Research into depression points to hope

Depression is the bane of modern life for many.   Google it and you find depression described as: an inability to construct a future, a disease, not a disease, a choice, not a choice, and anger turned inward.   The aggression, oppression, suppression and repression of a depressed mind can seem unbearable, but hope is on the way.  That's right...hope.

An estimated 1 in 10 U.S. adults report depression, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Globally, more than 350 million people of all ages suffer from its debilitating effects.  The World Health Organization reports depression is the leading cause of disability in the world and "a major contributor to the global burden of disease."

With the number of patients diagnosed with depression increasing almost 20% per year, health care experts are scrambling for new and effective ways to combat the troubling condition.  One recently recognized, prescription-free approach is hope.

"We're finding that hope is consistently associated with fewer symptoms of depression," according to Jennifer Cheavens, Assistant Professor of Psychology at The Ohio State University.  Her research focuses on the treatments of mood and personality disorders.

Patients and caregivers were evaluated in one study by measures of hope and its effects.  "Caregivers who scored higher on measures of hope showed fewer depressive symptoms, even if the people they cared for were depressed.  Higher-hope caregivers also showed higher satisfaction with life, and felt less of a sense of burden," as reported in OSU Research News.

It's interesting to note that hope is also one of the measuring sticks listed in the Nursing Outcomes Classification (NOC), a clinical tool used to classify outcome of nursing interventions.  NOC helps to evaluate nursing care and its results.  Its definition of hope includes "optimism that is personally satisfying and life-supporting."

Cheavens sees hope as something different from optimism.   For her, hope involves goals along with the desire and plan to achieve them.  "We're finding that people can learn to be more hopeful, and that will help them in many ways," Cheavens says.

Of course there is nothing really new about hopefulness.  Its therapeutic value has been acknowledged for centuries.  "Hope deferred makes the heart sick: but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life," is a well-respected Bible precept.  Having scientific research back up a metaphysical approach to mental health should encourage researchers to broaden the investigation into other more spiritually-based and useful practices patients can engage in and trust.

To the sufferer, the despair of depression can appear to negate the best efforts to subdue it. How does one inject hope into a hopeless life or situation? When someone is in the grips of depression, hope feels undeserved, beyond grasp, perhaps undefinable. I appreciate poet, Emily Dickinson's contribution to the conversation:

"Hope" is the thing with feathers -

That perches in the soul -

And sings the tune without the words -

And never stops - at all -

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -

And sore must be the storm -

That could abash the little Bird

That kept so many warm -

I've heard it in the chillest land -

And on the strangest Sea -

Yet - never - in Extremity,

It asked a crumb - of me.

There is comfort in knowing "hope springs eternal."

Steven Salt is a writer and blogger covering health, spirituality and thought. He is a Christian Science practitioner, curious about everything.  You can follow him on Twitter @SaltSeasoned.