Loneliness Leads To Depression

A bone rattling news disturbed me a lot. It was shocking and at the same time was extremely difficult to believe. This type of incident is not very common but even one such case is very alarming and thought provoking.

Two ladies in their forties starved for almost seven months. Poverty was not the reason as hinted by the doctors. They unanimously were of the opinion that due to loneliness the ladies slipped into a severe depression. Many reasons were cited for their mental anxiety, such as:

1. The ladies lost both their parents in quick succession.

2. A kin moved out to a separate place.

3. The pet dog died.

The above mentioned reasons seem to be the causes of such a deadly position as suggested by the clinical psychologist. The psychologist said that constant flow of setbacks led the extremely hard-working ladies to disconnect all the ties with the outer world. Staying depressed for a long period usually becomes a killing disease. Depression should be always avoided and for that a psychological healing is always quite helpful.

Blame Game

One evil thing can always be noticed in all the precarious situations. I mean, blame game. The first one who got accused was the kin who opted out to stay independently. The worst part is we people forget that the outside world cannot judge any situation after a particular limit. How can one know what happened between the members of the family?

Now, when the situation is so pathetic where the ladies (the eldest one is no more) are not in a condition to speak about what went wrong then a fact remains concealed. That’s why it’s better to keep away from making judgements.

The doctors came up with their observation in which all the possible factors point towards the loss they suffered in their lives. Negative occurrences do take a toll upon one’s body. The opinion of a doctor is very vital. Loneliness leading to depression is the only cause for the unfortunate incident.

At this juncture, one aspect needs to be discussed before anything else which has almost not being discussed seriously. The point relates to the strong willed personality of the eldest sister who unfortunately had an untimely death. The kin had informed about the positive quality of the ladies and even informed the mass that the eldest of the two was very authoritative and an extremely independent minded. Strong willed or highly independent personality trait is always termed as a positive quality. Thus, it leads to two haunting questions:

1. If negative attitude dragged the ladies to depression, then, what was the positive approach of the ladies led to?

How come that the positive minded people withdrew themselves from everything and chose to be alone without anyone’s interference. It clearly indicates that there was something very grave which bothered their mind a lot. May be their own attitude, missing their dear ones or some pre-conceived belief such as a fear of being left alone further.

Even the kin has also disclosed that the elder of the two was not ready for marriage due to a facial deformity. Well, she even coaxed the younger one against marriage whenever somebody tried to convince her for it. The younger one abided by the words of her elder sister because she loved to follow her blindly.

Can a loving elder sister give such a suggestion to her younger sibling?

Definitely the answer will be 'no'. It seems she was suffering from fear psychosis which needed counselling or a medical treatment but went unnoticed. Generally, we get angry in such a situation and blame the one who gives wrong advice but what we tend to forget is, why a person tends to think negatively about the loved one.

Here, lies the main problem. If basic nature could have been looked upon minutely then may be a major crisis would have been avoided. Too much of everything brings with it a tragedy. There should be a balance in one’s nature. Love is an essence till it is used in moderation but if it's used blindly then it leads to dead end.

There is a psychiatric term in French 'folie a deux' which means a type of shared insanity. In this, two persons help each other in adding the prevailing mental agony and never try to reduce it.

Steps to be followed

In general, people are ignorant about such critical state until one comes across it. So, some steps must be taken:

1. Social workers must play a vital role in turning ignorance into awareness regarding the symptoms of various mental ailments.

2. Mental health is a delicate matter so tackling the situation should not be harsh.

3. If one needs space then space should be provided but must always keep a track. Monitor the situation from a distance and find out that the matter is under control or not.

The points mentioned above are not very difficult to follow to avoid gruesome sight. It will be unfortunate to witness such plight very often. If such a situation occurs frequently, despite of having relatives, friends, neighbours and a society at large, then it is truly barbaric. The ailment may not be cured but at least a frightful condition can be checked with proper caring.

Few months ago a same kind of incident occurred and again the cause was depression due to loneliness. This was in the news but the fact is there are many such incidents like this which go unnoticed. Loneliness kills so it is the duty of the balanced minded people to create awareness. Give company to those who are suffering due to loneliness. Life should not be wasted only because of loneliness.

There are so many options in this world to remain active and attached. Everybody in this world is not fortunate to be with their loved ones for the whole life. Thus, in that case the life force of a person should be properly channelized. I mean by offering service to old-age homes, orphanage and so on. This benefits in two ways. The giver and the receiver are both benefited and respective lives become quite easy.

Hope people understand this as early as possible! Life is precious and depression should not be given too much of importance. Negative things make life hell so we should always look forward to something positive and even guide others to be positive.