Major depressive order or clinical depression is a very common and serious illness that affects almost 300 million people worldwide that can happen with or without any specific reason. Though it’s a common illness hardly people take notice of it and get proper treatment. Depression negatively impacts your life and the way you perceive things. Your mood fluctuates to an extent that you feel disconnected and lonely, lose interest in pleasurable activities, etc. The following can be symptoms of depression if last more than two weeks.
Symptoms of Depression:
• Feeling Sad
• Troubled
• Unmotivated
• Lack of interest
• Loss of appetite
• Fatigued
• Feeling hopeless or worthless
• Overthinking
• Difficulty in concentrating
• Less social interaction
• Thinking about death or suicide
Depression usually goes unnoticed because its symptoms are as common as one being sad. If these symptoms are severe then so will be the depression.
Sadness is not Depression:
I’m depressed has become most common notion nowadays even if a person is sad he/she thinks that they are depressed. Keep that in mind that feeling sad it not equivalent to depression. Feeling sad is a natural mood change that can happen due to losing loved ones, failure or relationship breakups. But sooner or later the person moves on, but if the sadness is long lasting and goes from weeks to months to years it can become the reason for depression. You need to understand the difference between being sad and depression so that you can help yourself or people around you.
Causes of Depression:
Every one in 10 people suffer from depression. Depression is likely to affect anyone even if they are living an ideal life. Following are the most likely causes of depression.
• Biological – changes in certain chemicals (neurotransmitter levels) of brains may become a likely cause.
• Genetically – people are likely to inherit depression if they have blood relatives with a history of depression.
• Psychosocial - psychological and social causes
• Environmental – environment around people can make them vulnerable to depression.
Risk Factors:
Besides the causes, there are some high-risk factors that trigger depression in people. People suffering from these factors are more likely to go into depression than the others. Following are the factors that can trigger or cause depression.
• Life changing events – events that have severe impacts on a person that they are unable to recover from. E.g. tragic or uncertain death, failure in life or relationship, financial loss, etc.
• Abuse – physical, sexual or mental abuse
• Personality – people who have low self-esteem, low confidence, self-critical, thinks negative about themselves and get stressed easily.
• Childhood Trauma – child abuse
• Chronic diseases – diseases like cancer, diabetes, heart disease, obesity, etc. can also trigger depression
• Medications – people who are on prescribed medications.
Depression is Treatable:
Though depression is a serious mental illness, and can get worse if not treated but fortunately it is treatable. With early diagnoses, the treatment of depression becomes effective. Doctors usually do some test to rule out thyroid, brain tumors or vitamin deficiency, due to similar symptoms. These treatments provide patients with some sort of relief from their depression.
Depression can be treated through medications and psychotherapy, or both depending on the condition of the patient. But these treatments are usually done for mild depression and if these treatments do not minimize the symptoms of depression then other treatments like electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) are done.
Medications:
The changes in the brain chemistry as mentioned above can cause depression, for this reason, medications such as anti-depressants are prescribed to help to tone down the changes occurred and recover the patient from depression. Anti-depressants are sedatives or habit-forming drugs; they help to control the changes in the neurotransmitter levels in the brain. Doctors prescribe you several anti-depressants until you start responding to the one that improves your condition.
Anti-depressant helps you recover from your mood swings, anxiety and stress gradually. An anti-depressant takes up to 2 to 4 weeks to improve your symptoms like sleep patterns, concentrations, and appetite. But this won’t change your mood lifts all of sudden that will take time. You have to be patient while using a medication, for it to reach its effectiveness. Never stop taking an anti-depressant without consulting a doctor. Usually, doctors recommend medication for 6 to 12 months even after symptoms are improved and then reduce the dose gradually. This is to monitor the overall condition of the patient and to reduce the chance of future episodes of those at high risk.
Psychotherapy:
Psychotherapy, commonly known as talk therapy or counseling can help people fighting depression. Psychotherapy is usually used alone for treating mild depression but it is also used for treating moderate to severe depression alongside other treatments. Psychotherapy and anti-depressant are usually used in combination.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), Interpersonal therapy (IT), and problem-solving therapy are the types of psychotherapy that are widely used in treating depression. This approach is used to recognize the reason or negative thinking behind the depression and the help them changes their perspective about themselves.
Psychotherapy might take a few weeks or longer than that, almost 10 to 15 sessions of psychotherapy can bring significant result. This therapy can be done individually, with a family member, couple or in a group depending on the state of the patient.
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT):
ECT is a depression treatment for people who have not responded to medications or other treatments, these are the people with severe depression. ECT is usually given to patients with psychotic depression, where the patient suffers from delusions and false beliefs. During this treatment, the patient’s brain is given an electrical stimulation. ECT is given this stimulation 2 to 3 times a week for up to 6 to 12 treatments.
Prevention:
Depression is a real and serious illness, which can cost you and your family to lose peace of mind. People are becoming vulnerable to depression day by day with no exact way to prevent it, but you can still consider some strategies to reduce the chances
• Try not to get stressed out
• Stay up close with your loved ones
• Get yourself treated by early diagnosis
• Take proper treatment to avoid future episodes