Society and attitudes
There are many reasons why you may not want to accept that you are suffering from depression. There are many reasons why you may also not want to be treated for your depression: One of the biggest problems associated with depression is the lack of acceptance that it is an illness.
It is obvious that if your depression is not diagnosed, you will also not be treated correctly for the illness. Even if you do accept that you are suffering from depression, it will often not be treated well enough - or long enough.
The main reason why people don't accept that they are suffering from depression and ensure that they are treated for it isstigma linked to the depression. So let's look at this in a bit more detail.
Stigma
In professional circles, a stigma is one of the clear signs of an illness. One example of a stigma is the rash you get from measles or chickenpox.
But this is not the type of stigma we are talking about here. We are talking about the type of stigma which makes you avoid
- being diagnosed
- receiving treatment
- talking about depression
A historical view of stigma
The word stigma originates from a Greek word, which means to prick, in the same way that you prick with a needle. A prick with a needle normally leaves a mark. Stigma has therefore come to mean "a mark" (e.g. a burn mark).
The above marks have come to be used as a form of punishment or to identify the "unwanted". "Stigma" has therefore gained an unpleasant undertone. If you try to think of a stigma from recent times, you might think of: Armbands with the Jewish star, which the Jews were forced to wear.
Further back in history, some groups of society marked women on the forehead if it was believed that they were immoral. These marks ostracised people from "proper" society. If you were seen in the company of people who were marked in this way, the mark could rub off on you.
Stigma associated with depression
We could well talk about an unpleasant stigma associated with depression. But you are perhaps wondering
- why it exists
- why it is linked to depression
- what is wrong with being ill
You are not branded if you get influenza. You are also not branded if you get drunk or drive into a tree and end up black and blue. You are more likely to receive sympathy than a stigma. Only if you are guilty of causing the death of someone else could you be branded.
Can we avoid a stigma?
We don't have an easy solution for avoiding a stigma. It is obvious that the stigma exists and that it is irrational and unreasonable, but how can you avoid it?
You must of course be sensible. But we have to admit that we people can find it very difficult to be sensible. But let's try to see what the outcome will be.
People find dealing with "mysteries" difficult. This is because mysteries are things that you cannot see, feel, taste or measure, or things which do not seem "real".
So we invent myths to "explain" this sort of unexplainable thing. If we don't know what causes thunder and lightning, we invent a god who can use it to punish us whenever we have done wrong.