In the meantime....what is depression?

I haven't "blogged" for quite some time.....

Mostly in the past year - 2012/13 we've been at home in Regina. Richard has been very active, of course, with the church and also with his dad and around our home and yard and helping others - like our kids! 

2 grandsons have arrived in the past few months - Finn Ellis, now 4 months old and Noah Timothy, 6 weeks old. Both are very handsome young fellows ~ and now Jonas has some Krogsgaard cousins! We are grateful.

We head back to Zambia for 6 months on August 20. The 4th grandson is to be born in October. We'll miss that event, but will be on call by cellphone.

I've been able to work as a mental health nurse at a variety of places this past year, mostly outpatient services. Mental health is such an interesting area, isn't it? Its not so black and white - there is a lot of gray. Can anyone totally explain and understand the brain, emotions, and how we tick? I don't believe any one human can totally explain and understand. 

Clearly, the brain is still the most unexplored and unexplained of all organs ~ although there is a lot more research happening now compared to when I first started out in this career - 39 years ago!

So...what have I been thinking? As I interact with folks who suffer from depression, anxiety and other severe mental health issues I've been thinking a lot about "so what is depression anyway?" "where does it come from?" "how can it be treated?". I do have some answers for sure - but sometimes I think I have more questions, than answers. I like people I work with to think about their philosophy of depression - and add to it.  So my goal is talk to people in all walks of life and in as many different countries as possible to get their take.

One psychiatrist I visited with this morning said - "as you travel you'll find that in some cultures there is actually not even a word for depression." He said depression is an entity - it is multidimensional. It certainly affects the brain - the chemistry in the brain. He said the chemicals (meds) that people are given do provide some relief - so that is evidence that brain chemistry is changed with depression. Also, depression is related to childhood issues, to loss, to trauma. This psychiatrist is passionate about his career and has great vision as to what he'd like to do with it. I'll visit with him again and add later to his thoughts.

Just a start....more later