The mind

The brain - or the "mind" - is one of the great remaining mysteries. We know quite a lot about the brain in a mechanical sort of way. We can look at its cells and we have some notion of the way these cells "talk" with each other. We can even look at the brain in action and see that something we look at or smell causes increased activity in certain parts of the brain. And we know that illnesses like depression can be treated by medication and/or psychotherapy.

But none of this really tells us how or why we form thoughts or ideas, how or why we "think." A famous phrase from the French philosopher Descartes is often translated as "I think, therefore I am." It would be better to say, "I am aware, therefore I am."

What is the mind exactly?

Lets get philosophical for a moment. We live. We exist in our minds. As far as we are concerned, if we are unconscious, we don't really exist. We may still exist for others who are aware of our physical being. And this physical being may still "live". Even the brain may still "live" in the sense that we can measure activity there. But when we are unconscious, unaware, we truly do not exist for ourselves.

In this way, the mind is the absolutely essential bit of "us", of what we perceive ourselves to be. It is our most intimate self. It is the thing without which we do not exist. Descartes could truly be paraphrased, "If I am not aware, I do not exist".

When the mind breaks

And when something goes wrong with the mind, that thing that makes us aware, don't we then cease to be ourselves? Our "being" is damaged and under direct threat. We cannot flee from this threat as it is within our essential self. This can be terrifying.

Then is it any wonder that such threats lead to internal stigma, taboo and denial? The external stigma and taboos are important, but it is more important that we rid ourselves of the internal ones. That is our own concepts and ideas.

What do I do now?

We hope that you have (or will) find in other parts of this web site the information you need to help rid yourself of stigma and taboo. We don't need to know how or why the mind works to help with depression. Neither do you. But this and other knowledge about depression is the only "cure" for the stigmas and taboos that affect us internally and stop us from seeking help or even admitting to ourselves that we have a problem.

The mysteries of the mind remain, and are likely to remain with us for quite some time. And as with other mysteries, we create myths and apply stigmas to explain the mystery. What is important is that we need not solve that mystery to help with the problems that affect it. We must not let the mystery produce stigma, taboo and myth to cloud our vision and prevent us from using the knowledge we do have about the brain.

Tolerance

As social creatures, we are not very tolerant of people who are "different". Couple this with the mystery of the mind and we can get pretty nervous about people who seem to be "out of their minds", the people we label (stigmatise) as "crazy".

Often a depressed person is afraid to admit or even think that the problem is an illness of the mind. It has to be an "ordinary" illness if it is an illness at all. And the brain/mind obliges with some aches and pains, feelings of fatigue or something else "legitimate" that we can take to the doctor.

And the people closest to us want to accept these inventions too. They also know the stigma attached to mental illness and don't want to see it in someone close to them. So the stigma lurks in the dark corners of the mind and stops us from dealing quickly and rationally with the illness at hand.