If you have answered “Yes” to all or most of the questions, then you could be suffering from depression?
Depression according to layman is defined as dip in mood described by feelings of sadness, lack of self worth, despair and discouragement as well as variety of disorders such as weight gain or loss, insomnia or hypersomnia and thoughts of death or suicidal ideas.
According to National Institute of Mental Health, depression is an illness of body, mind and thoughts. It affects the way a person behaves, eats and sleeps and individual’s feelings and thinking capabilities. Symptoms for depression can last for weeks, months or years to come by if not treated in early stages. Depression could be short-lived or a persistent feeling in various forms with variations in number of symptoms, severity and persistence.
Major depression is evident by a combination of symptoms that interferes with the ability to work, study, sleep, eat and enjoy leisure and pleasurable activities. A lesser severe type of depression called “dysthymia” with never-ending symptoms allows one to function and feel normally with major depressive episodes at some point in their lives. Bipolar depressive disorder, also called manic illness is characterized by cycling mood changes that affects thinking, judgment and social behavior of an individual causing serious problems and embarrassment in many ways.
Depression results from a combination of many things. Human brain made up of billions of nerve cells called neurons send / receive messages using brain chemicals “neurotransmitters”. Depression happens when these messages aren’t delivered correctly between brain cells disrupting communication. Family history, trauma, stress, pessimistic personality, physical conditions, psychological disorders as well as economic conditions of the country to name a few causes that lead to depression.
Depression affects anyone irrespective of one’s age and gender. Depression in women is twice as often as men. Menstrual cycle changes, pregnancy, miscarriage, postpartum period, pre-menopause, menopause as well as added responsibilities both at work and home are few reasons that cause depression amongst woman.
Depression is men are more likely to go undiagnosed as they don’t tend to seek help. Anger, hostility, alcohol or drugs, long working hours, etc often shield depression in men. Family support and encouragement and mental health programs at work can assist men understand and treat depression as an illness.
Children too show signs of being depressed. A child may pretend to be sick, refuse to go to school, sulk, get into trouble at school, cling to parents all the time, be negative and feel misunderstood. During the early years, a parent may attribute these changes or symptoms like any normal behavior that a child under goes one stage to another during its growing years. If the problem persists, then the parent should take steps to treat the child as early as possible.
Depression in elder people is often overlooked as the sign of aging. Despite living a normal life, feelings of hopelessness, sadness, loss of interest in normally pleasurable activities, or extremely prolonged grief after a loss grips quite a many elderly people. If these signs are recognized early in life of an elder person, it can be treated either with medications or psychotherapy, making the later years more enjoyable and fulfilling for the elderly person, family and caretakers.
