The Depressing things about Depression

I wished to find out the current issues of teenagers and came across this link: BBC - h2g2 - Teenage Depression. What it is basically trying to say is that when humans grow up, the go through a phase during the age of 13 to 19 and the specialists termed this phase as “teenage depression”. Many things that teenagers do that adults and everyone else in common find wrong and just plain strange are classified as depression.

Most people out there think that depression is a disease that is cured and has written symptoms. Common perception: “he is not himself, is he suffering from depression? Should we refer him to a doctor? Should he have anti depressants?” This is indeed what most of us think.

As humans grow up, they develop not only physically but also mentally. Their capacity to think and assess risks is increased and their cognitive capabilities are heightened. Therefore, when these abilities are fully developed, we have our own ideas and morals. We wish to do things in our own way and anyone who decides things for us is labelled as “not needed”.

So, all this led to adults and the so called specialists to describe our actions as a condition known as depression. And then, this leads to advice to coping with depression, how to treat it and how to make sure that it does not affect you. However, I believe all this is just a psychological construct; something to help us compartmentalize teenagers’ feelings and actions.

I say that as teenagers grow up, with heightened ability to think and act for themselves, others try to interfere for our own good. For some, this interference is welcome as we are lost. However, for most it is irksome to have someone meddle and contradict your ideas just when you finally are able to make our own decisions (well at least according to you). Therefore, when teenagers label something as such, there is practical reason. But no, it is seen as bad and the looming depression is the one blamed. This is wrong.

On the next point, what exactly are anti depressants? Something that can change our ideas, thoughts and feelings? Obviously not! They are just something that doctors linked to something that supposedly causes depression and tadah, here is anti depressants. Utter rubbish in my view.

Of course, you say that I am the one uttering rubbish. But put it this way, when teenagers in olden times grew, they were not products of depression but good people who had something in life to do. This was due to the fact they were largely left alone and were self initiative. So, they ideas and thoughts were almost never contradicted and they had a full rein on their lives with no external factor affecting them. As a result, there was no depression.

Keeping that in mind, I wish to leave you with this to ponder: “Adolescence is that time when I think, it can be- it's the cruellest place on Earth. It can really be heartless.”- Tori Amos quotes.

The Great Mysteries

After reading through the article (BBC NEWS Science/Nature Great 'cosmic nothingness' found) once, we do not understand much about Cosmic Microwave Background radiation and stuff like calculating billions of light years. As I was searching through the Science/Nature section, I came across this. I am almost as clueless as the next guy about the science involved in this so I will just describe some reflections from reading this passage.

When I reached the part of “dark matter” I was totally bamboozled and was left thinking about science fantasy. But no, this is something real. Therefore, I did some research on dark matter and the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation. However, the point here is that we are a race of humans who every second of our life are always trying to figure out this or that. We leave nothing out, try to uncover everything and are usually angry and frustrated when the truth remains hidden from us.

However, after observing so many strange people getting prizes for discovering many new things, I wonder if that our nature of inquisitiveness is something good or bad. Trying to discover creation of the universe and life itself; trying to figure out how and when this universe will die and how to escape it…Is that all that we were made for?

We have to exist for a reason and is finding out everything including when you die, whether you should die before being born, whether others should have a right to stop you from killing yourself and to expose secrets of the universe that reason? Just to save ourselves from things that we have no knowledge of, just to satisfy our desperate cravings for that Grail–like knowledge; is it right for us to all right to rip apart every secret? Even secrets that should be left as secrets as they contain information on taboo subjects like confirmation of death and destruction of the human race?

In my contradictory opinion which would be shouted down by most, I believe that some things are better left off. For example, if we discover that there is some harm caused to humans by the expansion of the universe by dark energy, what do we do? This will instil fear in hearts of many. If left alone, we would be better of and carefree. Leave God in charge of life and death.

Now, some may say that I am just a coward and an idiot. However, I ask you consider this: If we found out everything there was to ever be found, what would we do other than waiting for our already known deaths? Therefore, I say that live life with excitement and the challenge of facing the unknown bravely.

After all, what would happen if your death was already known, your future already known, the fate of the universe known? It would be to put it mildly, dull and superficial.

Well, here is the article about the big news in Singapore right now. It is - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/6646125.stm. It is THE big one; the break Singapore has finally longed for.

I think most of us are quite happy or maybe even gone into ecstatic fits once we heard the plans of a car racing track to be built in our very own Singapore. It maybe due to many reasons; like you are a fan of car racing, just a adrenalin hippie or someone who carves for something new close to home.

After all, it is something new. We have not seen anything of this scale before in Singapore. It heralds a new era, the coming of a new Singapore as the face of Singapore will be changed for ever. What is the reaction for Singaporeans? Most are interested and excited. What is the reaction of some other countries? Some are congratulatory, some jealous while some or struck dumb. Why is this so? Let us look into this further.

There is more to this “race” than meets the eye of the casual of observer. For those who congratulate us, they are happy for us. For those who are jealous, too bad for them. For those struck dumb, let us hope and pray they recover from their malady. The more serious thing is that while we have stolen the chance from several countries to host part of the best car races in the world, have we struck ourselves with an axe for doing that?

Singapore, as we all know, is a small place with limited resources. This race course will be one of the key attractions for Singapore. However, there only about a baker’s dozen of really good attractions in Singapore worth visiting. So the point here is that if Singapore extinguishes all its resources, internal and external, than a few decades down the road it will it encounter some serious problems as they will rack their heads to keep to economy from total collapse and continue with revenue. When that moment slowly starts to arrive, what will have to be done? What are the precautions set now against that fateful day?

Even this race course contract at maximum is guaranteed for ten years and after that what happens? Singapore is not like other countries where they have unlimited supply of everything to do whatever they want whenever they please where ever they wish. Singapore must be wise, knowing when to act, when to support, when to conserve what it already has. Singapore is one of those unique cities which have huge constraints on it which can only be unchained after much thinking or reasoning.

Still, when will be those chains forever locked and the key thrown away in despair? We set watch against that day.

Ok, I have been thinking about writing something on this issue I happened to glance at in the newspapers I was skimming through because I found it interesting.

This article, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/1564448.stm, which I was reading does indeed give us a lot to ponder about. Firstly, this article started a big ruckus almost all over the world. We wonder why. Aren't there countless others out there who pretend to be saints from the outside but every action they do is based on corruption? There have been many politicians and leaders who are lustfully corrupt.

And as each of them come, they are eventually found out and stopped. Another comes and is stopped. The cycle continues with no end in sight. However, what most of us fail to realise is that the damage is already done. The corruption has taken and firm hold on many others clustered around this one person who has been seduced by the dreams of power.

However, the person in question this time is not your usual ordinary kind of person. Looking at his history, the positions he has held and the schools he has thought, you would expect him to be some sort of a demigod. A good demigod. This demigod has tasted much power and has slowly succumbed to its alluring attractions. He is now a victim of it. They power which was given to him out of respect is his own undoing.

Thus, we see that in many cases, power is the root of all evil. It brings the worst out of many people.How then can we stop this power from becoming an unhealthy influence? In this, there is no permanent method for no man can control another man's thoughts or feelings. In the words of a certain wise man, "Evil can never be fully eradicated, it can only be kept at bay through constant vigilance". Humans themselves must be the ones to do this or the day might not be far off when we see a tyrant with limitless power being the potentate for the world.

Humans themselves must guard against their human nature in themselves.

Another article I read online on the BBC website is a heart wrenching account of Pim, a Thai sex worker. For full article go to http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6360603.stm.

Pim’s story is about an author who wishes to describe what he does as clinically as possible, but raw, frightened emotions seep through like water seeping through cracks in walls. It seems like just another personal recount of a prostitute to a superficial observer; but it actually mirrors the situation of hundreds of thousands of people who do socially repulsive or taboo work to make ends meet or to feed a family.

I think, after reading a really insightful account, many of the readers might finally have an unsheltered view of the world around them without ignoring the many flaws of society. The obvious suffering is around everyone one of us, from the sweeper who cleans the floor to the whore you find for your entertainment. But again, people are so focused on only there on goals and other petty things that they don’t even see the suffering around them.

Pim’s case is not unordinary, frightful or even remotely horrifying because she is not the only prostitute, sweeper, mine worker or any of the other taboo jobs which people even refuse to discuss. It is here, in our society, and we have to face it; not shut our eyes and whistle. When small movements like the Nightlight that helped Pim come, it is a sign that society has had to have their attentions focused on these anti-social elements.

But still, there are countless out there who starve, cry but work all their lives at they mercy of someone else. Even if something is being done, it only has affected a small magnitude of the populace. When, if ever, will people firmly talk openly about the total rejection of these anti-social elements? When will we confront our own evil?

It will indeed be the hope of a better age without these.

I recently read this article online concerning our environment and that Australia announced a bold step last week in efforts to stave off global warming: banning incandescent light bulbs and replacing them with more efficient compact fluorescents nationwide. For full article go to http://www.emagazine.com/view/?3618.

What I thought of what Australia is doing such a seemingly massive scale project of banning incandescent bulbs throughout the country! Seems like a lot doesn’t it? But what Australia is doing is just a small part of reversing mankind’s blatant, unconcerned and harmful eons of damage to the environment, earth and most importantly, our lives itself. After many, many years, when the signs of a protesting earth are getting more obvious and visible to us, we are finally doing something. How many environmentalists, tsunamis, tornadoes and lives is it going to take to drill the idea in humans to do something far, far more drastic to stop Earth’s exorable steps to total disaster?

What everyone out there, like us, thinks that it is only him doing the littering, wasting of plastic; everyone else helps out in conserving so it doesn’t matter. Or maybe they think that just a little will not matter. After all, is just a small bit compared to what we hear is produced to pollute what we need to survive. Worst still, some people can’t even spare a thought to what there activities are doing to the Earth; their goal is their only concern.

Therein lies the mistake. The majority out there think that the comfortable lives they lead is more important than the very thing they are being supported by. Ignorance plays a big part in this. Many think that what their actions lead to is not their problem. Some go as far as to laugh at environmentalists, mock them, ridicule them. But when the hard truth is presented, they go white faced, tight lipped and numbed. But still they do nothing.

In our modern world, environmentalists are maybe the only true people left who fully understand the danger of mutual extinction of the Earth and mankind. Australia’s move is just the starting of trying to compassionate for the damages done to Earth. As education level and environmental awareness grows, people slowly put forth their energies to save themselves from the certain destruction the have for years concocted for themselves. But are they in time?

Only time and the future will say that.

Hi guys this is just the starting of an extremely interesting post involving current affairs.