Depression and Fatigue

Some peers of mine are suffering from depression. Yes, everybody feels sad at one time or another and eventually time heals, life continues. However, depression is manifested by a combination of symptoms that can affect work, interests and feelings towards family and friends.

My peers feel drained from the seemingly endless demands of work and even personal life. They feel so tired that some even contemplate throwing in the towel and calling it quits to living. Few understand that depression is a medical illness. It is not due to moral weakness or a character flaw. It cannot be willed or wished away.

I read some place that researchers found people who are depressed are more than 4 times as likely to develop unexplained fatigue, and those who suffer from fatigue are nearly 3 times as likely to become depressed. It seems that depression and fatigue are linked and may feed off each other in a vicious cycle that makes it hard to determine where one begins and the other ends.

Perhaps what we need to do sometimes is to take a step back in our lives; stop rushing through it and take a break to recollect ourselves. We need to assess what really matters in our lives on focus on them, instead of aimlessly struggling through life and wearing ourselves down.

Here's a joke to lighten the mood at the end:
A guy takes part in a local Pun contest. He submits 10 of his best entries in the hope that at least one will win the prize. The 10 entries were of different types, some were about people, some were about animals. But guess which one won a prize?

No pun in-ten-did (intended)!