1. According to our text the World Health Organization, 2011 projects major depression to be the second leading cause of illness-related disability affecting the world’s population by 2020 (Matsumoto & Juang, 2013). This projection alone is a bit depressing.  For me, if the symptoms of depression were noticeable enough for my friends and family to verbally take recognition of it and suggest that I seek professional help would be cause enough for me to seek therapy. My daughter’s father passed last January and seeing the pain she went through due to this loss caused me to want to be the healthiest  me possible, mentally and physically. She needs her mom around as long as possible. I dealt with major depression during that time, but successfully kept it behind closed doors, because I needed to be strong for my daughter. I did seek help, but not by seeing a therapist. I turned to meditation, something I had never done before. I researched local meditation guidance and joined a few small meditation groups and this method worked for me. It was a method outside of my comfort zone at the time, but I think that putting myself in an unknown environment turned out to be part of my therapy. The route I took for therapy, isn’t seen as a traditional method of therapy for major depression in the U.S. but it worked for me and continues to help me through daily struggles. Part of my deciding factor of seeking something unknown and untraditional was because I was afraid to be diagnosed with depression. I didn’t want the title of being depressed associated with me and I told myself this was because I had to have the illusion of strength for my daughter. I knew I was going down a dangerous path with the symptoms I was experiencing and knew that I had to seek help. I read an article about meditation and the benefits associated with it and that is when I decided to try this method before asking for therapist recommendations.

2.I am a big proponent of therapy and I think that it can be very beneficial, whether a person is depressed or not. I think the best advice can often come from an outsider’s point of view. If I could afford it, I would see a therapist regularly just to help me keep things in perspective. However, it is sometimes easier to be open to seeking professional help when you are in a healthy mindset than it is when you are depressed. I got very depressed my sophomore year of college after the loss of my brother. At the time, I refused to go home and stayed in my bed at my dorm, skipped all of my classes, and stopped eating. Since I stopped attending my classes, I had to request a medical withdrawal from the school and to be able to come back the next year I was required to attend several therapy sessions. I was initially reluctant to go, but I am grateful that I did because I learned some ways to cope with my grief. When someone refuses to seek help for their depression, I think it is important for them to realize that it not only affects them, but their loved ones as well. The text book describes this saying, “Another symptom was ‘distress of social harmony,’ referring to disrupted social relations within the family or work contexts.” (Matsumoto & Juang, 2013) Losing my brother initially made me want to avoid my family because I thought it would make me think about him less. Therapy helped me realize that my entire family was experiencing the same tragedy and it was not fair of me to shut them out when they also needed emotional support. I do not think that seeking professional help is in anyway a sign of weakness. I think it takes strength and motivation to admit that you need help want to better yourself.

3. In my culture, seeking for professional treatment for psychological problems is seen as being “crazy.” It is unfortunate because many individuals that indeed need to seek for help don’t do it based on the judgments others will make (even family members.) However, when metal illness is present and it affects the interactions of all family members, it is necessary to bring it to the attention of all – specially the individual experiencing the illness.

There was a time when my wife lost her mother. After the grieving period passed, she started to experience changes. For example, she would fall asleep very quickly but then wake up after just a couple of hours and would not be able to fall back to sleep. She was also not eating as much, she completely lost her appetite but when she started to become distant towards me and our son, that is when I had to have a heart to heart conversation with her…it was sort of an intervention if you will. Gladly, she did accept the help and got professional assistance. It turns out that her depression was a temporary situation and with medication, support, and sleeping pills; she was able to get back to her normal self.

Now, I am personally going through a similar situation. My father is very ill and worse, I don’t believe I am able to see him alive once again. This is consuming my entire time, thinking about the situation and I am beginning to feel disengaged – even from the activities I enjoy the most. I have a better awareness of what depression looks like due to my wife’s previous situation. That said, I have been talking with someone from my employer’s EAP (Employee Assistance Program) and quite honestly, it has helped me tremendously. Seeking for professional assistance when it comes to mental health is a very personal decision. One must want to get the help, otherwise, I feel that it is not as helpful and/or successful. Helping a family member recognize that help is needed is simply opening the door to the possibilities but not necessarily the answer. It takes plenty of effort and awareness to get to that point, especially if our individual culture is judgmental in this respect.

I need feedback on each comments . Just one paragraph on each. please.