You sometimes feel sad, hopeless, helpless, angry, or lose interest in some situations or times in your life. This feeling can be commonly seen in almost everyone.
But did you know having such feelings often can negatively affect people’s lives and lead to many complications?
Therefore, if you or anyone you know has such negative feelings regularly, this can be due to a medical condition called ‘depression.’
Depression is quite common in people around the world. Experiencing depression can differ from one person to another and can affect people at any stage in life. This article will discuss everything you need to know about depression and its symptoms, causes, treatments, and many more factors. Therefore, if you are wondering how to explain depression to someone to get the right help, this article is for you.
What is Depression?
Depression can be described as a mood disorder that can affect how you think, feel, and do your day-to-day life activities.
A person with depression may experience persistent feelings of sadness, and he/she may be emotionally hopeless and helpless. Even though depression can be commonly seen in people, if left untreated, it can result in serious physical and emotional complications and even death.
We will explore more about depression by discussing the symptoms, causes, types, and treatments to better understand this severe mood disorder and work on you or anyone you might think dealing with depression.
Symptoms of Depression
Symptoms of depression can be varying from person to person. And also, some symptoms can be seen emotionally while others can be seen physically. We will see the different experiences among males, females, and children caused by depression symptoms.
Symptoms in men
- Anger, rude and restless moods
- Feeling sad, helpless, hopeless, and empty
- Losing interest in day-to-day activities
- Addicting to alcohol and drugs
- Having suicidal thoughts
- Concentration problems and memory issues
- Lacking sexual interest
- Waking up 2 hours early than the usual time
- Insomnia, sleeping too much, and restless sleep
- Physical complications such as fatigue, headaches, pains, and aches
- Having an unclear view of the future
Symptoms in women
- Angry and irritable mood changes
- Menstrual irregularities
- Feeling sad, helpless, hopeless, and empty
- Inability to concentrate and keep memories
- Having suicidal thoughts
- Taking more time than usual to talk and think
- Losing interest in people and other things around and ignoring people
- Waking up 2 hours early than the usual time
- Having headaches, aches, pains, cramps
- Fatigue, weight imbalance, and changes in appetite
- Having an unclear view of the future
Symptoms in children
- Mood swings, crying for no reason, anger
- Feeling worthless
- Having suicidal thoughts
- Ignoring family members, relatives, and friends
- Refusing to go to school and engaging in other activities
- Low grades in school, concentration problems
- Sleeping problems such as sleeping too much or difficulties in sleeping
- Losing energy over everything, digestive problems, and losing or gaining weight
Online Support Groups
If you are experiencing any of the following symptoms of depression, please seek help with one of the following online groups.
- Anxiety & Depression Association of America (ADAA)
- National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
- The Tribe – Wellness Community
- Mental Health America
- Free 24/7 Chat with 7 Cups
- Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA)
- LiveWell
Causes of Depression
Environmental factors of depression
Suppose you experience environmental stress that can be caused by pollution, disasters, and non-chemical factors. In that case, you are more likely to develop depression.
Moreover, children who suffer trauma as children and anyone stressed for years, and experienced significant losses can also trigger depression.
Social or psychological factors
People sometimes suffer from depression after experiencing events that cause loss. You may have experienced loss through the death of a loved one, through separation or bereavement, through losing a job, a friendship, a promotion, losing your face, losing your support network, or any other loss.
Depression due to medical conditions
Diabetic diseases, heart problems, arthritis, kidney problems, HIV/AIDS, lupus, and multiple sclerosis (MS) are some chronic diseases that may lead to depression. Hypothyroidism can also cause depression.
Brain chemistry
Depression is also associated with low levels of norepinephrine, serotonin, and dopamine. The likelihood that we will experience symptoms of depression increases when we have low levels of these neurotransmitters.
Genetic factors or family history
To know about how genetic factors cause depression, read this article.
Stress vs. Depression
As you already know the depression is a mental condition that needs medical treatments. But stress is entirely normal and expected of anyone in many situations in life. Stress can be occurred to due to many factors. Most of the time, people get stressed due to losing someone or something.
Therefore, we can describe the relationship between loss and stress as a significant factor that leads to depression. We will now see the significant signs of stress and depression to compare the differences between them.
Signs of Depression
- Regular feelings of sad, anger, helpless and hopeless
- Losing interest
- Negative feelings about yourself
- Sleeping changes
- Eating habit changes
- Having suicidal thoughts
- Ignoring people around you
- Lacking the energy to engage with day to day life work
- Lacking motivation
Signs of stress
- Feelings of anger
- Memory issues
- Concentrating problems
- Getting headaches
- Body aches and pains
- Eating habit changes such as eating too much or too little
- Changes in sleeping patterns
There are some similarities and also differences in signs of stress and depression. But depression is far dangerous than stress. It is also essential to know that stress can lead to depression if not appropriately managed or experienced for a more extended period.
Types of Depression
The main types of depression can be categorized as major depressive disorder and persistent depressive disorder (high-functioning depression).
major depressive disorder
Major depressive disorder is a more severe form of depression, and people with this type of depression will experience symptoms over a period of two weeks.
High Functioning Depression
High functioning depression, also called dysthymia or persistent depressive disorder. The symptom of high-functioning depression is less severe than those of major depression, but it can last for more than two years. When someone suffers from this type of depression, they can still function but are only going through the motions.
Other types of depressions are bipolar disorders, psychotic depression, substance-induced mood disorder, minor depression, and etc.
Treatment for Depression
What kind of depression do you have? It can be diagnosed by physical examination or laboratory tests during a psychiatric evaluation by a professional Psychiatrist or psychologist.
high-functioning depression
A combination of therapy and medication can be used to treat high-functioning depression and may help patients learn to cope with negative emotions, make positive changes, and learn how to undertake self-care to improve mood and functioning.
Major Depressive Disorder
If you are diagnosed to have a major depressive disorder, you will need treatment with medications as well as above other therapies. Depending on the diagnosis made by the Consultant Psychiatrist, if the depression is so severe, those people may even need treatments with Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS).
If you or your relative/friend experience these symptoms, it is better to seek medical advice immediately, as with time, depression can lead to many complications.
Conclusion
Depression is a severe mood disorder that can be completely treated with proper treatments and medications. We have discussed everything you need to know about depression in this article.
Anyone can go through depression at any stage of their life. Therefore if you feel that you, your loved ones, or anyone around you is dealing with this severe condition, once again it is essential to take proper actions and seek medical support as soon as possible before it’s too late.
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