Why Does Depression Often Go Untreated?

Although depression is really a debilitating and paralyzing mental illness, many times, it goes undiagnosed and therefore untreated. There are a variety of reasons why we never touch base for help, most of them having to do with the stigma that still surrounds addiction in today's world as well as in our communities.

Depression is a serious mental illness that affects how a person feels, thinks, and acts. It is estimated that 16 million Americans suffer from depression every year. In fact, the planet Health Organization (WHO) estimates that depression is now probably the most burdensome diseases worldwide, affecting more and more people than chronic physical conditions like diabetes and asthma.

Depression may cause you to lose interest in activities once enjoyed, including: sex, eating, sleeping, and achieving fun. While both women and men are influenced by depression equally, you will find differences between how it affects both genders. Women are twice as likely to seek strategy to depression while men tend to turn to drugs and alcohol.

If a person suffers from depression, consider a depression treatment program. For more information, give us a call at today.

Reasons Why Depression Goes Undiagnosed

There is still a common misconception that addicts use their illness being an excuse for inappropriate behavior. Addiction is equated with criminal behavior and immorality, poverty, and homelessness. Addicts are demonized and shunned, ostracized even using their own families. We're consumed with fear of being judged, criticized or blamed for the illness.

For these reasons, many of us keep our struggles to ourselves, using avoidance and secrecy to deal, and frequently denying even going to ourselves that we also have a problem. Frequently, we never seek out therapy. Furthermore, we frequently don't tell our doctors how much emotional and mental pain we're in. We often goes years of our way of life suffering alone, in silence.

Lack of Awareness

Another reason depression often goes untreated is because we ourselves don't understand we're depressed. We often do the following:

  • Mistake our depression for normal feelings of sadness. Basically, we do not realize that there is a huge difference between passing difficult emotions and the everyday suffering that comes with depression.
  • Mistake the fatigue and exhaustion of our depression for normal tiredness. We confuse our intense anxiety for normal stress levels.
  • Don't possess the vocabulary or the understanding around mental health to place into words how we're feeling. There is a sense of feeling hopeless and alone. We all know we're feeling like we're dying, even if everything in our lives is seemingly fine. We know we can't stop worrying, but we don't know why.

When we ourselves don't know that we're experiencing depression, we're a smaller amount likely to confide in our doctors or our family members. We're not likely to know that therapy could offer us the support we want.

Very often, we do not wish to believe that we be depressed. Consequently, we sweep our feelings under the rug, hoping our avoidance can make them go away. We think when we don't address our depression, maybe it will clear up by itself.

An Unfamiliar Condition

Many of us don't know other people who have a problem with depression, or we do not realize that we do. Why? Because very few individuals are open regarding their personal struggles, for fear of being judged or looked down upon. We didn't grow up in families that were accepting and understanding about mental illness or addiction. We feel alone in our pain. Consequently, we opt to ensure that it stays to ourselves and switch a blind eye into it as much as possible.

Examining why depression goes undiagnosed and untreated might help us to have a clearer knowledge of mental health issues, both in ourselves as well as in the communities we use.

Treatment For Depression Can Help

Accxy's nurturing, understanding and supportive community can help you to heal in the co-occurring disorders that usually accompany addiction. Call today for more information.