"Woe to melancholy
that consoles itself crying
and to the melomania
of a zarzuela heart."
Antonio Machado.
Depression is a human disease and, as such, has been and will be throughout our history. Our ancestors called it melancholy. Studies carried out in the most advanced countries indicate that at least 8 percent of the population suffers from it, not including depressive ideas and feeling depressed - which does not mean that they are sick with depression -.
Depression is characterized by symptoms of sadness and a decrease in vital tone. In addition, loss of appetite is frequent and, sometimes, weight loss, insomnia, agitation or psychomotor retardation, loss of interest or pleasure in usual activities and decrease in sexual activity, loss of energy, fatigue, feelings of unworthiness, self-reproach, guilt, complaints about the decrease in the ability to think or concentrate, slowness of thought, indecision, recurrent thoughts of death, suicide attempts, etc.
Although those who suffer from depression think that they will never be normal again, today, practically all depressions are cured.
It is easy to understand that all these symptoms cause the driving of vehicles by patients with depression to be altered. Difficulty concentrating, fatigue, psychomotor slowness, etc., decrease the psychophysical conditions necessary for adequate driving. Therefore, these people should try not to drive or, if they have to, try to pay as much attention as possible. It is convenient to rest from time to time and move a little. The people who travel with them should try to maintain a lively conversation, in order to activate them.
Currently, depressed patients are treated with a group of drugs called antidepressants. These produce an elevation of vital tone and, after several weeks of treatment with them, a significant improvement in the patient. Depressed people who take antidepressants should remember that these substances take several weeks to raise the vital tone and that they produce adverse effects that can affect their driving ability, especially the first days they take them. At the beginning of treatment, drowsiness, sedation, decreased reflexes, blurred vision, etc. appear.
In summary, those people who suffer from depression should try not to drive, or do so with the greatest possible caution, especially during the first week of treatment. And although it is hard for depressed people to believe, this situation is only temporary. And as the poet said: "If melancholy torments you / without knowing where it comes from / don't rush to know, / when it leaves, where it returns".
Francisco Arias Solis
