Depression Awareness Month

Hello Beauty Enthusiasts,

As some of you may already know from the previous blog entry, October is also a month of Depression Awareness (as brought to my attention by Nisha of Nail Galore) besides Breast Cancer Awareness which usually overshadows most other things.

The colour for Depression Awareness is green, and I was quite surprised when Nisha told me about such a campaign. While I had some experience working with psychiatric patients before, I never knew such a campaign existed.

I myself had a troubling battle with depression (I was diagnosed with Moderate Depression) in my early 20s and I was deeply confused about whether I needed medical help, or needed to snap out of it (or even just needed to 'grow up' as some well-meaning friends advised but only to make matters worse). From reading up a lot, I learned a little more about myself and how to manage depression.

From experience, I know that a lot of people battle depression, regardless of whether its short or long term, or whether it is caused by an incident or whether its source is intrinsic or biological.

Depression is a disease (and it is different from being sad, although feeling sad is one of the symptoms), and some people do not get help because of shame or they think its just life and just go through life depressed, some even feel so hopeless that they eventually end their lives (all the while not knowing that 'hopelessness' is a symptom of depression that can be treated with medication or therapy).

Anyways, sounds like a pretty serious blog entry, and I am glad to say that we shouldn't be ladies into beauty without brains. If you know of anyone (or yourself) who might be battling depression, do direct them to the correct source of help. Some of us may think its nothing some pep-talk can't do, but sometimes its really out of our control.

Anyways, GREEN is the colour and here we go with the swatches!

'Bipolar' is a dark green colour with subtle glitter inside (the dark colour representing depression and the glitter bits represents the MANIA). It is more like a creme-y colour with a glossy finishing.

Bipolars have episodes (depressive and manic phases); hence the name, and this can leave family members confused and distressed on the apparent mood-swings of their loved one. Not many people know about this disorder, so do read up on Bipolar Disorders.

Some famous people with bipolar disorders are Beethoven, Vincent Van Gogh, Robin Williams, Jim Carey, Ben Stiller, Sylvia Plath, Mark Twain and many others.

'Apathy' is a gorgeous creme-y dark (slightly bright) green. I think that it quite suits the teens with the 'scene' fashion (bright and quirky styles); however for the more mature ladies, this can go on the toes for a surprise peek-a-boo colour :)

Apathy is one of the many symptoms of depression, basically meaning absence or suppression of passion, emotion, or excitement.

'Hopelessness' is a dark green with a pearly sheen, a bit emerald-like. It is seriously a gorgeous colour for those with a green nailpolish obsession, this is one of the colours you should go for. I named it 'hopelessness' because the pearly sheen reminds me of the state of looking glazed-eyed when you are so lost in your own world and thoughts. But don't look too much into the name, its just to create an awareness for depression (symptoms to spot for).

'Dysthymia' is a creme formula dark green which is quite similar to 'Apathy' but slightly lighter. Its slightly lighter nature is what inspired me to name it 'dysthymia' because it is a mood disorder that falls into the depression spectrum but with less severity that major depression.

I'm sure most people have not heard of this but once you read up on dysthymia, you might recognise some of the traits in some people you know. Some people get annoyed with 'depressed' people because they seem attention-seeking, but attention-seeking is already a psychological disorder in itself.

Whoah, ladies, I had fun writing this and felt it was a little intense, but I hope you enjoy reading it nevertheless, and once again, I would like to thank Nisha for the swatches, do visit her website!

Remember, speak up about depression, don't suffer alone!


Cheers and take care,
Karen Eva Chin
Business Development Manager
scentiments121@yahoo.com