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Depression Is More Common Than You May Think

Depression by Stephanie Jasik

In the US, depression has increased by 60% in the past decade, according to the CDC. In a 2023 Gallup poll, 29% of US adults reported being told they have depression by a health care provider, with 18% reporting being currently treated for depression. Ouch. If you think you might be among those who are struggling, take this screening test and share it with a professional.

Here are some excerpts from a Vogue Magazine article by Carola Lovering that open a window into the mind of someone suffering from depression—in Carola's case, exacerbated by Seasonal Affective Disorder. In November, as night fell at 4:29 p.m., she wrote:

Depression—the grisly intruder that turns my own mind into a frightening place—had snuck up on me again, like the late November sunset. A cottony sky turned suddenly black, the daylight extinguished, night encroached. It was only 4:26 in the afternoon, but I looked out our kitchen window to darkness, shadowy outlines of skeletal trees that filled me with a sense of impending doom.

Carola reached out to her psychiatrist, who adjusted her medication, prescribed the use of a Vitamin D supplement, light therapy [I have no affiliation], and cardiovascular exercise (yoga). She made use of her support system by texting her parents how she was feeling:

[My father] sent a quote from Albert Camus. In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer. But it wasn’t even winter yet. It was only the lead-up, short days becoming shorter and shorter, a slow descent into lightlessness. My dad sent another text, as if reading my mind. Light is coming. Light is coming.

Carola describes how January brought a glimmer of hope, as the winter solstice had passed, bringing more and more minutes of sunlight with each passing day. One evening in March, noticing it was still light out at 7 p.m., and she realized she was finally through it.

As I drove home, my body and mind humming with endorphins, I thought of what my father said to me back in November. Light is coming. As it turns out, he was right.

Sometimes there is a happy ending for depressed people. Sometimes it's a reprieve. The only way to know is to keep on living.

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