(1037) Chronic Depression

There are many depressed individuals, more than most of us imagine. Recently there was a spate of young people killing themselves in Selangor. This is where most of the famous universities are, whether public or private. Some estimates that there are 60,000 students of tertiary education within the boundaries of Selangor and Federal Territory, local or foreign students.

Old people are depressed too, for one reason or another. I will cite two examples in my community. There is this couple with three children, we shall call them the de Silva clan. Mr de Silva is an artist. Now that is often a vocation that comes with some financial hardship. As a result, Mrs de Silva has been chronically depressed throughout her long marriage to this talented but not very rich man.

Then there are Mr Harun and his family. Mr Harun is a businessman. In this case there is certainly no financial problem. But often where there is a lot of wealth, the rich man attracts much female attention. As a Chinese proverb puts it, the gentleman loves youth and beauty, the beauties love money and men who enjoy flattery. Mrs Harun did not divorce her husband for his infidelities, but it soured her life.

The de Silva family consists of three off springs. The eldest son is a self-made successful businessman. The second girl has a good job but gave it up to bring up her children. The third girl still works and has a most articulate daughter that I am keeping a discreet eye on because I noted the early promise of extraordinary talents in terms of little signs that I picked up since she was a toddler. If you read this without other things I revealed, you would probably think Mrs de Silva has done a remarkable job and ought to be pleased with her children. But life is usually more complicated than that. The early decades of financial struggle has created a lop sided disposition in this woman to cause her to hope and expect too much. Hence a trouble free old age did not measure up to her earlier expectations. Moreover, the sight of her "useless" husband in her abode brings out the gall that give a bad taste to her morning, afternoon and night.

Mrs Harun also has three children. The eldest daughter holds two degrees and is married to a airline pilot. The second daughter is working and happily married to a successful real estate agent. The youngest is a son who hold a good job and recently married his sweet heart of many years. That sounds wonderful, right? Yet why was it that this mother spent most of her productive years lying in the dark of her bed room? Most days her family has to pool all the time and leisure into covering her role and running the house. In fact, when she finally turned up at her son's wedding dinner, her two loving daughters were most surprised and delighted.

So these are two cases -- just the tip of the iceberg. Not every depressed person actually decide to end it all by some form of suicide.