What is depression, how to get help from creative work?
Dude, today was not a good day, I am feeling very depressed”
To call yourself ‘depressed’ on this matter is not really depression, yes it definitely shows less information about our depression.
“This is an irony. We use such words so easily but are not aware of mental health,” says Delhi-based clinical psychologist Dr. Pooja Shivam Jaitley.
According to the World Health Organization, more than 26 crore people of different ages all over the world are suffering from it.
However, many psychologists believe that this number may be much higher because many people are not aware that they are in depression.
Sadness, depression, anxiety vary
When we say bad news, or when some work goes wrong, when we say that we are making a depressed meal, it is sadness, not depression.
According to the World Health Organization, depression is a common mental illness. Depression is usually different from mood fluctuations and short-term emotional reactions.
The symptoms of being constantly unhappy and not interested in things as before.
According to the WCH, anxiety disorder is a mental illness characterized by fear and anxiety. There are many types of this. Many people with depression also have symptoms of anxiety.
Speaking in colloquial terms, Dr Poojashivam says, “We were all sad after hearing the news of Sushant Singh Rajput, some people will be depressed for a few hours, some people will be depressed for a few days, then it will not be a depression.
According to him, “Some people are nervous about many things, they have no control over anything, it is a mental state when you feel ‘helpless’ (helpless) to yourself, it is called anxiety. You’ Hopeless’ means that if you lose hope from your future, then this state of mental state is called depression. It is not necessary that the person, who is having anxiety, is also in depression or the victim of depression has complaint of anxiety. But anxiety can lead to depression and depression can also cause anxiety. “
Depression, favourite work and creativity
In order to divert their attention to the victims of depression, they are asked to pay attention to the work that they like. Many people do music, painting or other types of creative work during this period.
Smita Deshpande, Doctor of Psychology Department at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in Delhi, says, “We advise people to do what you can easily, we want them to be active, during this time many people write blogs. There are other types of creative work. Our aim is not to see the quality of that work, but many people do a great job during this time. Those who are creative, they can create a new kind of art during depression. Yes, it can be good, it can be bad. It is good to keep them active. “
23-year-old Shalini (name changed) from Indore had to take many medicines, which could have many side effects. To divert his attention to the advice of the doctor, he started making doodles.
Shalini says, “Initially I was afraid to post these on Instagram, I thought if people didn’t like what they would think? Sometimes I was posting for one particular person; I thought they would see; he will like it. But gradually I started enjoying this art, people praised him, then there was confidence in me.
Shalini further says, “I started training to refine my art, I started with doodles and now I make 3D Illusion. I do not do this for any commercial reason, only for myself. I think this disease kills your conference; you need a channel to get your conference back, for me this art is the same way. “
Sandhya (name changed), who works in an IT company in Hyderabad, focused on writing poems and paintings during the depression.
She says, “I think, during the depression, I have done my best creative work. The feelings I could get on canvas or on paper, I could never do before.”
Although Sandhya says that her creative work benefited during this time, but this art did not help in the emergence of the disease. According to her, she used to think more about negative things while writing and drawing.
According to Roopali Shivalkar, head of psychology department of St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, “You can understand in this way that if you are depressed and you are listening to sad songs again and again, it can have a bad effect on you.” Similarly, if an artist is in depression and he is working on a negative theme again and again, then maybe he does not benefit, positive theme can affect him better. But we have to understand that every human mind is different and the effect of these things on their mind is also different. “
Nadimpalli, who works at a Delhi-based startup, says that for her, creativity meant writing and pottery.
Nadimpalli says, “Writing was a way for me to express my pain, as my pain subsided, writing also reduced. I write less now, but I am not sorry, because I am going to express my pain Used to write for, if it is less then writing has reduced on its own. I started Pottery as a necessary activity. This is a good therapy art form. “
But is creativity limited to just doing something good?
According to Dr. Pooja Shivam, we should not see creativity in physical form only.
She says, “Achievement is not just what is in the eyes of society, it is a big achievement when you break the boundaries made in your mind and you understand that this is also a possibility for me. This is where the change starts.”
“I came to have two cases in which those people started doing the things that they didn’t do before, started meeting different people, started seeing life differently.” The effect of this was that they started doing good work at professional, social and personal levels. ”
Art therapy can also be effective
Art therapy also proves useful for many people.
Rupali says, “Art therapy is about creativity, for those who like art, you enjoy doing some kind of art, and you feel that you have done something good. Not only in depression, this therapy is also very good for various types of mental illnesses. It can work on people of all ages. It is a supportive therapy that helps people get out of their current mental state. ”
Doing the work you like is not the cure
According to psychologists, creative work done during depression can help you cope with this situation, many times when it is easy to express what you are feeling through your creative work, so your creative work is done. Your mood looks good and you also like it.
But this method will prove to be effective on everyone. Every person’s mind is different, it helps some people and some do not. And it is not just the treatment to focus your attention in any creative work, support of family and friends, yoga, physical activity and other therapy given by doctors are also very important. The most important thing is to have an open dialogue on mental health in the society.
