Depression as a Coping Mechanism

Depression has earned a very negative connotation in the society. Depression is a mental health condition and is seen as a disorder and a negative condition that needs intervention to reduce the side effects of such a mental state. However, depression has a positive side to it, in its role of being a coping mechanism to deal with stresses in life.

Depression acts as a buffer between a stressful event and the extreme impact that the stressor could cause. For example, if a person loses his/her job, remains unemployed for a long time, is unable to meet the financial burden and responsibilities, a reaction to this could be a drastic step like entering into anti social activities, ending life, entering into a violent state due to pent up anger and frustration. However, if the person slips into depression it acts as a buffer and prevents him/her from taking the drastic steps or violent, self-inflicting tendencies.

Depression, though is a mental ailment, may be better than suicidal behavior or putting oneself through extreme physical abuse or harm. So depression is the first coping mechanism that a person uses in the face of an acutely stressing event and that saves him/her from self-destruction.

The state of depression helps people to think, go into introspection, be in a state of void or non-activity where there is confusion, doubt, fear, insecurity, but in the end there is a hope that things may just get better. This gives the person additional time to think or use other coping strategies to overcome the stress rather than taking drastic impulsive decisions. Therefore, depression acts as a cushion.

Depression also allows time for family members, social relations or professionals to intervene and help a person in depression so that the mental functioning and condition can improve. This buffer time between the occurrence of the stressing event and the serious life threatening impact it could have is the depressive phase. Depressive stage is therefore a coping mechanism that prevents drastic knee jerk life threatening reactions.