By Briana Hallstrom
All her life, Kirsten Edlefsen was taught to “love thy neighbor as thyself.” But serving her neighbor was never a problem. In truth, she forgot the second part of the commandment — the crucial need to love herself.
Edlefsen, 21, from El Segundo, Calif., struggled with depression long before she recognized it. She would have episodes of stress or sadness but would recover, eventually coming out of it feeling fine. Her last episode, however, proved harder to shake.
“I”m naturally very motivated,” she said. “That lessened a lot. I slept a lot more and my grades went down. I couldn”t concentrate, and I couldn”t find joy in anything. Logically, I found fun in things I was doing, but I didn”t feel like I was having fun.”
It was after this time that Edlefsen knew she needed help. She went to a doctor who prescribed antidepressants. After this, she said she finally felt like she could cope with life. The roller coaster ups and downs were still there, she said, but the downs were not quite as deep.
Edlefsen, like so many others across the nation, received help for depression. In fact, in 2002, a national study conducted by Express Scripts Inc., a pharmacy-based management company, found that antidepressant drugs are prescribed in Utah more than any other state. Such a statistic implies either that more people in Utah are struggling with the disorder, or that the drugs are being over-prescribed.
Mason Redd, a psychiatrist from Salt Lake City, said he is not sure if either implication is true.
“Are there more people in Utah who are depressed?” he said. “I don”t know. But I do think there are many psychiatrists in the major heart of Utah that are quite up-to-date in using antidepressant medications effectively. They are a group of physicians who are more homogeneous.”
Gary Jorgensen, a retired psychologist and a consultant for the University Neuropsychiatric Institute, said he agrees Utah”s doctors are alert and responsive to the growing need.
“Just because antidepressants are more prescribed in Utah doesn”t mean they”re over prescribed,” he said. “I think there is more awareness. People want to take care of things and take care of them immediately.”
Regardless of the amount of antidepressants being prescribed, Utah”s battle with the disorder is real. Physicians have cited many factors that contribute to the growing problem. The most common factor, though, is the LDS culture”s struggle for perfection.
“Sometimes in the church people don”t understand that perfection is a process — that they don”t have to be perfect all at once,” Jorgensen said. “That”s a misunderstood doctrine in the Church.”
Jorgensen said the struggle for perfection spills over into every aspect of people”s lives. He said there is a lot of pressure for people to do everything and do it well.
Counselors have seen this drive to achieve perfection on local college campuses. Debra McGill, a mental health therapist at UVSC said she has also seen the effects of LDS perfectionism.
“We have really high expectations and we”re trying to be perfect,” McGill said. “We have this thing in the back of our minds all of the time to self improve and overcome weaknesses. Some people really put a lot of pressure on themselves to do all of that at the same time, like by tomorrow.”
Edlefsen said she saw the effects of the LDS culture in her own struggle with the disorder.
“It really did contribute,” she said. “It wasn”t the true doctrine that got me down, but the earthly idea that we need to be perfect. When you really read into the doctrine you get too hard on yourself. I had this idea that I needed to be this amazing person.”
In this type of circumstance, Jorgensen said people do not credit themselves enough with what they are doing well.
Edlefsen agreed, and said this attitude propelled her depression and only made things harder.
“As far as I was concerned, I was horrible because I was struggling in school and seeing all the things I was doing wrong,” she said.
Redd said he agreed the LDS factor can have an influence on depression, but answers are not always simple.
“Mormons have quite a bit on their plate,” he said, “as we try to live the gospel, manage families, work and help our neighbors. But depression is biological and environmental. We do not truly know the cause.”
Even without a definable cause, Redd said the misunderstood doctrine of perfection is common among members of the church.
“The Lord did not say ”be ye therefore error free,”” Redd said. “But that”s what we interpret it as. We generally understand it as such, but it”s impossible.”
