Depression is not only sadness. Is it unhappiness or depression?
• The hopelessness of depression is insistent and overwhelming. Some people describe it as “living in a black hole”. They can't escape their unhappiness and despair. However, some people with depression don't feel sad at all. Instead they feel lifeless and empty. In this apathetic state, they are unable to experience pleasure. Even when participating in activities they used to enjoy, they feel as if they're just going through the motions.
• The signs and symptoms vary from person to person, and they may wax and wane in severity over time.
• Depression is a complex experience and rarely has one cause. It is not necessary to determine an exact cause to recover from depression.
• Symptoms of depression are treatable and everybody has a potential to recover from them.
• People don’t choose to be depressed. Their actions can make symptoms better or worse.
• Depression is “a problem between an individual and life”.
• Medication helps to control symptoms but doesn’t cure depression.
• Changes in thinking, behaviours and lifestyle are necessary to recover.
• No genes found to cause depression but risky and unhealthy response to life in families can condition development of depression.
Risks that trigger full blown depression:
• A higher risk to develop depression during or after a stressful life events including trauma
• Isolation and loneliness, marital and relationship problems
• Stressful life experience, even if it is typically considered a happy event such as a big work promotion, wedding or childbirth
• Alcohol, drug abuse, self-medication and some prescribed medication
• Long lasting stress or unemployment
• Health problems and chronic pain
• Factors related to personality or sickness
First signs of depression:
• Changes in thinking, feelings and functioning - feeling helpless or hopeless, decreased interests and loss of joy, concentration problems, indecisiveness, increased negative thinking and ruminative thinking
• Psychomotor agitation, changes in appetite and sleep patterns, increased tiredness, inability to relax
Symptoms of depression:
Low mood
Markedly diminished interest or pleasure
Rumination (lost in thoughts)
Loss of confidence
Feeling of worthlessness
Increased irritability
Inability to concentrate
Guilt
Fear and anxiety have causes.
Indecisiveness
Frequent cries
Suicidal thoughts
Changes in sleep, weight or appetite
Fatigue, weak, tired, low energy
Headaches
Constipation
Pain not related to other sickness
More about depression:
• Depression is a multi-factorial and complex frequently comes along anxiety.
• It is not just a result of a chemical imbalance or genes.
• There are different types of depression: Major depression, Post-partum depression, Seasonal affective disorder, Psychotic depression, Situational depression, Atypical depression, Persistent depressive disorder and depressive episodes in Bipolar Disorder.
• Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) accounts for about 10 percent of cases of depressive episodes. SAD occurs repeatedly at the same time of year, usually starting in the fall and ending in the spring.
• According to WHO study by the year 2020, depressive disease will become second disease in the world (overriding cancer, diabetes, arthritis)
• Sunlight has always been regarded as an antidote to fatigue and lethargy. At northern latitudes, many people experience a lower mood, irritability, decreased energy, and changes in appetite or sleep due to the seasonal cycles.
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