Dimapur: “Depression can occur to anyone irrespective of gender, class, or age. Even kids can be depressed,” cautioned Rev. Dr. Ellen C. Jamir who was speaking as the resource person during a workshop on ‘Depression & Anxiety in Youth’ held in Tetso College on 10th February, 2020.
The one-day workshop was organized by the Student Christian Movement of India (SCMI) Tetso College Unit in collaboration with DOT Talks with an aim to disseminate information and create awareness on the issues of depression and anxiety among teens in the Naga society today.
During the session, Dr. Ellen informed the gathering which included students of Tetso College and ICFAI University about the various symptoms of the two ailments. While the emotional changes in a person suffering from depression include feelings of sadness, grief or loss, feeling of hopelessness, loss of interest in things, feeling of low self-esteem, extreme sensitivity, lack of concentration, thoughts of death or suicide, the behavioral changes may include fatigue, loss of appetite or gluttony, loss of sleep or oversleeping, restlessness or lethargy, body ache, and self-harm, she said.
The resource person primarily attributed the cause of depression to be accumulation of stress while also pointing to other factors such as hormonal imbalance, inherited traits, early childhood trauma and other health issues.
The Associate Professor of Pastoral Care & Counselling at Oriental Theological Seminary commented that although it is not unnatural to experience bouts of loneliness, sadness, anger, frustration sometimes, one needs to be concerned and pay attention when these negative emotions occur for two weeks or more at a stretch.
Both depression and anxiety can be treated effectively if they are diagnosed in the initial stages whereas a problem in our society is that people seek treatment too late, she stated.
Depression and anxiety should be diagnosed and treated early because they affect a person’s overall wellbeing, emotional and mental health, she reiterated, and called upon the students not to be ashamed or embarrassed to talk about such issues.
Dr. Ellen asserted that prevention is the best and safest measure when it comes to depression and anxiety and advised understanding what causes stress and taking steps to control it. She also recommended reaching out to a friend or mentor in times of crises and advised getting treatment at the earliest if one experiences symptoms similar to that of depression or anxiety.
Earlier, the programme was chaired by Soreithing Ramror of BA 6th Semester, invocation prayer pronounced by Beuken Phom of BA 6th Semester, special song sung by Chubamenla of BA 6th Semester, and vote of thanks speech delivered by Ghukha Chophy of BA 6th Semester.