[Opinion] Mental Depression

If you feel like nothing makes you happy and the following symptoms persist for more than two weeks, you should be on the lookout for mental depression: Heavy weight loss without any physical illness, lack of sleep, being tired all the time, difficulty with concentration, self-hatred and the temptation to kill yourself. These are parts of the depression checklist released by Dr. Christopher Murray of the World Health Organization (WHO). Mental diseases are currently not regarded as serious despite the facts that four to ten percent of the world’s population suffer from it and that the possibility of becoming a victim is a whopping 20 percent. Dr. Murray said, “By 2020, depression will be the most common condition following heart and related cardiovascular diseases.”

Lucinda Roy, one of the professors who taught Cho Seung-hui – the killer responsible for Monday’s Virginia Tech campus massacre – said she was almost certain that he was suffering a mental illness. His background as a second-generation immigrant and the easy access to guns in the United States are some of the factors that could have led Cho to commit multiple murders. However, not everyone exposed to a similar environment goes about shooting people because of the differences in our genes. According to the scientific journal ‘Science’ in one of its 2003 editions, people with mutations in their 5-HTT gene, which controls serotonin, are more likely to experience depression after stressful events or depression-inducing incidents. Serotonin is a chemical substance that plays an important role in determining our emotions.

Such explanation leaves some confusion. As the latest incident in Virginia Tech illustrates, depression can be a deadly threat to people as well as patients who are more likely to commit suicide. Nonetheless, if depression is caused by uncontrollable factors such as people’s genes and the social environment they live in, it would be harder for them to share their depression story with others than for those with high blood pressure and diabetes. They do not want to hear others preaching, “It really depends on you,” or any comments that begin with, “Your lack of willpower to overcome depression…” It is easy to imagine why about 90 percent of people suffering depression do not seek any treatment, making their problems worse.

One silver lining: Where there is a problem, there is a solution. Although not much can be done about the genes we are born with, pharmaceutical companies have developed anti-depressants that stimulate serotonin to treat mental illness. Reportedly, since Prozac, a depression-treating drug, first appeared in the late 1980s, the suicide rate in America dropped by 15 percent. Other verbal therapies such as talking with others about depression also proved effective, showing a 58-percent chance of recovery. At the end of the day, it all comes down to whether one chooses to sit there blaming genetics and surrounding circumstances or to actively find ways to overcome emotional troubles.

Kim Sun-deok, Editorial Writer, yuri@donga.com