Depression and anxiety

Windy day, 2022, Myungja Anna Koh

Depression and anxiety

  Corona blue refers to mental abnormalities that occur mainly while living indoors due to social distancing and self-isolation. In particular, the so-called 'corona blue', which feels psychologically anxious beyond frustration, has emerged as a social problem as a new mental illness.
Above all, more and more people are complaining of depression because of prolonged anxiety, uncertainty about the future, and fatigue due to the continuous appearance of variations.

  So what was the Spanish flu-like? The Spanish Flu is a deadly contagious illness that first appeared in 1918 and killed a third of the world's population in two years. The Spanish Flu has been recorded as the most dangerous disease in history. Because 500 million people worldwide have been diagnosed with the Spanish Flu, and as many as 50 million people have died. The Spanish Flu, which had such a high mortality rate, went through four pandemics in the United States.

Even at that time, many scholars went all-in on researching the origin, prevention, and treatment of the virus as it is now. Among them, there was a notable study. It was a psychological study, not a treatment or prevention level.

Edvard Munch (1863-1944) - Self-Portrait with the Spanish Flu (1919), Source by Wikipedia

  Historic demographer Dr. Svenn-Erik Mamelund attempted to study this. He looked at patients in psychiatric wards in Norway from 1872 to 1929. And they found that the number of hospitalized patients for psychiatric disorders caused by influenza increased 7.2-fold in the six years following the Spanish flu epidemic. Mamelund SE. The Impact of Influenza on Mental Health in Norway, (Source: 1872-1929. Workshop. May 2010. Carlsberg Academy, Copenhagen, Denmark.)

  As we were experiencing a pandemic similar to the Spanish Flu 100 years ago, the previous mental illness risk situation should be considered, and countermeasures should be made based on the research and study.

  Above all, continuous variation makes people suffer from vague anxiety, worry, and fear. Fear has no substance. Once a person feels fear and fear, even looking at the swaying tree branches reflected in the window causes them to feel terrified.

  When uncertainty continues, when you believe in yourself that the future is no longer pink rosy , or when trustworthy things keep happening, sometimes the blue comes for no reason. And when this feeling persists, it's called depression.
  

Fear, 2022, Myungja Anna Koh

  ​Depression is a condition in which general mental functions such as the content of thoughts, thought processes, motivation, interest, behavior, sleep, and physical activity continue to decline and adversely affect daily life. A depressive state in psychiatry does not mean a form in which mood is temporarily lowered during this process.

  Some artists have suffered from severe depression and have sublimated themselves to other forms by expressing their emotions through painting.

  Zdzisław Beksiński ( 24.February, 1929 – 21.February, 2005 ) was a Polish painter, photographer, and sculptor specializing in the field of dystopian surrealism. He had a dismal childhood due to the effects of World War II. He expresses this gloom and the resulting fear, depression, and despair by sublimating it into his art world.

Source : Wikiart Zdzisław Beksiński https://www.wikiart.org/en/zdzislaw-beksinski/untitled-1984

https://www.wikiart.org/en/zdzislaw-beksinski/untitled-1972

  Another Polish artist, Dawid Planeta, is himself a very depressed person and a severe depression patient. To overcome his depression, he portrayed him as a small human in front of giant monster in the jungle in his dream.

Instagram, minipeople in the jungle

---

 ​ If you look at these two works, you can measure the size of the fear of unidentified depression, fear, and anxiety.

 There is an artist who has dealt with such melancholy and despair with slightly different colors.
​
 I am an artist from Thailand working under nickname, Jorm S. I came across it by accident while searching for Shutterfly images.

  source: ​https://www.shutterstock.com/g/Jorm+S/sets/270037678

  ​What all three painters have in common is that they are all talking about depression that humans experience like a cold. With their individuality, color and tone, they delicately expressed feelings of loneliness, alienation, despair, and depression felt in front of huge nature, in the face of special circumstances such as war, and in the rapidly developing future industrial society.

As in the case of the Polish painter, actively bringing out and expressing one's emotions and conditions in this way can be of practical help in treating and preventing severe depression. But how hard is it to get back up when you're depressed?

 Photographer Christian Hopkins, who was diagnosed with depression at the age of 16, decided to express his experiences in 23 photos. He hopes that his experiences of extreme depression will help those around him to understand and help people with depression. Below is one of his photos.  

Source by Christian Hopkins

  ​When depression holds onto you, and you don't think you'll ever leave, maybe it's a good solution to look into other people's depression-like this and be courageous together.

 And rather than struggling to overcome the feeling of depression, it's better to let it flow naturally, though it's painful. But I know. It's so painful.

 When my depression reached its peak, I also endured a period of considerable pain by letting it go. But then it felt like a snail had broken open and thrown out of the house, and it was like someone sprinkling hot salt on it. I honestly created those dark and negative emotions, and even though I was tormenting myself, it was too difficult to shake off the darkness on my own.

​ However, once you shake it off little by little, you feel that your inner side is hardened, and something radiant energy surrounds you.

  It hurts like death, but in the end, overcome everything and stand tall. You can do that.