I want to share a few myths and facts about depression with you.
Myth: “You’ll get addicted to antidepressants.”
Fact: While you can in theory get addicted to anything (including exercise or sex which we generally won’t discourage people from!), it’s not common to get addicted to antidepressants. You don’t get “high” on antidepressants neither do people who take them start to crave more and more to feel an effect (unlike alcohol or cocaine).
Myth: “Antidepressants will change your personality.”
Fact: They only change those parts of your behavior that are symptoms of depression - and that’s a good thing! They help you be your healthy self again. For outsiders, it may look like someone who for example seemed “shy” to them changes their personality while on antidepressants and that’s because they misinterpreted their social isolation and feelings of emptiness as “shyness” and a personality trait when it was in fact those symptoms of depression.
Myth: “Just get over it.”
Fact: You can’t “just get over” depression, just like you can’t “just get over” any other illness. Depression is not just a mindset or temporary emotion. Depression is a real illness that requires therapy.
Myth: “Depression is just trendy nowadays.”
Fact: It’s true that less people got diagnosed with depression a few decades ago. That’s not because depression didn’t exist back then, it’s because depressed people back then got misdiagnosed or not taken serious! Nowadays doctors are more aware that depression exists and there’s more support available for people with depression.
Myth: “Depression is caused by a traumatic experience.”
Fact: Depression can be caused by a traumatic experience, yes - but that’s not always the case. There’s different types of depression and “depression caused by a traumatic experience” is just one of them. In most cases, there’s no one single reason someone develops depression.
Fact: While relaxation techniques can be part of the recovery program, they can’t be the whole recovery program. Depression is not the same as just feeling a bit stressed! Depression requires medical treatment (psychotherapy and/or antidepressants) - anything else (yoga, exercise, bright light therapy etc.) can only supplement the medical treatment but not replace it.
