Depression has been around since the beginning of recorded history, same with massage. There was King David and Job from the Bible who suffered from this affliction. Hippocrates, an ancient Greek physician, referred to depression as melancholia, which literally means black bile. Depression came from the Latin verb deprimere which means to press down. By the 1860s the term was appearing in medical dictionaries to refer to a physiological and metaphorical lowering of emotional function. In the 19th century, it was seen as an inherited weakness of temperament.
By the mid-20th century researchers theorized that depression was caused by a chemical imbalance in neurotransmitters in the brain, based on observations made in the 1950s. Therapeutic massage was first described in China about 2,500 years ago. Around 400 B. C. , Hippocrates used massage to treat sprains. Most of the world developed their own massage techniques which are still in practice to this day. As a massage therapist, I see the physical, emotional, and mental states that my clients are in when they come see. There are days when I feel drained and I know that is from my client’s energy.
In school, we talked about making sure we don’t swap energy with our client, but sometimes it just happens. I know from a personal experience that massage helped me with my depression. I lost my job right before I started massage school so for the first couple of months I wasn’t myself and I would eat constantly. Once we started working on each other did I notice the affect that massage was having on me. I would be more relaxed and feel content. It was like they were telling me everything would be better just by their touch.
Now these days, I try to do the same thing with my clients. I know I can’t help everyone, but just showing them that a friendly touch can do wonders for their mental health. One definition of depression is “a condition of general emotional dejection and withdrawal; sadness greater and more prolonged than that warranted by any objective reason. ” Depression can be an expensive and devastating condition. According to the CDC, “Depression can affect the course and outcome of common chronic conditions, such as arthritis, asthma, cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and obesity.
Depression can also result in increased work absenteeism, short-term disability, and decreased productivity. ” The CDC found out that depression affects 1 in 10 adults in the US. Those that are most affected are: persons 45-64 years of age, women, blacks, Hispanics, non-Hispanic persons of other races or multiple races, persons with less than a high school education, those previously married, individuals unable to work or unemployed, and persons without health insurance coverage.
Nowadays there are many different treatments for depression. There are many varieties of antidepressant medications. An additional way to treat depression is electroconvulsive therapy. In the ECT procedure, an electric current is passed through the brain to produce controlled convulsions. ECT is useful for patients who cannot take or have not responded to a number of antidepressants, have severe depression, and/or are at a high risk for suicide. But the better way to treat depression is massage and changing your lifestyle.
In a series of studies conducted by the Touch Research Institute at the University Of Miami School Of Medicine, they proved that massage therapy relieves depression and anxiety by affecting the body’s biochemistry. The study included about 500 men, women, and children with depression or stress problems, researchers measured the hormone cortisol before and after the massage and found out that the therapy helped lower the levels by up to 53%. Massage also increased serotonin and dopamine, neurotransmitters that help reduce depression.
It is important to understand depression and how it manifests physically. There are different types that massage therapists see every day. There is situational depression: Many clients have situations in their life that are stressful and appear overwhelming. As their therapist, massage can support the client moving out of their depression. Another is family of origin depression: Clients have this when they have family issues that haven’t been resolved. Most usually go to counseling and are on medication.
It will take a patient and understanding therapist to help this kind of client to have an emotional release so they can progress and get over their depression. Moderate depression is another form and most clients are on heavy medication because of the severity. These clients should be monitored during the massage therapy process. Lastly, there is severe and chronic depression which is the worst. They need the most help. Massage therapists, basically, want to help everyone to their best ability. With all the forms of depression there is a structural collapse in the client, that themselves don’t see.
That is where massage therapists come into play. The severity of the depression will play a bigger part of the collapse. Some will appear fine while others will look they have been through hell and back. As therapists apply massage with the goal of releasing the structural collapse associated with depression will bring the client from a hopeless, helpless collapsed structure to one that is supported and erect. This sense of support will give the client new found feelings that will make them stronger and more capable of dealing with the issues of their depression.
With the release of the structural collapse the client will be able to breathe better which will energize their system and have more energy. This new found energy will allow them to change their lives for the better and to move on from depression. We as massage therapists help our clients as well as ourselves. They help us realize that we have a big impact on everyone that we come into contact with, depressed or not. Everyone needs to know that a friendly touch, massage, can do wonders for boosting your mental health.
Depression is a worldwide illness that affects so many people. It has been around since the beginning of time. Now with all the technology and medical advances we have come up with, people are able to not be depressed. I personally believe that if we take care of ourselves physically, mentally, emotionally, and psychologically we will not become victims of depression. Every once in a while we come to a point in our life where we will go through the symptoms of being depressed. That is when we need to stop, breathe, and book that massage appointment we all deserve.