Signs and symptoms of depression:
- Low mood, varying from slight sadness to crippling feelings of being unworthy.
- Feelings of hopelessness or overwhelming guilt.
- Thought disorders, including lack of concentration and difficulty making decisions.
- Loss of interest in work, hobbies, relationships, religion.
- Feeling slowed down or restless with trouble sitting still.
- Problems with memory.
- Sleeping too much (usually) or too little.
- Low levels of physical and mental energy.
- Increase or decrease in appetite, weight gain or loss.
- Withdrawal from family and friends.
- Thoughts of death or suicide.
Depression is a very common problem. Almost everyone is depressed sometime in their life. It is a serious problem because it robs an individual of the joy of life. In severe cases, it can lead to suicide. This common mental health challenge has three components: situational, biochemical and behavioral.
SITUATIONAL
It is normal, and a sign of mental and emotional health, to be depressed when things go wrong. The only question is the level and duration of the depression, and the cause. Does the level of depression and the duration seem to be appropriate to the problem? Examples of depression that are NORMAL and signs of mental and emotional HEALTH:
- Death of a significant person. This can last a lifetime in some cases. After a period of time, it should not prevent usual activities from continuing.
- Loss of a significant person. This can be almost as difficult as death, and sometimes worse. The most common situation is the break-up of a relationship. This would also include someone having a serious or fatal illness or a major injury resulting in disability or disfigurement.
- Major material loss. If your house burns down, you lose your job, you flunk out of school, you get a serious injury or develop a significant medical problem, it's normal to be depressed.
Examples of depression that are ABNORMAL:
- Crying for years about a pet that died.
- Being unable to continue everyday activities, even though the event was more than three months ago.
- Getting really depressed because you have complexion problem.
BIOCHEMICAL
You were born with a unique nervous system. Everyone has areas of risk in the area of mental and emotional health. Maybe you're more likely than most to get into trouble with drugs or alcohol. Perhaps you're more likely to be seriously depressed. For chronic depression due to biochemical factors, there are very effective medications.
Women have an additional area of vulnerability. As they get older, their hormone levels decrease and they may have major mental and emotional problems. This can be treated with replacement hormones, which may include small amounts of male hormones, like their ovaries previously produced.
BEHAVIORAL
When you get depressed, you act differently. Some of these changes in your behavior can become habits. Unless you actively change these behaviors, they will contribute to the persistence of the depression. When you are trying to get out of a depression, act as if you were not depressed:
- Sleep no more than eight hours a night.
- Don't use any drugs or alcohol.
- Start, or resume, exercising.
- Eat right
- Get out and do things.
- Tell yourself, and your friends, that you're O.K. again.
This is a very powerful technique, which is the basis for "Fake it til you make it." Everyone knows that how you feel determines how you act, that attitude leads to behavior. It's important to realize that it is equally true in the reverse direction. How you act can determine how you feel. Changing your behavior can change your attitude.