Depression: The silent killer

To some people, depression is understood and associated with a mere feeling of sadness that brings a person to a low-spirited disposition. To this point, people might loosely say that they are “depressed,” even if they are simply expressing disappointment over something minor, like when they open their fridge and find out that they are out of ice cream. The truth is that depression is a far graver issue.

Dr. Curtis Cripe has studied extensively on the topic, and he brings our attention to what the professionals mean when they talk about depression in the clinical sense. Depression is a disease of the mind, which is referred to as the silent killer, because it makes a person lose himself and his own self-worth.

It isn’t easy to spot a person who is dealing with clinical depression. This is especially true because coping mechanisms for sadness often compel a person to appear normal on the outside, at times when others are around to see them. Fake smiles act as artificial masks to people who have already reached the point of depression, even if they are chaotic deep inside. They typically don’t want to reveal their true feelings for fear of being ridiculed.

One more harsh truth about depression is that not many people are aware that they have it, Dr. Curtis Cripe shares. Brain chemistry imbalances and hormonal shifts combined with a host of other factors can lead to depression, and in extreme cases, suicide. It’s not uncommon for people to shrug things off as mere sad thoughts and think that they’re just having a bad day, just like everyone does from time to time.

For this reason, it is healthy to have oneself assessed periodically by a competent mental health professional, just to see if any intervention is necessary.

Dr. Curtis Cripe, Ph.D., hails from a multidisciplinary academic and professional background that includes aerospace engineering and psychophysiology. He is the director of research and development at the NTL Group, a company that specializes in neuroengineering programs to diagnose and treat a wide array of neurological dysfunctions. Visit this page for more details.