Understanding Depression - What Is Depression?

by superqq Depression is the most common mental health problem in the United states. It affects 17 million each year of all ages, groups, races, and

Visual Guide to Understanding Depression

by superqq

Depression is the most common mental health problem in the United states. It affects 17 million each year of all ages, groups, races, and background. Depression is a serious illness and everyone need to have some understanding of it whether you're suffering from depression, or have a friend or loved one suffering from it, or whether you're just hearing of it. Even if you're not suffering from the disease or know someone suffering from it, it's still good to familiarize yourself with it so that you can recognize its symptoms at any point in time, get diagnosed immediately and get the help you or your friend or loved one needs.

The secret to treating and overcoming depression in time lies in the early diagnosis of it. When you can recognize its symptoms in time, and seek treatment you can easily beat it.

What is Depression Really?

Depression shouldn't be mistaken for the usual feeling of bad moods, sadness or feeling down. Such feelings are normal reaction to day to day events, and they are often overcome within a short time.

When someone is depressed or have mood swings consistently for weeks, months, or longer and it limits the person from going about his or her daily activities, then that could be depression.

There are different types of depression, there is major depression, dysthymia, adjustment disorder, seasonal affective disorder and bipolar disorder or manic depression.

Causes of Depression

Causes of depression ranges from genetic causes to significant life events. That is if some members of a person's family has suffered from depression, it increases the person's chances of developing depression. And if a person experience a sudden change of events such as losing a loved one or moving to a new area or the person someone is in a relationship with breaks their heart, can lead a person to become depressive.

Other possible causes could be chronic illness or side effects from some types of medicine or infections.

Diagnosing Depression

For an accurate diagnosis see a mental health professional for a detailed clinical evaluation. To qualify for a diagnosis, you should have been experiencing at least 5 of the following symptoms consistently for a period of at least 2 weeks.

Signs and Symptoms of Depression

Having little interest or pleasure in doing things

Feeling down, depressed or hopeless

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and below that are the links regarding depression anxiety information

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Source : http://imentalhealth.net/mental-health-disorders/depression/understanding-depression-what-is-depression

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Commonly question about Understanding Depression - What Is Depression?

Question :

Understanding Depression?

I have suffered with Depression for many Years now & the more I think about it & try to pick it apart & understand it fully the more Obsessed with it I am becoming.

I realise that The serotonin in ones brain if not correctly balanced is what causes the depression & that it only takes a traumatic event to trigger the bout of Depression BUT.....

I was just wondering what other peoples thoughts on it were & if you suffer from it.......

What do you do, to try a bring yourself out of it? What keeps you feeling positive.....Whats the KEY to beating it???

Thanks

Answer :
Depression isa horrible illness and the lack of motivation that comes with it makes it difficult to cope with every day things - sometimes going out is a big step.

Exercise is very good for depression as endorphines ("happy hormones") are released making you feel good.

If this is something you struggle with (for various reasons) then the next best thing is to write a list of 4-5 activities and mark each one off once completed. this way you will feel a sense of achievement. These could be to wash up, hoover, get dressed even or shave (if male)/ apply make up (if female) - some of these will lift your self esteem/ self worth and make you feel good about acheiving something with your day.

Source(s):

I had reactive depression a few years ago - I know it s not the same and I didn t need tablets but that was the advice I was given at the time and it helped me get through a low period.

Question :

Understanding depression...?! How to react to someone with depression? I dont know how?

Having never had depression, i struggle to understand the mental anguish that some people live day in day out with. I have a colleague who is clinically depressed and for some reason he opens up to me, last week he was diagnosed with schizophrenia too. I feel like he is attaching himself to me, he has other friends at work..but i feel like he wants to be close to me...i tried being nice and tried to understand but now i feel like he wants more but im not attracted to him(and i have an amazing boyfriend of one year which he knows) and i fear this rejection will cause his depression to spiral again...so i distanced myself from him...and now hes been diagnosed with schizophrenia and his doses have been upped...and i feel like partly its my fault...but its not like i led him on, he s lonely..and wants something that i cant give him. Hes 27, hes worked in my office for 3 years, thought he was friendly and nice but theres such a darker darker side going on in his mind, and scares me because I dont know how to react...

I cant get my head around it, cause ive never experienced this kind of pain and I dont know what to say to him. I feel pressurized..i dont know how to react when he tells me his dark thoughts of suicide? It freaks me out to be honest. I just would feel so guilty if he did something stupid because i dont reciprocate his feelings.... please help me....i dont know what to do? I dont know how to act, if i act as though nothing is wrong, he still plays the sympathy card looking for attention about his depression but Im at a loss for words... What should i do?

Answer :
When it comes down to it. None of us knows what to say to someone with such dark thoughts. My husband has pulled the suicide card many times with me (threatening it, not actually doing it), sometimes he is so depressed for no reason, I don t know what to say to him other than it s ok, I love you. It gets to the point where I just leave him alone to sleep and sulk on his own. Eventually he snaps out of it. I don t have experience with Schizophrenia, all I know is that the medication that they give them can make them depressed. Actually it is more like no emotion, it takes your emotions out of you and they make you into a bit of a zombie. My husband has Borderline Personality Disorder and Bipolar Disorder. They are both very different from Schizophrenia but I m sure being around him isn t much different. Sounds like he needs a friend more than anything, people with these kinds of disorders have trouble keeping friends. No one wants a phyco as a friend, I married my phyco...lol anyways. The one thing I wanted to say is that you should not feel responsible for anything he does. This is not your fault, if for some reason he is latching onto you don t feel bad if something bad happens. Just keep boundries, When he says something that bothers you and your not sure what to say, just say "I m sorry you feel that way", "That must be really hard being depressed all the time" and just leave it at that. You could add something to cheer him up, but nothing will cheer them up so I usually just leave it at that. Sometimes time just needs to go by so they can get over whatever it is that is bothering them.

Question :

I need help understanding depression?

Is it a chemical imbalance, all in your head, or a combination of both?

I thought it was all in your head until I moved out of the house. My homelife as a kid was pretty bad. Child Services had to step in a few times. I left home when I was 18 and now I m 19, living in NYC. I thought my "depression" was because of my dad. Once I moved away from him I thought everything would be flowers and cupcakes.

Well, not a lot has changed.

Here s an example of what I go through sometimes: I walked into spin class today feeling totally awesome. About halfway through the class for no (logical) reason I got really angry and upset and began crying. Whenever I fall into these "self-hatred" bouts of emotion they usually last for a week. I will do stupid things like overexercise and hurt myself, I ll have frightening dreams, I avoid people at all cost, I ll overeat and binge right after I overexercise... ect.

I didn t really ever believe depression was real. Mind over matter, right? It s just really hard for me to pull myself out of these low points. I removed the problem (my dad) but it still continues. Am I making this all up? Is there another problem I m not addressing? What am I not understanding about myself?

Answer :
Try meditating it will allow you to, think clearly and peacefully, rather than have your mind and ego control your life. Check it out on youtube seriously, even try taking some deep breaths through the nose, it will help you think from a centered place to resolve your problems. I think your problems are direct correlation of your current situation and your interpretation of it. If you want to help yourself stop thinking so much, try the focusing on the natural nostril breath, whenever you start feelin shitty