagnosed.
"Young men are generally slow to seek help and it is only as a result of family pressure or because the depression has created a physical problem that they finally go and see a doctor."
Dr Cook added that Carl's apparent improvement before his suicide is quite common.
He said: "If a patient says they are feeling great you can't always second-guess that they are lying.
"People who decide to kill themselves often feel a great sense fr relief. Once they have made the decision their problems are lifted off their shoulders.
"We treat many more people for depression nowadays but I doubt it is more prevalent in society. Unfortunately, depression can still be seen as a badge of dishonour but in reality it is no different to any other illness.
"Even someone who feels on top of the world can fall victim to it."
For more information on SAMH services in North Lanarkshire contact Clubnet in Coatbridge on 01236 423284.
Reporting: BRIAN YULE
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Motherwell, Scotland
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 13 C to 28 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 12 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: East
