BASICS ABOUT DEPRESSION
WHAT IS DEPRESSION
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Depression is considered to be a mood disorder. It is said to be a strong feeling of sadness, loss, or anger that affect ones activities every day.
Sadly, depression is very common in today’s society. Research from the Centers for Disease Control and PreventionTrusted shows that about 18.5 % of everyday American adults are living with symptoms of depression every 2 weeks in 2019.
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Depression and grief share some similarities, however, depression is not grief. Grief is that feeling one feels after losing a loved one or maybe sadness after one experiences a traumatic event that may alter one’s mood for a long time. Depression is that self-loathing feeling which often leads to losing one’s self-esteem.
The major difference between grief and depression is that, in grief, positive memories and even happy feelings may accompany emotional sadness and pain, while the feeling of sadness and heaviness of the heart is always constant in depression.
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A lot of people experience depression in numerous ways. For most time, depression often interfere with your daily activities and do result in loss of time and a very low work rate which means lower productivity. Depression affects almost every area of one’s life including one’s relationship with friends, family, partners, and workmates, it may also lead to some chronic health conditions.
SYMPTOMS OF DEPRESSION
Most times, depression is often more than a constant state of sadness, Depression leads to numerous causes of symptoms, it can affect your mind, mood, and your body if not treated properly. Symptoms may also be fluctuating I.e coming and going.
THE GENERAL TYPES AND SYSTEMS MAY INCLUDE
The truth remains that not everyone with depression will experience it the same way as it may vary from person to person. But depression in every person may have the same symptoms, however different severity which is how often it last and how frequent it happens.
Research suggests that If you experience the following signs and symptoms Trust Source of depression daily for 2weeks, you may have depression.
The feeling of sadness anxiousness or emptiness.
Often feeling hopeless, worthless, and pessimistic.
You may even be crying a lot
feeling bothered, annoyed, or angry which often leads to loss of interest in your favorite hobbies and interests you once loved and enjoyed.
Always feeling tired, feeling decreased in energy, and accumulating fatigue.
You may experience difficulty concentrating even remembering things and making important decisions or walking and talking more slowly with a thicker voice than usual.
Often time you may experience difficulty sleeping and wake up earlier than usual or maybe oversleeping which results in appetite and changes in weight.
You may experience some chronic physical pain with no explanatory reasons. These pain may include headaches, aches or pains, digestive problems, cramps.
Your mind may drift away from good thoughts to a more harmful one like thoughts of death, suicide, self-harm, or suicide attempts.
TREATMENT FOR DEPRESSION
Treatment for depression includes.
MEDICATIONS like Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), Serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs), Tricyclic and tetracyclic antidepressant monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs), N-methyl D-aspartate (NMDA) antagonists.
PSYCHOTHERAPY This is also called “talk therapy,” This is when a patient speaks with a therapist (someone who is professional trained) to identify and solve and also to learn the cope with the factors that contribute to the problem of the patient, in this case, depression.
This includes
Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), Psychodynamic Therapy, Light therapy, Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).
You may even ask your doctor for alternative therapies for depression. It is considered more useful when using traditional psychotherapy and medication.