Depression
What is depression?
What are the symptoms of depression?
What causes depression?
Who gets depression?
What are the treatment options for depression?
Some dos and don'ts about depression.
Hope.
What is depression?
The word depressed is a common everyday word. People might say "I'm depressed" when they mean "I'm fed up because I've had a row, or failed an exam, or lost my job" etc. These ups and downs of life are common and normal. Most people recover quite quickly.
However with depression you have a low mood and other symptoms each day for at least a number of weeks. Symptoms can also become severe enough to interfere with day-to-day activities.
↑back to top
What are the symptoms of depression?
The following is a list of common symptoms of depression. It is unusual to have them all, but several usually develop if you have depression.
- Low mood for most of the day, nearly every day. Things always seem 'black'.
- Loss of enjoyment and interest in life, even for activities that you normally enjoy.
- Abnormal sadness, often with weepiness.
- Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, or uselessness.
- Poor motivation. Even simple tasks seem difficult.
- Poor concentration. It may be difficult to read, work, etc.
- Sleeping problems.
- Lacking in energy, always tired.
- Difficulty with affection, including going off sex.
- Poor appetite and weight loss. Sometimes the reverse happens with comfort eating and weight gain.
- Irritability, agitation, or restlessness.
- Symptoms often seem worse first thing each day.
- Physical symptoms such as headaches, palpitations, chest pains, and general aches.
- Recurrent thoughts of death. This is not usually a fear of death, more a preoccupation with death and dying. Some people get suicidal ideas such as ..."life's not worth living".
The severity of the symptoms can vary from mild to severe. As a rule, the more symptoms from the list above that you have, the more severe the depression is likely to be.
↑back to top
What causes depression?
The exact cause is not known. Anyone can become depressed. Some people are more prone to it, and it can develop for no apparent reason. You may have no particular problem or worry, but symptoms can develop quite suddenly. An episode of depression may also be triggered by a life event such as relationship problem, bereavement, redundancy, illness, etc. In many people it is a mixture of the two. For example, the combination of a mild low mood with some life problem, such as work stress, may lead to a spiral down into depression.
Women tend to develop depression more often than men. Particularly common times for women to become depressed are after childbirth (postnatal depression) and the menopause.
↑back to top
Who gets depression?
Depression is common, but many people don't admit to it and it is one of the most common illnesses that Counsellors and GP’s deal with. People with depression may be told by others to 'pull their socks up' or 'snap out of it'. The truth is, they cannot, and such comments by others are not helpful.
Understanding that your symptoms are due to depression, and that it is a common illness, may help you to accept that you are ill and need help. This may be particularly true if you have physical symptoms such as headache or weight loss. Some people ask "am I going mad?" It may be a relief to know that you are not going mad, and the symptoms that you have are common and have been shared by many other people.
You may 'bottle up' your symptoms from friends and relatives. However, if you can be open about your feelings with close family and friends, it may help them to understand and help. Whether it is feelings of wanting to be alone, not knowing what to say, or just feeling wretched and not wanting to be in company, a large percentage of people with depression experience difficulty in relationships.
About 2 in 3 adults have depression at some time in their life. Sometimes it is mild or lasts just a few weeks. However, an episode of depression serious enough to require treatment occurs in about 1 in 4 women and 1 in 10 men at some point in their lives.
↑back to top
What are the treatment options for depression?
In general, treatments are divided into those used for mild depression and those used for moderate and severe depression.
Cognitive therapy. Briefly, cognitive therapy is based on the idea that certain ways of thinking can trigger, or 'fuel' depression. The therapist helps you to understand your thought patterns. In particular, to identify any harmful, unhelpful, and 'false' ideas or thoughts which you have that can make you depressed. The aim is then to change your ways of thinking to avoid these ideas. It is also to help your thought patterns to be more realistic and helpful. Therapy is usually done in weekly sessions over several months. You may be given some 'homework' between sessions.
Cognitive-behaviour therapy (CBT). This is a combination of cognitive therapy and behaviour therapy. Behaviour therapy aims to change any behaviours which are harmful or not helpful. CBT helps people to identify negative thinking and to develop a more positive and flexible thinking process. It can help you to put things in perspective. People with depression tend to focus on the negative, which can cause even more emotional distress and self-defeating behaviour.In short, CBT helps people to achieve changes in the way people with depression think, feel and behave.
Some research suggests that a combination of an antidepressant together with counselling is better than either treatment alone. Physical exercise if you can find the motivation or the energy has also been shown to be helpful.
↑back to top
Some dos and don'ts about depression.
- Don't bottle things up and 'go it alone'. Try and tell people who are close to you how you feel. It is not weak to cry or admit that you are struggling.
- Don't despair - most people with depression recover. It is important to remember this.
- Do try and distract yourself by doing other things. Try doing things that do not need much concentration but can be distracting.
- Do eat regularly, even if you do not feel like eating.
- Don't drink too much alcohol. Drinking alcohol is tempting to some people with depression as the immediate effect may seem to relieve the symptoms. However, alcohol itself is a depressant and is likely to make your situation worse in the long run.
- Don't make any major decisions whilst you are depressed. It may be tempting to give up a job, or move away, to solve the problem. If at all possible you should delay any major decisions about relationships, jobs, or money until you are well again.
- Do seek the professional help of a counsellor or a G.P.
↑back to top
Hope
There is hope. Life gets better and deppression goes away. Sleep returns, appetite is regained and relationships improve. Energy returns, self-esteem is rebuilt and the joy of life is rekindled.
↑back to top 
|
