Depression- The Overview

➧Do you have persistent feelings of sadness, anxiety, emptiness, hopelessness, or pessimism?
➧Are you feeling a decrease in your energy ‘rating’ and loss of interest or pleasure in hobbies and activities that you usually loved to do?
➧Have your sleeping habits changed? Having difficulty sleeping, sleeping too little or too much?
➧Have you noticed any unintentional weight loss or gain, or a change in your appetite?
➧Do you have difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions; Feelings of restlessness or having trouble sitting still?
➧Or maybe you have thoughts of death or suicide, or have even attempted suicide.
If your answer to most of the above questions is YES then you might be suffering from a form of DEPRESSION.

It is absolutely normal, as humans, to feel down once in a while, but if you're sad most of the time such that it affects your daily life and this has been going on for at least two straight weeks, you may have clinical depression. The good news, however, is that depression is a condition you can treat with medicine, talking to a therapist, and lifestyle modifications.

So what is exactly is it - Depression?
Depression is a common but serious mood disorder. It is defined in the Merriam Webster Dictionary as “a serious medical condition in which a person feels very sad, hopeless, and unimportant and often unable to live in a normal way.” It causes severe symptoms that affect how you feel, think, and handle daily activities, such as sleeping, eating, or working.
There are different types of Depression. They include, but are not limited to, the following:
Major Depression: Also known as Major Depressive Disorder or simply Clinical Depression. Most times when the word Depression is mentioned, it is this type that comes to mind. It is the most common type. It causes severe symptoms that affect how you feel, think, and handle daily activities, such as sleeping, eating, or working. To be diagnosed with depression, the symptoms must be present for at least two weeks.
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD): As the name implies, it is related to seasons. It is a period of major depression that most often happens during the winter months, when the day times grow short and you get lesser sunlight. It typically goes away in the spring and summer. Can be treated with Antidepressants and Light Therapy.
Postpartum (peripartum) Depression: This is depression that comes during (Peripartum) or after (postpartum) pregnancy. Women with this kind of depression experience full-blown major depression during pregnancy or after delivery (postpartum depression). The feelings of extreme sadness, anxiety, and exhaustion that accompany postpartum depression may make it difficult for these new mothers to complete daily care activities for themselves and/or for their babies.It is more severe than the usual, somewhat common, Baby Blues in which the woman has relatively mild depressive and anxiety symptoms that typically resolve within two weeks after delivery. We can just say a postpartum depression is a Major Depression that is related to pregnancy or any of it’s outcomes
Persistent Depressive Disorder (also known as Dysthymia): This is a type of depression that has lasted for at least 2 years, it could be longer. A person diagnosed with this type of depressive disorder may have episodes of major depression along with periods of less severe symptoms, but symptoms must last for two years to be considered persistent depressive disorder.
Psychotic Depression: This occurs when a person has severe depression plus some form of psychosis, such as having disturbing false fixed beliefs (delusions) or hearing or seeing things, usually upsetting, that others cannot hear or see (hallucinations). The psychotic symptoms typically have a depressive “theme,” such as delusions of guilt, poverty, or illness.
A discussion on the topic of depression is imperative in times as this that suicide and attempted suicide rates are on the increase. The WHO reports that mental health disorders (particularly depression and substance abuse) account for more than 90% of suicide cases. Suicide is on the increase as days go by. The WHO also estimates that one person dies from suicide every 40 seconds and it has been predicted that by 2020 the rate will increase to one every 20 secs. More facts on Suicide soon.

Have you ever had a major episode of depression? Please share your experience and how you pulled through.

My next post will be on Major Depression, how you know you need help and how to get help. Stick around!

Toast to a healthy living...