The Ancient Human Disease

Depression is an ancient human disease or disorder; it is as ancient as man.

Depression is a mental disorder that affects not only the mind with its multiple moods, but also the overall wellness of the body as well as the whole being of an individual. Depression is an inner struggle striving to escape from the harsh realities of life.

“Depression has been called the world's number one public health problem. In fact, depression is so widespread it is considered the common cold of psychiatric disturbances. But there is a grim difference between depression and a cold. Depression can kill you.“ David D. Burns

We all have a depressive mind because we are all living in a world of depression. The only difference is that our depression may all differ in intensity: slight, serious, or severe. The truth of the matter is that each and every one of us is depressed, without any exception, because we all experience our depressive episodes at some points during our lifespan, and it is very normal. However, many of us prefer to deny or ignore our emotional dysfunction due to the stigma that is often associated with depression.

In modern age, Sir Winston Churchill, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, underwent serious bouts of depression during his country's national crisis in World War II. The fact is that depression is no respecter of persons—even for those with very high I.Q., such as the Nobel Prize winning author Ernest Hemingway who committed suicide just as his father did with the comment “I’ll probably go the same way.” Indeed, many of us are vulnerable to this genetic mental disorder.

Sadly, depression is currently increasing at an alarming rate because the world we are now living in is getting more challenging, more complex, and more complicated each day passing—it has now become a world of depression.

The Realities of Depression

“Every age yearns for a more beautiful world. The deeper the desperation and the depression about the confusing present, the more intense that yearning.” Johan Huizinga

The only way out of depression is not to avoid it, but, ironically enough, to experience and embrace it in order to become enlightened. We are living in a world of depression: we see unhappy things happen to us, as well as to the people d around us. Many of us strive to distract ourselves from these but without much success. The only way out is  to experience and embrace them with an empty mindset—the mindset of Lao Tzu, the ancient sage who was the author of TAO TE CHING, an ancient classic on human wisdom.  

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau