Anyone who has experience with mesothelioma quickly became schooled in the implications that come with a diagnosis, including depression.
People who are diagnosed with mesothelioma may have to leave work to concentrate on getting better. family members may want to become caregivers and may have to take some time away from work to do. Sometimes finances are becoming a problem because of the inability to work.
Daily life stress become exaggerated when dealing with a disease like mesothelioma, and it can lead to depression. People facing such an arduous battle may feel like their world came crashing.
Mesothelioma caused stressful situations at home
My mother was a housewife when I was growing up, and my father was the sole provider of income at home.
dad was diagnosed with mesothelioma in September 1992. He had to stop working a month later. stacked bills, but the money has not. We survived savings for a while, but soon missed those too. Medical bills, utilities, payments of houses and food costs were draining my bank account ?? s father.
His illness got worse and so was his mental state. He was under a huge amount of stress ?? physically and mentally. He hid his emotions from his children. All I saw was his fearlessness.
There was so much more than that. There were a few nights when I could hear my parents ?? softly creeping the hallway to my room. I could not ?? hear their conversation, but I could tell it wasn ?? t good. I also heard their cry together.
My father wasn ?? Does the machine, he describes himself as. He was a man with a heart, and he was dying from mesothelioma. He worried about what would become his family if he was not there to protect and provide for their needs. My mother worried about how she would live without her husband. What do we become?
Depression should not be handled alone
After my father passed away in November 1993, my mother sank into a deep depression. In fact, she never recovered.
She suffered for years in silence and only sought treatment for depression after a long hospitalization. She still suffers today. The pain she suffered the loss of her husband to mesothelioma is the root of the ongoing struggle of my mother ?? s with a mental illness.
My point is that no one should suffer alone in silence. Because mental health care ?? doesn t carry the same stigma it once did, people are now more open to discuss their mental health. Doctors are better equipped to deal with mental health than they were in 1993.
Improvements in Diagnosing Depression
The American Psychological Association (APA) in 2013 released a new version of the diagnostic and statistical Manual of mental disorders DSM-5 called. It is updated every few years with new symptoms, conditions and methods of diagnosis so that physicians can better identify mental disorders such as anxiety and depression
The symptoms of depression can include:.
- depressed mood
- decreased interest in activities
- significant weight loss or weight gain
- Insomnia
- Fatigue
- Decreased concentration
Many people who have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, or know a loved one diagnosed with the disease, may experience some of these symptoms.
APA officials said the previous version of the manual explained that ?? Clinicians were advised not to diagnose major depression in individuals over the first two months after the death of a loved one. ?? The suggested time ?? pain someone somehow protected against depression.??[1945002majeure]
This restriction was removed from the DSM-5.
In other words, two months is too long to wait for a diagnosis and treatment.
If you feel you may be experiencing symptoms of depression, talk to your doctor sooner rather than later.
seek help for depression
My mother struggled with untreated depression for over a year
. She eventually suffered a complete breakdown which led to temporary hospitalization. Both of us have benefited enormously to seek professional help for mental health care. Coping with illness and pain is not an easy task.
It is correct to say that you need help. Living mesothelioma can be a long and difficult road to travel. Have a little help along the way is not a sign of weakness. Instead, it is a show of strength and endurance.
Melanie Ball lives in Kentucky. His father, Richard Lloyd Barker, died of mesothelioma in 1993. She is pursuing a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Phoenix.
