The Silent Illness

I'm finding that many of my friends who are now approaching 30 or already there seem tired and for the most part, depressed.

All of a sudden, a drop in phone calls, weeks go by without a Facebook update and soon you're found wondering, "hey, what happened to so and so?" Depression is what happened.

Most people my age can really identify with depression but refuse or are unable to acknowledge that their experiencing it. Here's a short list taken from WebMD :

Depression symptoms:

• difficulty concentrating, remembering details, and making decisions
• fatigue and decreased energy
• feelings of guilt, worthlessness, and/or helplessness
• insomnia, early-morning wakefulness, or excessive sleeping
  irritability, restlessness
• loss of interest in activities or hobbies once pleasurable, including sex (oh no!)
• overeating or appetite loss
• persistent aches or pains, headaches, cramps, or digestive problems that do not ease even with treatment
• persistent sad, anxious, or "empty" feelings

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Just do a quick survey with your friends. I guarantee that most will have exhibited one or many more of these symptoms. I had someone the other say, "I'm tired. It's been a difficult decade." DECADE?
Economy, family life, work, school all contribute to the stresses of your daily life but if it continues and you find yourself unhappy DAILY, something's wrong. And it's really not our fault. We're surrounded by overachievers, advertisements like, "The world runs on Dunkin", excessive gym rats, and did I mention the overachievers?

People have forgotten what's it's like to do absolutely nothing sometimes. Friends and families working 2, even 3 jobs , 2 or more school aged children EACH with a schedule to follow, full time employees going to graduate school full time, how can one compete with that? It's like you're a utter failure if you're not juggling 3 or 4 plates at a time. And nobody sleeps anymore...not with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn. You're constantly turned on and plugged in with your Android phone, "crack"berry, and iPhone (of which I'm guilty of too).

Sleep is a powerful tool to combat depression. It's been said that the lack of sleep is linked to depression because of an hormonal imbalance. Look it up! So don't feel guilty if you don't want to go out tonight, put the kids to bed early, turn of the tv, phone, computer, berry, iPod and spend 8 hours (or more) getting the sleep you deserve. You'll be happier and your body will thank you for it.