A good friend of mine, Alex contracted depression at the age of 19. He was an effervescent, happy, carefree student taking architecture studies at the University of Toronto. He made friends easily and there was no indication that he was sad. He went to every class and completed every task with great enthusiasm. However, one day he started to feel unsure of himself. He began wondering for long periods of time on thoughts like what was life all about or whether there was any sense in what he was doing. He finished two semesters and left school for the summer, but these thoughts persisted. He didn’t come back for the second year. He locked himself up at his parents’

home and meditated on his thoughts and emotions. He stopped meeting with his friends and he avoided cont

Thinking changes in a depressed person. A depressive has a diminished ability to think and concentrate (Depression, online). Their thinking often slows down or speeds up (Salmons, 1995, p.12). This is sometimes accompanied by the loss of short-term memory (Psychology Information Online Depression, 1999, online). Furthermore, they have little patience and they have problems maintaining a steady train of thought. Lower mental agility expresses itself in many ways. A depressed person is frequently indecisive (Psychology Information Online Depression, 1999, online). They do not readily trust their opinions and powers of observation. They often ask for advice from caregivers and psychiatrists. Depressives can also be difficult to understand. They can ruminate pointlessly and over-analyze situations to bewildering extremes. For instance, they can despair over the hopelessness of life or they can imagine that they possess keen insight which, when expressed, is unrealistic and/or unintelligible. Their movement and speech is either retarded or hyperactive. Finally, they worry more and feel more anxious than normal people. Sixty to seventy percent of depressed people report feelings of anxiety and worry (Schwartz, 1993, p.20). These are the signs of lower mental agility in a depressed soul. Another change in thinking in a depressed person is that they are more obsessive. They are more likely to ruminate and to have an emotional bond to an idea. Finally, they think more about death in general (Depression, online). They feel like their lives are no longer worth living. They see suicide as an option to ending their misery. Also they see that their vitality has diminished to be replaced by a pattern of stagnation that is characteristic of death. These are the changes in thinking in a depressed individual.

Depression causes changes in attitude towards the environment. Alienation is one of these changes. Establishing a human connection is linked to empathy. Social psychologists say that we remain apart from others who will not or cannot “role take” with us; who are unable to put themselves in our place and see the world as we do (Karp, 1996, p.57). Depressed people have low moods and consequently are very unlike the rest of normal society. As a consequence, they withdraw from it in varying degrees. Most lonely people are depressed. They have few acquaintances and even fewer close friends in whom they can confide. Depressives are known to shy away from intimacy because they are not sure of how to handle it. Depression changes an individual’s outlook on life by decreasing his/her interest in normal activities. For instance, work and play can become dull and boring. The liveliness of play is no longer as evident. It seems more predictable and less thought-out. Work becomes more like a tiresome drag. It is no longer a source of pride and delight but rather only a demanding physical activity. Depressives lose pleasure in these routines because they become more difficult for them to perform and they don’t experience the same intense satisfaction from them as they did previously (Schwartz, 1993, p.20). These are the changes in a depressed person’s feelings towards the environment.

Depression is an illness that impacts a person’s feelings, functioning and thinking. A depressed person has a bad mood, a low libido, fatigue, irregular appetite and sleep, a predisposition to certain ailments and greater agitation. They are alienated from society and they derive less pleasure from normal activities. They have aberrant feelings of worthlessness and self-criticism, and a lowered self-esteem. They have impaired thinking shaped by anxiety, worry, obsession, and thoughts of death. Usually, depression initially strikes young adults and it is linked to an “arrested development” and to the suppression of emotions. Alex’s story is indicative of the myriad of symptoms exhibited by a depressed ind

Some topics in this essay:
Online Depression, University Toronto, Depressive Spectrum, Depression Blue, schwartz 1993, depressed person, depressed people, 1993 p20, salmons 1995, schwartz 1993 p20, changes depressed, feelings anger, physical changes, schwartz 1993 p19, mood physical changes, 1995 p12, thinking depressed, changes depressed person, salmons 1995 p12, Psychology Information, Information Online,