Beyond the Blues

The next decade of humanity will be defined by three mental conditions: Stress, anxiety and depression. This triad will take more lives in the next ten years than the first and second World Wars together and I was very close to be part of that statistic.

It’s not about them anymore.

I remember thinking about it.... I remember wondering what it would be like to leave. I remember wondering if I would go to hell for doing this. After all, the nun said it was a sin. I remember thinking I didn't want to burn in hell. Multiple times a week, when I was in a place I didn't want to be... having to babysit my youngest siblings who were 6 that June, while I was 14. Taking them for a walk to the corner store for popsicles, while my friends were at the park; hanging out, laughing and having fun. My middle brothers able to go out, play baseball and be with their friends. I was told it was my duty as the oldest of 5 children to help with the younger ones when my father had to work 2 jobs and my mother had to work a night job. Feeling detached from the social circle, but more than that, feeling so different and freakish at almost 6 feet at 14 years old. Maybe I didn't belong there anyway. After all, I was tall, skinny, and ugly and they were pretty. They had boys paying attention to them. No one looked or talked to me like that.

It’s Friday at 4 PM. Almost time to punch out of work from a hellish week of the same mundane routine. You answer emails and take orders from your boss while you force a smile as if you are happy to be there. But the truth is, you just want to RUN home.

Okay, so I got a bit carried away in my first post, starting with something as specific as the implication of the immune system in depression. Maybe I should have started with something a bit more general, like the systems involved in depression that have been established for years, and then moved onto more current topics. So that’s what I’m sharing with you today! I hope it’s still interesting to all; at least it will give us a more stable grounding on what depression is caused by. Specifically, you’ll find three more traditional hypotheses that try to give some explanation to the root of depression.

So many people struggle with depression and anxiety. There are more people who are struggling than just you. Finding the support you need to get through it is crucial. Being able to find ways that help you cope are essential for your well-being. Everyday happiness can happen for everyone if they are willing to put in the work that needs to be done for it. This article will give great tips that can help you find success in finding that happiness.

Trigger warning:

My Story 'The Wounds and Lessons of Childhood”

Let’s start with an introduction. My name is Laura and I am a current MSc student in neuroscience and future PhD in psychiatry. In these last years, I have come to realize how little communication there is between scientists and the rest of society. Science is always advancing, creating new tools and obtaining new knowledge that can be of use to everyone, or that can pose new ethical questions on which society as a whole should have a say. But how is anyone going to take advantage of the new information or generate a debate with it, if it is not made available to them in an accessible and comprehensible way?