3 Faulty Thinking Patterns in Depression

A gorgeous young lady walked into my office looking nicely dressed and corporate. Her story was that she was finding it very difficult to fall asleep at night and that this had been going on for weeks now. Less than 10 minutes into the interview she started weeping profusely stating she was anxious about her health and the possibility of her lack of sleep affecting her mental health. She was very worried about how this could impact her future and her chances of getting married. She also felt overwhelmed by a feeling of low self-esteem: she felt everyone else was better dressed and more intelligent compared to her.

This lady was actually experiencing the 3 patterns of faulty thinking that are common in people who are depressed or susceptible to becoming depressed. They are called the Cognitive triad of depression.

The Cognitive triad of depression entails negative thoughts about

# 1 Self

The individual sees him or herself as deficient, worthless or flawed. They tend to minimize their achievements and magnify their faults.

 
# 2 The world/environment

This entails a tendency to give negative interpretations to events or people around.

 

# 3 The Future

The future looks hopeless. He or she may view their current suffering as permanent.

 

Read up more about signs and symptoms of depression

Remember people with mental illness can live more productive lives. When you are better educated about what you’re dealing with, then you are never without hope. Let’s spread the awareness not the stigma. Talk to a professional today.

Q & A sessions with Dr. Edebi

Dear Doc, I have schizophrenia but I am currently stable on my meds. I will like to know if these antipsychotics are safe during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

---R.E

The use of antipsychotics during pregnancy and breastfeeding is largely safe. Though the data on the safety of the use of antipsychotic drugs in pregnancy and breastfeeding are limited, reports of harm to baby from the use of these drugs are very uncommon. All antipsychotics drugs are sedating therefore when the baby is born it advisable to look out for lethargy, sedation and appropriate developmental milestones.

Pregnancy and breastfeeding period is not a time to stop your medications rather it’s best you work closely with your doctor during this period instead.

 

For further reference on this check Here

“Doc, don’t you think most mental illnesses are spiritual attacks?”

This is a common question I encounter during some of our mental health awareness campaign programs. More often than not most people refer to episodes of mental breakdown as periods of “attacks”.

I consider myself as also being a spiritual person however here is my usual response to this commonly asked question

1. I believe that mental illnesses are not more spiritual than other physical illnesses. For instance the Bible listed madness¹ as a curse however it also listed fever², inflammation¹, burning fever¹ and blindness² as curses too. Do we then say when someone is blind or has a fever for instance, that he or she is cursed or demon possessed? The Bible records that Jesus cast out a demon from a ‘mad’ man and after the demons left, the man became sane.³ The same Bible recorded that Jesus also cast out a demon from a speech impaired (dumb) man too and the man started speaking.⁴ So will it be logical to argue that because of this isolated report that “majority” of speech impaired (dumb) persons are possessed? If this-"majority deduction"- doesn’t apply to the speech impaired why then is it different regarding mental illnesses?

 

 2.     Because science cannot explain the actual cause of most mental illnesses then it must be spiritual. Well you see it was just in the 19^th century – 1873 to be precise – that G.H. Armauer Hansen isolated the bacteria – Mycobacterium Leprae – that causes leprosy even though for thousands of years prior to that discovery leprosy was believed to be largely a curse from God or the gods. My point here is that because something is a popular belief for thousands of years does not make it true. I also believe that it is just a matter of time that causes of various mental illnesses will be better understood just like Leprosy is now better understood despite thousands of years of wrong myths and ignorance.

Like I said earlier, I consider myself a spiritual person and a man of faith, but the aim of this post is to cause a rethink of the notion that mental illnesses are largely “spiritual attacks”. This popularly held belief, particularly in Africa, has prevented many from seeking more appropriate and effective treatments that could have helped with many unnecessary years of suffering.

Let’s spread the awareness and not the stigma because "When you are better educated about what you are dealing with, then you're never without hope." Remember that people with mental illness can live more optimally fulfilling lives therefore talk to a professional today.

 

*Bible References: 1. Deuteronomy 28:28; 2. Deuteronomy 28:22; 3. Matthew 8: 28-34; 4. Luke 11: 14

 

NB: I gladly look forward to your comments, contributions and questions.

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Chioma’s Story: Demystifying Mental Illness series Part One

The day was Saturday August 1^st, 2015 when Chioma walked into my consulting room in the company of Chijioke, her husband. They had been married for about 5 years and had two lovely kids. Chioma was looking unkempt and appeared lost in a world of her own as she did not respond to any of my questions. Chijioke informed me that she had been this way in the last two years. She no longer participated in taking care of their young children. She always had to be persuaded and sometimes coerced to even attend to her personal hygiene like taking her bath, brushing her teeth and dressing up. Most times she just sat in a corner of the house almost motionless for hours. She had completely changed from her fun loving, caring and cheerful self. And this ‘strange’ behavior had persisted for almost two years.

Chijioke informed me that Chioma’s family members had taken her to various spiritual homes. Even though they had given various reasons for the cause of this strange illness every intervention did not seem to improve her situation. She was not getting any better therefore he had now finally decided to seek medical intervention and said he decided to go ahead without telling any of Chioma’s family members.

Following Chioma’s assessment, a diagnosis of schizophrenia was made and she was placed on medications. She returned two weeks later, this time she was better dressed and better kempt. In her husband’s words “she had made obvious improvement and was now about 60% her normal self before the illness.” She was sent home again to continue with the treatment. She then returned two weeks later, that is 28 days after her very first visit, and she had made even far more significant improvement. Chijioke reported that she was now engaged in the house chores and was now taking care of her children once again. In his own words she was now 99% are normal self.

This is about 4 months later and Chioma is still doing very fine. She is still on medications but more importantly she has got her life back. She can once again be a great wife to her darling husband and fantastic mum to her lovely children. You can imagine that this problem that lasted for 2 years was cheaply addressed in simply one month. The biggest challenge to mental illness, especially in counties like mine-Nigeria, is not the illness itself but ignorance about how to appropriately address this illness.

As far back as 1952, the first antipsychotic medication was created and the advents of antipsychotics have since revolutionized the management of such mental illnesses. I was inspired to share this story following a discussion I had with a new friend I met on Facebook (you know yourself) about the reality of the ignorance that still beclouds a lot of people, especially in Nigeria, from seeking proper care for their loved ones.

Let’s spread the awareness and not the stigma because "When you are better educated about what you are dealing with, then you're never without hope." Remember that people with mental illness can live more optimally fulfilling lives therefore talk to a professional today.

*Though the story is true, the real names of the individuals involved have not been used for confidential purpose.

Picture credit: culled from google images