Madam, - I was very disappointed and upset to read the article, "Taking the disease out of depression" by Dr Michael Corry (Health Supplement, July 6th). A number of comments made in the article can only serve to increase the stigma and misunderstanding that surround depression.
Depression is an illness, not merely a feeling or emotion. It has a number of symptoms, and actually feeling depressed is only one of these. I am one of the many people in Ireland who experience this illness.
The last time I was unwell, my depressed mood was preceded by two months of constant tiredness and feeling physically sore all over, difficulty sleeping, anxiety, lack of motivation, low self-esteem, paranoia, and a sense of everything being wrong and hopeless.
This followed a very positive time in my life when I was promoted in a job I love, and enjoyed a very happy life outside of work with good friends and a close family. What happened to me was not, as the article puts it, "a legitimate response to life's difficulties".
The article emphasises the role our thoughts and values play in our moods and general wellbeing and concern is expressed over the use of antidepressants.
However, for me, they played a vital role in my recovery. Referring to those whose illness is stabilised with medication as being "damaged goods" or "victims of flawed chemistry and defective genes" is deeply hurtful and insulting.
I live with this illness and experience profound periods of distress and depression. But the illness does not define me nor does it prevent me living my life to the full. - Yours, etc.,
JOHN BENNETT, Rathvilly Park, Finglas South, Dublin 11.
Madam, - Reading Dr Michael Corry's article on depression (July 6th) as someone working with people who find themselves homeless on our streets was revealing.
In the same way that depression is treated as a "disease" without seeking out the underlying causes, people who are homeless on the streets often face a similar attitude.
They are treated as if they have a disease without any attempt to understand them as human beings and why they found themselves on the streets in the first place. The whole edifice constructed in recent years to address the problem of street homelessness is failing because it is unable through its "performance indicators" and management philosophy to place real value on those who are seen as "wasting time" with people.
Unless we start engaging with people as people and stop avoiding that responsibility by simply prescribing medication and adopting quick fix solutions that ignore the human dimension, society will continue to be a miserable and uncomfortable place, especially for those who cannot fit in and feel themselves outsiders in our midst. - Yours, etc.,
ALICE LEAHY, TRUST, Bride Road, Dublin 8.