Depression is a serious mental condition, very common, that affects your every day life in a negative way. It influences your thoughts, your behavior, your social life and every other important aspect of your existence. The tricky part is that it can be mistaken by sadness and this is why this article will be of great help in differentiating them. Luckily there is also a big variety of ways you can het help and treat it.
Symptoms
To start off, there are some specific symptoms for depression. You can experience deep sadness or moodiness and you can use interest in things and activities you once enjoyed. You stop being active, turning into a couch potato, being unusually tired all the time. You lose your appetite or eat your emotions and stop taking care of yourself. You will also experience sleepless nights, but sleeping too much can also be a sign of depression. Loss of attention or ability to focus is also important in discovering depression. People also feel guilty or like they are not worth it or even suicidal.
You should know that it takes two weeks of having these symptoms to diagnose this mental illness. It’s so common that 1 in 6 people experience it at least once in their lifetime. It can occur at any given time, but statistically during teen years or early twenties. It is very important to get treatment for depression as soon as possible.
Factors of risk in getting depression
The is a list of predispositions for depression that include both internal and external factors.
As internal, there is the biochemical issue, such as changes in the chemicals produced by the brain. Genetics can also play an important role in developing this mental illness. For example, if one identical twin has it, the other one has 70% chances to have it as well sometime in their life. Then there is the personality factor. It is easier for a person with a low self-esteem or with a pessimistic approach to develop it.
The social environment and surroundings also play an important role in depression.
Sadness or grief vs. depression
When someone loved dies it’s only natural to feel sad and go through a period of grief. This a method of coping with the loss, but may people describe themselves as being depressed. But even though both of them have the same symptoms of deep sadness, self-isolation, emotional pain, in grief, the self-respect and self-esteem don’t decrease and the undesired feelings come in alternant waves with pleasant memories and positive feelings.
Nonetheless this does not mean that depression is impossible during grief. Some people experience feelings that are too powerful to cope with. If the both are combined, it lasts longer.
Treatment
There are a lot of ways that you can get treatment for depression. You can go to a psychologist or a psychiatrist, to a holistic depression healing center, there is also medication, you can even help yourself by having a healthy lifestyle. But the first step is accepting it and going to a professional for diagnosis and treatment.
