Charles Schulz was a genius and philosopher whose wisdom came out of the mouths of babes, which he created for his iconic comic strip Peanuts. Schulz deals with some heavy physiological subjects such as depression (we suspect he had his own demons to deal with) in a light hearted way. My favorite Peanuts cartoon shows Lucy sitting at her booth behind the sign “Psychiatric Help – 5 cents.” Charlie Brown comes along, sits on the stool and says, “I have deep feelings of depression, what can I do about this?” Lucy says, “Snap out of it  — 5 cents please.”

Of course true depression is not a laughing matter but there is wisdom in Lucy’s suggested remedy. We have known of depression and have dealt with its kills and its cures. Seniors are particularly vulnerable as life throws its inevitable curve balls and nature breaks down our bodies and our minds. Retirement can be a minefield of depressing incidents and can be triggered by a myriad of maladies, including diabetes, heart disease, stroke, cancer and PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), which often is triggered by the loss of a spouse or other loved one. Another cause of depression is just plain boredom, which many elders experience because they have not filled their life with activity, which gives them plenty of time to dwell on their aches and pains.

Clinical depression, usually, is a chemical imbalance in the brain and, like alcoholism, is very much an inherited condition. When the demons invade our mind they can reside within us for months, years — or a lifetime. They bring with them:

• Agitation, restlessness, and irritability
• Dramatic change in appetite, often with weight gain or loss
• Extreme difficulty concentrating
• Fatigue and lack of energy
• Feelings of hopelessness, and helplessness
• Feelings of worthlessness, self-hate, and inappropriate guilt
• Inactivity and withdrawal from usual activities, a loss of interest or pleasure in activities that were once enjoyed (such as sex)
• Thoughts of death or suicide
• Trouble sleeping or excessive sleeping

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, depression affects approximately 14.8 million American adults (6.7 percent of the adult population) in a given year. It is our country’s leading cause of disability.

Because of the stigma associated with this debilitating condition few people seek treatment and those who do, more often than not, receive inadequate care.

The days of lying on the couch and talking things out with your friendly psychiatrist is largely a thing of the past. Changes in psychiatry, the influence on both patients and physicians of drug industry promotion of medications, and the greater comfort of doctors in prescribing these medications, have led to antidepressant drug therapy as being the major tool of the psychiatrist. Prozac or Paxil are usually the drugs of choice.

However, unless depression is severe there is little evidence that antidepressants work and in most patients it results in a zombie-like existence.

Let’s return to Lucy’s method. Depression is not a physical condition — it starts and ends in the mind. You can talk yourself into it and, there is ample evidence to prove that a person can talk their way out of it.

The mind is like a bucket — if you fill it with a depressing thoughts there is no room for a positive thought. The trick is to fill the mind with positive thoughts and actions, and not give negative thinking a chance to fill your bucket. The demons often strike at dawn. If you lay in bed and think of all the potential problems of the day, you might want to pull the covers over your head — Alcoholics Anonymous calls it ‘stinkin thinkin.’

On the other hand, if you rise with a positive attitude for handling anything that comes along, the problems usually melt into the sunrise (my favorite time of day). You need to get your mind off your own troubles — real or imagined.

The best therapy is to help a dear friend or relative or mentor someone who has gone astray. You can readily find someone who has a worse problem than you. Volunteering for medical aid at a hospital or nursing home soon puts your own petty problems in perspective. My wife Janet spends time, almost every day, checking with and visiting friends who are ill or infirmed.

In the final analysis, it takes the same effort to be happy, as it does to be melancholy — you choose. When the demons try to return just remember Lucy’s wise words; “Snap out of it.”

It works for me.