By Ramin Melikov
Not an angel, not a demon,
Just an earthly traveler,
Back from traveling the world,
Here to see your eyes.
Tired, cold, hungry and thirsty,
Desperate for nourishment,
Sleepless on this winter dawn,
I’m here scraping ice.
Happy birth day, been a while,
Here’s a card and flowers.
I drew the card myself, you know,
Grew flowers on my own.
There’s a poem in the card,
A short story about us.
I never wrote you one like that,
It’s different than before.
This poem is not like one
I wrote after our first kiss,
It’s different than the one
I wrote after our first love.
This poem’s different than all
The breakup poems I wrote,
It’s even different than the one
When you left me for good.
This poem’s pointless,
I’ll not read it aloud,
I’ll place it here on the stone,
Along with ring and flowers.
I’ll finish scraping this thick ice
That’s covering your eyes.
And then I’ll sit here ‘till dusk,
Burning all these poems.
Monday, August 19, 2013
Rebirth
By Ramin Melikov
Yesterday, I was trapped
In jaws of a lion,
Crying for help.
I died.
I died but I’m born again.
And tonight, I’m the lion
And you are my game.
But lucky for you,
My passion is rushing
To free you.
But you don’t wish to be freed.
Your eyes dare to test me,
You’re not even fighting.
You wish to be slayed.
I’m about to unleash
My gargantuan hunger
On this body of yours.
You are my possession.
I own you.
I’m on you.
I will do all that I want.
But first feel my roar.
Shiver now!
Your soul’s hour has come.
Enough of this foreplay.
I’m starving.
I will share you with no one.
You’re all will be mine.
Your cries will be loudest.
Your pain will be endless.
Your blood will be rushing.
Your eyes will be rolling.
“Oh God!” you’ll be screaming,
And thinking you’re dreaming,
And then begging for more.
Yesterday, I was trapped
In jaws of a lion,
Crying for help.
I died.
I died but I’m born again.
And tonight, I’m the lion
And you are my game.
But lucky for you,
My passion is rushing
To free you.
But you don’t wish to be freed.
Your eyes dare to test me,
You’re not even fighting.
You wish to be slayed.
I’m about to unleash
My gargantuan hunger
On this body of yours.
You are my possession.
I own you.
I’m on you.
I will do all that I want.
But first feel my roar.
Shiver now!
Your soul’s hour has come.
Enough of this foreplay.
I’m starving.
I will share you with no one.
You’re all will be mine.
Your cries will be loudest.
Your pain will be endless.
Your blood will be rushing.
Your eyes will be rolling.
“Oh God!” you’ll be screaming,
And thinking you’re dreaming,
And then begging for more.
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Depression: History, Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment
By Ramin Melikov
According to Dictionary.com (depress, n.d.), the word depression was derived in the 14th century from the Latin verb deprimere, which means to press down. However, only in the 17th century it started to replace the term melancholy, which was used until then, and only in the 19th century it had gotten into the medical dictionaries to describe the patients with psychiatric issues (as cited in “History of Depression,” n.d.). Before the term depression was started being used to describe a state of a person who is down in spirit, people would refer to depression as melancholy. The term melancholy was derived from the ancient Greek language and is made of two Greek words: melas and kholé, which mean black and bile respectively (as cited in “History of Depression,” n.d.). Hippocrates was the first to define the term in his Aphorisms as a disease. You can also see that term being used in other older literature like poems, for example. John Milton, in his poem Il Penseroso, which was written in the 17th century, describes a person who is basically depressed, as someone who is in love with Melancholy. Il Penseroso is the exact opposite of L’Allegro, which John Milton wrote to describe a happy person who appreciates all the life’s joys and wants to live with Mirth. Those two poems go together and one can’t be appreciated or even understood without knowing the other. They are like Yin and Yang from the Chinese philosophy, which goes back in time even further. Thus, it is apparent that throughout the time people around the world acknowledge that there are times when we are happy and there are times when we are not happy. People of all walks of life are prone to depression. However, recent findings of the World Health Organization show that people in affluent nations are more prone to depression than they are in underdeveloped countries (McMillan, 2011).
When looking at the causes of depression, the root causes of depression in the individual are family history, stressful environment, bad nutrition, stressful life events, and substance abuse (Nazario, 2012). Some illnesses are passed on to us by our parents and other illnesses we might develop because we are predisposed to them by our genetics. This means that we might develop a depression because our parents had it, we might develop a depression because of the chronic illness that was passed on to us by our parents, or we might develop a depression because of a chronic illness that we might develop because we are predisposed to it by our genetics (Nazario, 2012). Some of the chronic illnesses that cause depression are Parkinson’s disease, Dementia, Heart disease, Hypothyroidism, and others (Thomas, 2010). However, some unpredictable events, like death in a family, divorce, loss of a job, or harmful events, like sexual or physical abuse, can cause us both physical and emotional harm, and can also cause a depression immediately or later in life (Nazario, 2012). Adding alcohol, cigarettes and/or drugs to the equation, can make the situation worse and matters even harder to deal with, even if there was no stressful life event ( “Alcohol abuse may lead to depression,” 2010; Bower, 1993; Nazario, 2012). On top of that, sleep deprivation and bad nutrition can also be the causes of an exponential decline in the individual’s mental health. And if we are alone and don’t have any friends to talk to about our problems, this can make us feel unwanted and can also trigger a depression. Finally, if the individual’s environment is full of stress--positive or negative, and if the individual lives a sedentary lifestyle with minimum exercise, then this can also trigger a depression because too much stress without stress relief is a recipe for a disaster, and because the individual may become overweight which also causes a depression (Jaret, 2010). Thus, it seems that many, if not all of us at some point in life have to deal with depression.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health (2011), one may have a depression if one is persistently feeling sad, anxious, hopeless, helpless, pessimistic, worthless, and guilty. In addition, symptoms of depression include irritability, restlessness, loss of interest in sex or other pleasurable activities, decreased energy, difficulty concentrating, difficulty remembering details, difficulty making decisions, insomnia or excessive sleeping, overeating or loss of appetite, thoughts of suicide or suicide attempts, and headaches. The list of symptoms is remarkably long and all of us at some point experience some or even many of these symptoms. However, the key here is that one would have to notice these symptoms persistently throughout an extended period of time to make a confident conclusion that one has a depression. How long? Perhaps a month or two, or when the individual starts having extremely negative thoughts, can’t sleep for a week, or starts to think about attempting a suicide. Sometimes we have tough periods in our lives and we know they are temporary. We push ourselves to get through them knowing that it all will be alright in the end. However, sometimes we get caught up in these periods or we get into a really tough spot that quickly overwhelms us and makes us see no end in sight, which immediately starts to make the situation look like it is hopeless and helpless. These are the trying times that some people can’t deal with and go to extremes like a suicide. Others don’t go to the extremes, but they don’t want to deal with the problems either. They start to put away problems because they have difficulties concentrating and a loss of energy. Yet others even turn to substance abuse. However, all of the problems are temporary and the solution is there. One just needs to see a professional to figure out what’s wrong and to create a plan of recovery.
There are two ways of treating a depression in an individual: the traditional way and the holistic way. The traditional way involves seeing a professional and creating a plan of recovery, which is usually through antidepressant medication, psychotherapy, or electroconvulsive therapy (National Institute of Mental Health, 2011). The holistic way, however, is an approach that reviews individual’s habits, diet, physical activity level, environment, and the personal economy for culprits that cause problems, and recommends the needed changes. The traditional way has a strong history and is usually preferred because it can produce good results; though, it may also produce side effects because it involves prescription drugs. On the other side, the holistic way doesn’t have side effects, but the success may be difficult to achieve because it requires extreme determination, persistence, and application. It requires the removal of bad habits and addictions like cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs as they are tied to depression (“Alcohol Abuse May Lead to Depression,” 2010; Bower, 1993; Nazario, 2012). It requires a change in the individual’s diet to a diet that’s full of nutrients, which is usually whole or in part Vegan--recent study shows that higher intake of nutrients resulted in better mental health (Davison & Kaplan, 2012). It requires an establishment of a regular exercise program as a regular way for an individual to relieve stress. It requires a removal or reduction of negative stressors from the individual’s environment. And finally, it requires the removal of financial waste from the individual’s personal economy. It is obvious that the holistic way may not be for everyone. In fact, it may be for only some people out there with depression who are capable to create this huge change in their life. Perhaps the traditional way can stabilize the individual by getting his mind on the right track and allow the individual to start working on solving the problem at the core.
Alcohol Abuse May Lead To Depression. (2010). Depression & Anxiety (Medletter), 5. Retrieved July 15, 2012, from http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.stlcc.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cmh&AN=67655397&site=chc-live
Bower, B. (1993, January 30). Depression, smoking divulge ties that bind. Science News, 143(5), 71. Retrieved July 15, 2012, from http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.stlcc.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA13402661&v=2.1&u=morenetsccol&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w
Davison, K. M., & Kaplan, B. J. (2012). Nutrient Intakes Are Correlated With Overall Psychiatric Functioning in Adults With Mood Disorders. Canadian Journal Of Psychiatry, 57(2), 85-92. Retrieved July 15, 2012, from http://ezproxy.stlcc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=afh&AN=73791900&site=ehost-live
depress. (n.d.). In Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved July 15, 2012, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/depress
Jaret, P. (2010, July 16). Eating Disorders and Depression: How They're Related. Retrieved July 15, 2012, from Webmd.com website: http://www.webmd.com/depression/features/eating-disorders
History of depression. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved July 15, 2012, from Wikipedia.org website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_depression
McMillan, A. (2011, July 26). People in affluent nations may be more depression-prone. Retrieved July 15, 2012, from http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/07/26/affluent.depression.prone/index.html
National Institute of Mental Health. (2011). Depression. Retrieved July 15, 2012, from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/depression/complete-index.shtml
Nazario, B. (2012, February 01). Causes of depression. Retrieved July 15, 2012, from Webmd.com website: http://www.webmd.com/depression/guide/causes-depression
Thomas, A. (2010, July 20). Depression and physical illness. Retrieved July 15, 2012, from Netdoctor.co.uk website: http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/diseases/depression/depressionandphysicalillness_000601.htm
History and Cultural Perspectives
According to Dictionary.com (depress, n.d.), the word depression was derived in the 14th century from the Latin verb deprimere, which means to press down. However, only in the 17th century it started to replace the term melancholy, which was used until then, and only in the 19th century it had gotten into the medical dictionaries to describe the patients with psychiatric issues (as cited in “History of Depression,” n.d.). Before the term depression was started being used to describe a state of a person who is down in spirit, people would refer to depression as melancholy. The term melancholy was derived from the ancient Greek language and is made of two Greek words: melas and kholé, which mean black and bile respectively (as cited in “History of Depression,” n.d.). Hippocrates was the first to define the term in his Aphorisms as a disease. You can also see that term being used in other older literature like poems, for example. John Milton, in his poem Il Penseroso, which was written in the 17th century, describes a person who is basically depressed, as someone who is in love with Melancholy. Il Penseroso is the exact opposite of L’Allegro, which John Milton wrote to describe a happy person who appreciates all the life’s joys and wants to live with Mirth. Those two poems go together and one can’t be appreciated or even understood without knowing the other. They are like Yin and Yang from the Chinese philosophy, which goes back in time even further. Thus, it is apparent that throughout the time people around the world acknowledge that there are times when we are happy and there are times when we are not happy. People of all walks of life are prone to depression. However, recent findings of the World Health Organization show that people in affluent nations are more prone to depression than they are in underdeveloped countries (McMillan, 2011).
Biological, Social, and/or Environmental Causes
When looking at the causes of depression, the root causes of depression in the individual are family history, stressful environment, bad nutrition, stressful life events, and substance abuse (Nazario, 2012). Some illnesses are passed on to us by our parents and other illnesses we might develop because we are predisposed to them by our genetics. This means that we might develop a depression because our parents had it, we might develop a depression because of the chronic illness that was passed on to us by our parents, or we might develop a depression because of a chronic illness that we might develop because we are predisposed to it by our genetics (Nazario, 2012). Some of the chronic illnesses that cause depression are Parkinson’s disease, Dementia, Heart disease, Hypothyroidism, and others (Thomas, 2010). However, some unpredictable events, like death in a family, divorce, loss of a job, or harmful events, like sexual or physical abuse, can cause us both physical and emotional harm, and can also cause a depression immediately or later in life (Nazario, 2012). Adding alcohol, cigarettes and/or drugs to the equation, can make the situation worse and matters even harder to deal with, even if there was no stressful life event ( “Alcohol abuse may lead to depression,” 2010; Bower, 1993; Nazario, 2012). On top of that, sleep deprivation and bad nutrition can also be the causes of an exponential decline in the individual’s mental health. And if we are alone and don’t have any friends to talk to about our problems, this can make us feel unwanted and can also trigger a depression. Finally, if the individual’s environment is full of stress--positive or negative, and if the individual lives a sedentary lifestyle with minimum exercise, then this can also trigger a depression because too much stress without stress relief is a recipe for a disaster, and because the individual may become overweight which also causes a depression (Jaret, 2010). Thus, it seems that many, if not all of us at some point in life have to deal with depression.
Symptoms
According to the National Institute of Mental Health (2011), one may have a depression if one is persistently feeling sad, anxious, hopeless, helpless, pessimistic, worthless, and guilty. In addition, symptoms of depression include irritability, restlessness, loss of interest in sex or other pleasurable activities, decreased energy, difficulty concentrating, difficulty remembering details, difficulty making decisions, insomnia or excessive sleeping, overeating or loss of appetite, thoughts of suicide or suicide attempts, and headaches. The list of symptoms is remarkably long and all of us at some point experience some or even many of these symptoms. However, the key here is that one would have to notice these symptoms persistently throughout an extended period of time to make a confident conclusion that one has a depression. How long? Perhaps a month or two, or when the individual starts having extremely negative thoughts, can’t sleep for a week, or starts to think about attempting a suicide. Sometimes we have tough periods in our lives and we know they are temporary. We push ourselves to get through them knowing that it all will be alright in the end. However, sometimes we get caught up in these periods or we get into a really tough spot that quickly overwhelms us and makes us see no end in sight, which immediately starts to make the situation look like it is hopeless and helpless. These are the trying times that some people can’t deal with and go to extremes like a suicide. Others don’t go to the extremes, but they don’t want to deal with the problems either. They start to put away problems because they have difficulties concentrating and a loss of energy. Yet others even turn to substance abuse. However, all of the problems are temporary and the solution is there. One just needs to see a professional to figure out what’s wrong and to create a plan of recovery.
Treatment Options
There are two ways of treating a depression in an individual: the traditional way and the holistic way. The traditional way involves seeing a professional and creating a plan of recovery, which is usually through antidepressant medication, psychotherapy, or electroconvulsive therapy (National Institute of Mental Health, 2011). The holistic way, however, is an approach that reviews individual’s habits, diet, physical activity level, environment, and the personal economy for culprits that cause problems, and recommends the needed changes. The traditional way has a strong history and is usually preferred because it can produce good results; though, it may also produce side effects because it involves prescription drugs. On the other side, the holistic way doesn’t have side effects, but the success may be difficult to achieve because it requires extreme determination, persistence, and application. It requires the removal of bad habits and addictions like cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs as they are tied to depression (“Alcohol Abuse May Lead to Depression,” 2010; Bower, 1993; Nazario, 2012). It requires a change in the individual’s diet to a diet that’s full of nutrients, which is usually whole or in part Vegan--recent study shows that higher intake of nutrients resulted in better mental health (Davison & Kaplan, 2012). It requires an establishment of a regular exercise program as a regular way for an individual to relieve stress. It requires a removal or reduction of negative stressors from the individual’s environment. And finally, it requires the removal of financial waste from the individual’s personal economy. It is obvious that the holistic way may not be for everyone. In fact, it may be for only some people out there with depression who are capable to create this huge change in their life. Perhaps the traditional way can stabilize the individual by getting his mind on the right track and allow the individual to start working on solving the problem at the core.
References
Alcohol Abuse May Lead To Depression. (2010). Depression & Anxiety (Medletter), 5. Retrieved July 15, 2012, from http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.stlcc.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cmh&AN=67655397&site=chc-live
Bower, B. (1993, January 30). Depression, smoking divulge ties that bind. Science News, 143(5), 71. Retrieved July 15, 2012, from http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.stlcc.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA13402661&v=2.1&u=morenetsccol&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w
Davison, K. M., & Kaplan, B. J. (2012). Nutrient Intakes Are Correlated With Overall Psychiatric Functioning in Adults With Mood Disorders. Canadian Journal Of Psychiatry, 57(2), 85-92. Retrieved July 15, 2012, from http://ezproxy.stlcc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=afh&AN=73791900&site=ehost-live
depress. (n.d.). In Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved July 15, 2012, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/depress
Jaret, P. (2010, July 16). Eating Disorders and Depression: How They're Related. Retrieved July 15, 2012, from Webmd.com website: http://www.webmd.com/depression/features/eating-disorders
History of depression. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved July 15, 2012, from Wikipedia.org website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_depression
McMillan, A. (2011, July 26). People in affluent nations may be more depression-prone. Retrieved July 15, 2012, from http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/07/26/affluent.depression.prone/index.html
National Institute of Mental Health. (2011). Depression. Retrieved July 15, 2012, from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/depression/complete-index.shtml
Nazario, B. (2012, February 01). Causes of depression. Retrieved July 15, 2012, from Webmd.com website: http://www.webmd.com/depression/guide/causes-depression
Thomas, A. (2010, July 20). Depression and physical illness. Retrieved July 15, 2012, from Netdoctor.co.uk website: http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/diseases/depression/depressionandphysicalillness_000601.htm
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