Depression is a simple word but has a devastating meaning. It is a disease which ruins not only the individual but also affects the entire family. Particularly in today’s day and life when stress (both professional and personal) is slowly gripping the society, cases of depression have been skyrocketing. Talking about mental illness however, has been a taboo in our society. People afflicted with such diseases are socially boycotted. It is time when people, government realized the impact such an ailment has on the society. Western countries are a shade better when it comes to the acceptance of mental ailment and availability of healthcare workers, psycho analysts and psychiatrists to deal with such issues. But it is in an appalling state in our country.
The area of research and treatment in this field is also fraught with naivety and is not very advanced. Even there are no credible biomarkers to diagnose such ailments; it solely depends on the profiling done by the psychiatrist. We still do not know the mechanism of action of some of the drugs and doubts persist about their effectiveness as therapies. Patients even avoid taking these drugs as they are unsure of the possible ‘side-effects’ of these molecules. Yes, research on brain is a very difficult proposition, yes; it requires cutting edge technologies probably in the edge of what science can offer today and yes we are years if not probably decades away from a ‘cure’ to most of these ailments. But having said that, are we spending enough in this field? Are the pharma companies/Governments doing enough? Of course the cash cows for the industry remains cancer, diabetes etc. but if do not look deeper into the problem and increase funding and research into this field then the cost of dealing with the outcome would be dangerously high!
