It is depressing news that according to Australian Government statistics, everyone will, at some point in their lives, be affected by depression, their own or someone else's.
Statistics show that:
• Us depression statistics are comparable to those of the Australian and the UK
• 15% of the population of most developed countries suffers severe depression
• Depressive disorders affect approximately 9.5% of the population aged 18 and older in any given year. This includes major depressive disorder, dysthymic disorder and bipolar disorder
• Pre-schoolers are the fastest-growing market for antidepressants. At least 4% of preschoolers are clinically depressed
• The rate of increase of depression among children is an astounding 23% per year
• 30% of women are depressed. Men's figures were previously thought to be half that of women, but new estimates are higher
• 54% of people believe depression is a personal weakness
• 41% of depressed women are too embarrassed to seek help
• 80% of depressed people are not currently having any treatment
• 15% of depressed people commit suicide
• Depression will be the second largest killer after heart disease by 2020
• Studies show that depression is a contributory factor to fatal coronary disease
Reading these statistics, you cannot help but feel depressed. Realizing that there really is no way we can run away from it and we will all one day be affected by depression is shocking news. Of course we were not always such a sorry bunch, so there has to be a way to boost people's moods, right?
I have investigated depression in detail and there are many treatments for depression, some are more successful then other, some are cheaper than other, some are long term and others are shorter. One of the things you often hear about is people healing themselves with positive thoughts and laughter. I have to say, that is the best treatment I have found so far, movies- the anti depressant with no side affect besides an aching stomach from the laughter.
Funny movies make us laugh. Laughter has been found to be a great stimulator of many organs in the body. There is a whole science promoting health and wellbeing through laughter, people even study how to laugh, if you can believe it.
Laughing is so easy, but surprisingly, to combat depression around the world most medical institutions give medication. The pharmaceutical companies are growing and with them so is depression.
I believe the reason depression is on the rise is because fun is declining. People are just to busy to have any fun these days. We go to work every day, we are at work all day and sometimes on the weekends too. That leaves no time for fun and joy. People live to work not work to live. Laughter, joy and fun are harder to come by today.
Kids are in a much better condition; this is why depression most commonly affects adults. Kids laugh a lot. Even their movies are mostly funny. Make a short survey at your local cinema. What is the percentage of funny movies offered to adults and how many funny movies there are for children? In all the kids' movies, even if the movie is not meant to be funny, there is at least one character to lighten the mood.
So let's start laughing!
• Laughter is healthy; it is fat free and has no side affects.
• Laughter can cure cancer and heartbreak.
• Laughter does not need storage, you do not need to produce it in a factory and ship it from place to place. It functions without batteries and is tax free
• Laughter is not affected by temperature. And works great in any weather, especially on cold and rainy days.
• Laughter has no preservatives or food coloring. No traces of nuts and no allergic elements known to man.
• Laughter is good for people with high cholesterol and suitable for organic lovers.
• Laughter is the most natural anti depressant and is very cheap because you can use it at home, sitting in your living room and just watching a movie.
Tsoof and Eden love to download full movies from the Internet.
