Fighting depression - Even in great darkness there is hope

MARIAN KEYES is one of the most popular and successful Irish writers alive. Through her writing she has given pleasure – and very good company – to tens of millions of readers in scores of countries.

Her achievements can be judged on an international scale. She is one of the very best writers working in her genre and we should all be proud to celebrate her achievements.

Yet, despite enjoying the kind of professional and material success that can attract wilting envy, a huge cloud hangs over her life as she acknowledged, on her blog, in recent days.

She has made her battle with depression public and with chilling self-awareness, has described herself as “living in hell”.

“Although I’m blessed enough to have a roof over my head, I still feel like I’m living in hell. I can’t eat, I can’t sleep, I can’t write, I can’t read, I can’t talk to people. The worst thing is that I feel it will never end. I know a lot of people don’t believe it but depression is an illness, but unlike say, a broken leg, you don’t know when it’ll end.”

This brief description is as good as any. You crave company yet dread people; you need distraction but cannot countenance the slightest emotional or physical commitment. Time is suspended in grey because you feel you exist outside any process where time leads to a happy conclusion. Emotions freeze, optimism disappears and you become vulnerable on so many fronts.

In far too many instances these horrors combine, especially when alcohol becomes a catalyst, and lead to the most lethal, heartbreaking and final decisions.

The hundreds of thousands of Irish people who have, or do, suffer from varying degrees of depression will recognise Keyes’ plight and empathise with her. Their families will recognise the symptoms and the absolute dominance the condition can assume over a life.

In recent decades our understanding of the condition has improved and modified but the overriding change is the realisation that a cure is possible. No matter how dark things are there is always hope. It may require inordinate courage to believe that if you are in the depths of a dark period, but it is nevertheless true. Hope is the eternal compensation for our mortality.

There is something each of us can do because each of us will, either directly or indirectly, experience depression. This is especially true in our economic circumstances where so many well-educated, well-qualified and energetic people cannot find work of any kind. The strain of trying to sustain a struggling business or to meet mortgage obligations can all trigger depressive episodes so it is prudent to prepare for an increase in the number of people suffering from depression.

We can do this by visiting websites that deal with the issue – www.yourmentalhealth.ie is an excellent one – and learn to recognise symptoms and how to respond positively to them.

This is one of the very few instances in life where one of us can really save another. Like ordering salt or grit after the roads freeze over, it may be too late to seek out these skills after you need them so do it today.