Individual, Society, and Depression

Three cyanide-related family tragedies have plunged our hearts into sorrow. Whom should we blame? The one who produced the cyanide, the one who sold it, the one who bought it, or the one who used it? Or is this way of questioning ourselves merely a defense mechanism we've developed to hide the real culprit—society, the state, us—from a reality we must confront?

I am not a psychologist or psychiatrist, but this does not prevent me from writing my thoughts on the matter.

I know that expert psychologists and psychiatrists are currently closely monitoring all three cases, meticulously examining the past of the family members who used cyanide, gathering information about their character and behavior by questioning their acquaintances, relatives, neighbors, and colleagues if any, and investigating the reason why they used cyanide not only to kill themselves but all family members. The real culprit—that is, us, society, the state—is content to merely observe what is happening from a distance.

WHAT IS DEPRESSION?

The word depression is used in various contexts in daily life: economic depression, political depression, social depression, etc. What I want to focus on is individual depression. I would like to make a reminder: individual depression has nothing to do with conditions like anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive behaviors, or schizophrenia, which we often hear about. A schizophrenic would not even think of suicide, but a person with depression can contemplate suicide at any moment.

A depressed person's interest and connection to life gradually diminish, and over time, they lose their love for life. In such situations, the individual either gains excessive weight or loses a lot, either stays in bed for long hours or sleeps little. They avoid contact with people. They limit their daily activities. They wander around in a state of weakness and lack of energy. Nothing excites their heart; disasters, grave events, or other social activities happening in the world or the country do not interest them; they are indifferent to what is happening. Their mind is confused, they are forgetful, they feel empty. They are on the verge of anger at all times. They are ready to explode at the slightest discomfort. Most of the time, they are plunged into a vague sadness and fear. As this process continues, thoughts of harming themselves and others slowly begin to take root in their mind.

WHAT PERCENTAGE OF SOCIETY STRUGGLES WITH DEPRESSION?

Believe it or not, there is no serious research on this matter. If you base your assessment on the number of patients who visit psychologists and psychiatrists, you will be very mistaken. Very few depressed people go to a doctor or seek help for treatment. In the last 20 years, the number of depressed people, like everywhere else in the world, has been rapidly spreading in our country like an epidemic, engulfing society like ivy. If I tell you that most of the doctors you go to for treatment are also depressed, you will understand the gravity of the situation even better.

There is no age limit for depression. A six-year-old child and an 80-year-old person can struggle with depression. Visit primary schools, high schools, universities. Classrooms are full of children and young people struggling with depression. Go to workplaces. The vast majority of people, from employees to bosses, are intertwined with depression. Do not forget those living in refugee camps, shantytowns, villages, and the unemployed. I should also mention that women and young girls are more prone to depression.

According to studies, the countries with the highest incidence of depression cases in the world are America, Colombia, Ukraine, the Netherlands, and France. (The reason for the high incidence of these cases in these countries is that people go to psychiatrists without shame or embarrassment for treatment.)

Turkey is rapidly climbing in terms of the number of depressed people. The problem is this: the definition of depression is not fully established in Turkey, or many people keep their depression a secret, making going to a psychologist or psychiatrist a matter of pride for themselves. Therefore, the numbers are much higher than estimates. Furthermore, a long-standing definition, "the rich are more depressed, the poor are less depressed," has long lost its significance. Depression infiltrates everywhere, regardless of class, gender, age, ethnic group, religion, or social status, and has enveloped society from within and without.

RESEARCH ON DEPRESSION

In the Middle Ages, schizophrenics or, in common parlance, "madmen," were believed to be possessed by demons. Therefore, "madmen" were either isolated from society or, if deemed "witches," were burned.

The increasingly widespread depression that emerged with industrial society has nothing to do with the definition of schizophrenia or "madness." This is a new phenomenon and illness that humanity has encountered. Therefore, humanity is at a loss as to what to do. Hundreds of new types of antidepressant drugs are produced and marketed every year. Contrary to what you might think, very scientific methods are not applied when producing drugs. Drugs are produced through random trials, called "random approach," and are applied to a limited number of subjects (placebo) for a certain period before being marketed. After obtaining sales authorization from government agencies, the drug is produced. Billions of dollars are spent, and then companies raise their hands as if in prayer, saying, "Hopefully, this time we will succeed!"

All drugs currently on the market have been produced by trial and error. Psychiatrists also apply the same method (trial and error), frequently changing medications on patients, and continuing their efforts until a successful result is achieved. Of course, during this process, the patient struggles with depression on the one hand and strains their budget on the other. Let's not forget that antidepressants do not cure the illness but help keep the level of depression at an acceptable level. A drug that completely cures depression has not yet been found.

Many researchers and scientists try to explain depression by the deficiency of chemicals like serotonin and noradrenaline in the brain. This is not a convincing approach. For hundreds of thousands of years, humanity did not encounter depression, but for some reason, with industrial society, it has had to struggle with this affliction.

Scientists are unable to explain why depression did not exist before industrial society. Hundreds of types of drugs have been produced with the understanding that links depression to the deficiency or excess of chemicals in the brain, but the desired results have not been achieved. There have even been scientists who considered depression a genetic factor. Furthermore, there are articles that evaluate stress experienced in daily life at the same level as depression. Stress is a temporary and understandable condition. The situation you are in when you are about to move to a new house is stress, not depression.

THE CAUSE OF DEPRESSION

After setting aside all other possibilities, it is time to ask the crucial question: What are the factors that trigger depression?

Industrial and modern society has created radical changes in humanity's expectations regarding quality of life. These expectations, like an epidemic virus, reach even the most remote towns and villages, especially with the invention of radio, TV, and the Internet, affecting everyone regardless of age and gender. It whispers into people's ears like a devil:

"Your sibling's house is nicer than yours, your neighbor earns more money than you, it's impossible for you to find a job, someone else's child is more successful than yours, you could have gone to a better school, the profession you chose doesn't matter, if you lose your job you won't find another, you won't be able to have the marriage you want, you could have had a happier marriage, so-and-so is smarter than you, so-and-so is more attractive and beautiful than you, you're short, you're overweight..."

People become aware of these endless shortcomings, inadequacies, and misfortunes, silently rebelling against these "injustices," and especially when family members and relatives remind them of this, this hidden rebellion turns into social hatred and anger. The closest society they can punish is their own family. Either they plan to destroy their entire family, as in the cyanide example, or they distance themselves from the family and continue an "rebellious" life. Most of those who join terrorist organizations like ISIS are young people who succumb to the depression within them. Similarly, the most important factor pushing youth into substance addiction, especially, is depression experienced within the family.

In America, school shootings are another form of punishing society. Research shows that students who commit school shootings are either the laziest, most ostracized, or in the worst physical condition in their class.

If you wish, let me present a series of factors that cause depression:

1. Unemployment: In modern society, the greatest punishment that can be inflicted on a person is to leave them unemployed. The feeling of being useless taking root in a person's heart and mind is a major psychological trap and one of the primary causes of depression. Especially those who graduate from university and remain unemployed or feel they are working in a job they do not deserve cannot escape depression.

2. The situation of employees is no better. Tensions experienced with bosses or colleagues, and especially situations like being fired, inflict wounds on the human heart that are difficult to heal.

They cause lifelong depression and anger.

3. Arguments centered on "money" among parents and siblings, or sibling rivalry, are another cause of depression.

4. Parents who witness their own children's failure are definitely depressed.

5. A young person who breaks up with their boyfriend or girlfriend after a fight is depressed.

6. Someone who experiences gender, age, disability, or ethnic discrimination in the workplace is depressed.

7. Someone who believes their spouse is cheating on them is depressed.

8. Someone who thinks others have a better life or earn more money than them is depressed.

9. Someone who thinks they are lacking and inadequate in some areas compared to others due to intensive media use is depressed.

10. A person's inability to marry in time or to form the family they dreamed of is a cause of depression.

11. Sexual abuse and violence experienced in childhood or later are causes of depression.

12. The feeling of being unable to overcome the problems encountered is a cause of depression.

Dear readers! These examples can, of course, be multiplied. At this stage, I would like to ask this question: Since when has humanity felt depressed in the face of problems similar to those above? Thousands of years ago, a father probably inflicted violence on his child, but this phenomenon was not perceived as depression by the child. Thousands of years ago, there were overweight people and people with physical defects, but this did not cause depression in them.

Before the Second World War, all kinds of discrimination were experienced in workplaces, but these were not perceived as depression by individuals; they were accepted as a choice of life. Wealth and poverty were seen as "fate" and did not hurt souls.

In short, with the end of the Second World War, a new social order emerged in the world, and the relationships between the individual, family, and state were redefined. Depression emerged in the process where new values and expectations created by technological progress continuing from 1945 to the present day gripped the individual in every way and pushed them into unhappiness. In other words, the cause of depression is industrial society.

I had a student who said that she struggled with discrimination all her life because her name was "Dilan" (Kurdish: Wedding). She said that this situation constantly caused her depression, and therefore she wanted to go abroad as soon as possible.

SOLUTION

After all I have told you, I know the question you want to ask me: What is the solution?

We have four solutions. Three of them are within our control, but they are insufficient and aimed at getting through the day.

Before moving on to the fourth and main solution, I would like to talk about the three solutions within our control:

1. The first solution is to go to psychiatrists without shame or hesitation, and to keep depression at an acceptable level by taking antidepressant medications. The important point to remember is that antidepressants do not provide a complete solution and cure. They offer a chance for self-confidence to continue your social life, albeit with difficulty, but as long as the factors triggering depression continue, your medication use period will also be extended.

2. The second solution, as in America, is to form "depression groups," and in these meetings, both to listen to others and to share your disturbing feelings with the group members with all your sincerity. There is no such practice in Turkey yet.

3. Practicing yoga and meditation: It is widely used all over the world, but it is insufficient to overcome or eliminate depression. It can be an opportunity for you to have a good time.

Now let's come to the main and radical solution: It will not be possible to get rid of the scourge of depression without a new social upheaval in terms of values and expectations in the world. The factor triggering depression is societal value judgments and how the individual perceives them.

Just as the Second World War created new values and expectations and brought about the phenomenon of depression, a new upheaval will redefine the factors that create depression and will be able to save humanity from this scourge. However, I do not want you to immediately become hopeful: an upheaval in the world can only happen with a world war. As a pacifist, I do not know how we will overcome this paradox. But please be aware of this: DEPRESSION IS NOT YOUR FAULT. DO NOT FEEL GUILTY AND DEFEATED.