SEX AND DEPRESSION

 SEX AND DEPRESSION

Sexual desire serves an important evolutionary function, in that it is key to survival of many kinds of organisms including human beings (Robert Sternberg 2001). This statement implies that sex is a vital aspect of man’s life that cannot be underestimated or underrated when it come to life’s enjoyment and fulfillment. 

When I published one of my works on signs and symptoms, where I stated that most people are depressed due to sex frustration, a friend of mine felt I was wrong. But then here comes the truth, sexual behavior requires psychosocial balances to fully engage and enjoy sex. 

When our emotions are not in term with our desires there is often a sort of intra-psyche conflict within us. This conflict is usually transferred to others as a mean of defense mechanism. If this conflict is not quickly resolved, it gives way to mild depression in the long run. This is because the individual is from time to time internally disturbed, his emotions and feeling are usually not in term.

Depression is a state of intra-psyche conflict meaning there is trouble when the internal structures called id, ego and super ego. This means the three internal component are not in agreement, that is using the psychoanalytical explanation. 

We can still used the humanistic explanation to say that an individual could also have some self concept disturbances. However, all of them point to the same direction. Let’s take the case of a young man who married a young beautiful tall looking lady because of her sexy looking figure, only to discover that what he originally proposed was not what he is seeing. He could be that he married the lady because of her sexual figure but then things change and his expectations begin to develop some negative ideation and feeling which if not quickly control could result to more serious psychological problems- depression. 

These negative idealizations process could be exhibitionism; voyeurism, pedophilia, sexual masochism, and inability to control develop a proper sexual behavior. In most cases, when the problem persists without a solution, the individual resort to lack of interest in virtually everything about sex, he begins to hate sex and sexual intercourse. When this mental disturbances begin to occur more often, the individual show signs and symptoms of social withdrawal.

Many individuals report that their fantasies are always present but that there are periods of time when the frequency of the sexual fantasies and intensity of the urges vary substantially (DSM –IV pg 405 and 568). 

Another  problem is the use of sexually enhance drugs to elicit sexual pleasures and long lasting performances, yielding to another more serious problem called SUBSTANCE-INDUCED MOOD DISORDER - A condition characterized by predominant and persistence disturbances in mood. This depressive disorder is due to prolong effect and abuse associated with the drugs. This depressive disorder is caused by direct psychological effect of drugs abuse or drugs dependency.

Sex is natural and must be enjoyed without any external enhancer whatsoever. 

These set of human beings develop a delusional fantasies due to their inabilities to fulfill their sexual behaviors. These behaviors may increase in response to psychological stressors and in relation to other mental disorders or inability to fully engage in sexual activities.

Now let’s see properly how these two variables affect each other. 

1.   One of the signs and symptoms of depression is the lack of interest or pleasure in nearly all forms of sexual activities and sexual relationships ranging from courtship to marriage. This is a vivid picture of broken homes and divorces in our recent time. 

2.    Many people are becoming victims of depression as a result of substance induced mood disorders due to the fact that they cannot fully enjoy what sex is all about. Many who find their selves frustrated resort to some other ways of sexual gratification or unnatural sexual behaviors such as masturbation, exhibitionism, voyeurism, pedophilia, and many more distorting the reality of what sex what original designed for.

3.   Depression gives us a wrong mental cognition about sex, which is the reason many people will tell you, I don’t like sex, and I hate sex. The secret is that they don’t enjoy the efficacy of sex. Even when they are forced into sex they don’t see anything worth in it, thereby placing us on both spiritual and psychological bondage.

4.  Depression creates in us sexual fantasies that causes marked distress or interpersonal relationship difficult. We don’t see any positive psychological attraction in the opposite sex, sometime when we see these attractions or develop these feeling, they don’t make any sense or they can be very brief.

CULTURE AND DEPRESSION

Culture defines the way by which a given society or group of people behavior (psychological and physical) is perceived.

Culture to a very great extent influences the way we behave, thinking pattern, and perception as well as management and treatment of disorders like depression. As a matter of fact, I am going to focus on the role of culture comparing the African culture and the Western countries like the United States and Europe.  

I want to first of all say that African culture which practices a collectivity’s culture has never had anything like depression and it has never existed in its medical lexicon if any at all. Depression is just a mental picture formed and placed in the mind of the common African man, overtime this picture begin to manifest and cause some intra psyche conflict within the individual. We all know anything the mind grasps, it never let go so easily rather it recreate the picture to either fit or cause some psychological problems.

Looking at the structure of the African cultures, whether the Ibos, Fulani, Dahome, Hausas, Yoruba, the Efik, the Bahumono, the Ijaws and many others, you will discover a common practice that centers on group concern, hospitality, group thinking, extended families, communal concern, a high level of oneness. A cultural pattern that respect and value the effort and well-being of others, hardly can any individual be left in isolation.

The Western culture on the other hand, focuses on individualism, a system that isolate an individual at a very tender age, and a system that make people more self centered, egocentric and less concern toward the need of others. This culture gives room to loneliness, sadness and even evil thoughts. That is why people are easily subjected to committing suicide, this is because the thought of suicide is a recurrent negative thought that often come and go. When there is nobody around to share your feelings and emotions, when there is nobody to talk to, the last resort usually is suicide. These set of people see suicide as an alternative to prevent further pain and suffering.

Another important factor to consider is the psychological attachment to materialism. The African culture has never had any phenomenon on materialism rather places much value on brotherhood and concern for life. An average African will be the least person to take his life in the midst of poverty and/or hardship, to them life is so precious to be taken at the slight provocation or frustration. The fear of failure has never been attached any such stigma. Hence, any African person was ready to fail and still be optimistic. The case is usually different with the developed countries, with the advancement in the diagnosis and treatment of depression, it still remain the number one cause of untimely death and planned suicide. This is because the term “suicide” has been oversimplified to even cause a psychological trauma at the hearing of such explanation.

Any culture that rely so much of natural medication and food do not suffer depression rather this natural medication and food supplements provide basic body defense that not only prevent but also treat disorders like depression. The Western countries have a different situation, where about 60-70% of it food come from processed food, junk food and its source of medication from artificial substances called “DRUG”. A substance with a potential adverse effect on the individual and even caused more complicated condition for depressed victims. 

It is very unfortunate, to see more problems arising from the use of chemotherapy, despite their progress, many more damages have continue to increase as a result of adverse drugs effects, a concern that has prompted psychopathologists to view it as an era of increase in abnormal behavior mostly among the growing teens.

However, it is important to note that depression is now real and has come to stay but the relevant of culture to the identification and treatment of depression cannot be neglected or overemphasize. The truth is this, the Africa culture places more emphasis on spiritual explanation of most disorders, attributing causes to witches and wizard mostly when it gets to the point of suicide and death. This because an average African person valued life so much that, no individual can take it by force unless under external influence.

Record has it that collectivist culture comprises about 70% of the world population and have lower rate of crime, alcoholism, suicide and other related depressive conditions than do individualist culture like the Europe and North America  where the rate of organise crime has doubled in recent time due to drug abuse, alcoholism and other forms of crime.

In my interview with some people on the death of Gary Speed, almost 80% attributed the cause to demonic powers. One told me, we are in the end-time, I should not be surprised, Gary Speed may be richer than a local government in Nigeria, he has got a name for himself, and has lived like any other person except that inside him there was a vacuum of loniness and frustration which nobody was there to fill this space with joy and happiness. The African culture would not allow that to happen to him because his extended and immediate family as well as close relatives will always be there for him.

SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS:

SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS:

Behavior becomes disordered when certain signs and symptoms begin to manifest. Sometimes, they appear for a while and disappear, it get to a point they begin to interfere with the individual’s life. One fact about depression is that it is not a one night event, it accumulates over time, it starts coming slowing and we hardly notice that our actions are becoming somehow distorted and harmful.

However, the following are some of the observable signs and symptoms, though they vary from individual are usually noticed.

1.          Consistent or severe headache even after a period repeated drug intake could be cause.

2.          Lacks of appetite, many soon develop anorexia nervosa, strange eating or binge eating due to physiological and psychological disturbances.

3.          Sleeping disorder- ranging from insomnia, sleep-wake syndrome, parasomnias or sleep apnea. Our sleep circle become so disturb that sometime we hardly find it easy to sleep, even when we sleep we don't sleep enough.

4.          Frequent report of tiredness, fatigue, even the smallest task will require a substantial effort. Most people complaint of weak libido or sex drive, loss of motivation.

5.          Lack of interest or pleasure in nearly all form of social activities and even relationship, from courtship to marriage. This is a vivid evidence for the increasing rate of divorce or broken homes.

6.          Lack or poor emotional drive (weak libido) even if such person forces himself in sexual activities, ha will soon reach orgasm and never regain sexual stimulation. In women, they experience poor sexual response or disturbance in sexual circle. It goes to the extent of interfering with their menstrual cycle. This is because emotion has a strong correlation with our physiological functioning Dr M. Ezenwa (2009).

7.          Mood disorder is usually reported by many, according to Dr Jeremiah Okolie quoted in Nigeria Tribune 12^th Oct 2010, rapidly manifesting a persistent feeling of sadness and/or rapidly changing mood without any clue as to what make him sad, angry or moody, in children, there is reports of whining or excessive weeping.”

8.          Disturbances in interpersonal relationship, depressed victim have a marked disturbances attributed to the altered mental state of the individual. The presence of hallucination, delusion and dissatisfaction as well as distortion in self-image which in turn affect their psycho motor.

9.          Many individual report cases of impair vision, negative thought and perception that mostly result in suicidal thought, sense of pessimistic. The Nation Newspaper of Sunday 31 October 2010, “A retiree commits suicide over loss of income.”


10. Sometime there are cases of reported aggression manifested by the individual as a result of frustration and intra-psychic conflict in which the individual tries to release tension or display such anger on the third party.

NOTE: An individual does not manifest all the above signs and symptoms except in a severe case or major episode of depression where it is clinically proven.

Apart from the above explanation, manifestation or symptoms varies in term of;

1.          Individual differences

2.          Environmental factors

3.          Cultural factor

4.          Education factor

5.          Atmospheric condition etc.


CAUSES OF DEPRESSION:

1.          FRUSTRATION: When are not able to satisfy a motive or desire frustration sets in. people feel frustrated for many reasons, particularly when a set goal is hindered psychologically or physically.

Frustration comes in various ways:

(a)       Those who engage in sexual relationship or marriage because of sex. Research has shown that those who go into marriage principally because of regular assurance of sex are usually worst victims of frustration. Those who engage in business activities without proper planning and design and with hope of making profit at all cost.

(c)       (b) Those who use their hard earned money to trained their children expecting the best from them, only to find them in maladaptive or anti-social behaviors. These happened when such parent have so much love for them.

(d)      Those who get into public or political offices with the wrong perception and wrong motives and lack of general sense of belonging.

(c)  accident victims are likely to experience depression mostly when the individual is not giving the proper attention and care. They may be subjected to various forms of thoughts such as rejection, being burden to others, mostly when the individual is working.

2.          THE ROLE OF BODY CHEMICALS:

Body chemicals here refer to bio-chemical substances in the body of an organism and their significant role in or physiological and psychological functioning and mental state. Such bio-chemical include:

(a)   Neurotransmitter: It has been found that several neurotransmitter play major role on how we act, feel, think, behave, learn, sleep and many more, yet these role could be injurious to our physical and mental health.

For instant, dopamine which correlate with movement and learning, too much of it could cause schizophrenia while too little leads to Depression.

Norepinephrine is associated with eating, alertness. However, too much of it associated with depression, too little with schizophrenia.

Epinephrine involves in energy and glucose metabolism, but too little of it could lead to depression.

Serotonin plays a major role in mood, sleep, appetite, and impulsive and aggressive behavior. However, under secretion is associated with depression and some form of anxiety disorders. It is one of the major reasons why most persons manifest mood disorder, sleep disorder, eating disorder.

 Note: These associations are mere correlation, other variables that may affect the neurotransmitter and mental illness are not yet known. The issue of body makes up and functionality is another important factor when considering the role of neurotransmitter in mental health like depression, for detail click on www.allpsych.com/psychology/biopsychology