Early Detection of Disease -Patients' Stories and Medical Descriptions-Listen to your body's warning signals
OZORA Publishing
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Depression

Medical Description
  • Takashi Handa
  • Assistant Professor from the Department of
    Psychiatry and Psychosomatic
    Medicine, Saiseikai Central Hospital
Takashi Handa (Assistant Professor from the Department of Psychiatry and Psychosomatic Medicine, Saiseikai Central Hospital)

Introduction

Depression is a mental illness and is included in the category of mood disorders. It is known that depression is caused by changes in lifestyle or environment, such as illness, unemployment, retirement, separation, divorce, moving, etc. Inside a depressed patient's brain, neurotransmitters, such as serotonin and adrenalin, don't travel smoothly, which produces various symptoms. First, one feels low, motivation is lowered, mental pains get stronger day by day. Eventually, he or she comes to have difficulty in performing daily activities, such as work, household chores, and study. Moreover, one starts to see things negatively. Sometimes he or she has suicidal thoughts, thinking such thoughts as 'I must be bothering those around me and there's no reason to live'. It is important that one should be aware of his or her depression and receive medical treatment as early as possible.

Signs

  • Feeling low in spirits and an inability to get over this feeling
  • Feeling tired without any reason
  • Cannot enjoy what one has enjoyed
  • Loss of confidence
  • Difficulty in sleeping
A Patient's Story
Nagare Hagiwara (Actor)

In February 1991, after being given a leading role in an original musical and serving as the leader of the musical troupe, Nagare Hagiwara was rehearsing intensively, singing and acting every day.

Maybe because of the tremendous work stress impacted with the pressure of receiving a musical scenario from a screen writer one day before the premiere, he was struck with a high fever of 40°C on the opening day of the musical.

The curtain opened. On the stage, the clouds started to move and a prelude to the musical began.

But his singing voice wasn't relaxed and strong enough. Only negative feeling occupied his mind. After he was barely able to complete the grand finale and finish the three-hour musical performance, his wife told him: "You were gone." He was told that he stepped inside the world of depression….

Profile

Nagare Hagiwara was born in 1953 in Tokyo. After graduating from high school, he entered a theatrical company, "The Super Company," and made a debut in 1972. Later, he entered another theatrical company, "Tsuka Kohei Office." He has appeared in plays, TV dramas, and films and later he also appeared on TV variety shows, often wearing western outfits.
His wife, Mayu Hagiwara, is also a former actress from the "The Super Company." She is also fighting against depression.
In 2010, he gave a kabuki performance entitled Okyo no Yurei (Ghost of Okyo).

Copyright