Definition
Depression is a common and serious medical illness that negatively affects how you feel, the way you think, and how you act. Fortunately, it is also treatable. Depression causes feelings of sadness and/or a loss of interest in activities you once enjoyed. It can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems and can decrease your ability to function at work and at home.
Types of depression
There are many diverse types of depression. If your symptoms have persisted for a long time, be honest with your GP about them. Do not leave anything out. Even if you are not sure it is related to your circumstance at this time, you want to tell the truth and be honest so that you can be accurately diagnosed and treated if needed.
Major Depression
Usually, there is a combination of symptoms that have lasted for two weeks or longer.
Dysthymia
It is considered chronic if someone has depression for more than two years without it lifting.
Persistent Depressive Disorder
Some people are depressed for a long time, over two years, but it comes and goes.
Bipolar Disorder
Many types of bipolar disorder also involve depression. Often, it includes manic episodes where you feel on top of the world, and then you plunge into a depression that seems endless.
There are many diverse types of depression. If your symptoms have persisted for a long time, be honest with your GP about them. Do not leave anything out. Even if you are not sure it is related to your circumstance at this time, you want to tell the truth and be honest so that you can be accurately diagnosed and treated if needed.
These symptoms interfere with your ability to enjoy everyday life, even if you loved them before. You may feel empty, moody, hopeless, pessimistic, worthless and more. You may even have thoughts of suicide or have attempted suicide.
It is not different from major depression, but you may have to be treated longer (if not for a lifetime) if you are diagnosed with dysthymia. Some days you can be happy, but the depression returns. This differs from bipolar disorder in that you do not have manic episodes, just times of normalcy.
What is meant by depression?
The actual meaning of depression is the state of feeling sad. In other words, depression is a mood disorder that is marked by varying degrees of sadness, despair, and loneliness and that is typically accompanied by inactivity, guilt, loss of concentration, social withdrawal, sleep disturbances, and sometimes suicidal tendencies.
What are the symptoms of depression?
identify what is a change in yourself or a person you care about. Only a healthcare professional can officially diagnose and prescribe the treatment if required. They can also provide you or your loved one with a road map of local support.
Just know that you are not on your own through these and that a simple visit to your GP can put you or your loved one on the route to recovery.
Irritable Mood
If you feel irritable most of the time, as well as depressed, that is a sign of potential major depression, especially if this is not how you normally feel.
Overwhelming Sadness. If you find that you are crying a lot and are sad about everything while having circle thoughts about this sadness, it is a sign that you may have depression.
Loss of Interest
If there are hobbies you used to enjoy doing, and you started no longer enjoying or commenced to avoid, that can be a sign of depression.
Weight Changes
You often notice changes in your appetite and don’t eat as well as you did or start eating too much for no reason. Any of these can be a sign of depression.
Sleep Disturbances
Many people who encounter depression find it difficult to sleep at night, or they just want to sleep all the time and find themselves sleeping more than usual.
Restlessness
Some depressed people have described this as a feeling of wanting to “do something”, but they do not recognize what it is. They are too lethargic to do anything but have an inner intuition of something not being right.
Causes of depression
Remember that while the following items are treated as causes, not everyone with these issues has depression. Since only about 1 in 10 people in the UK has depression, you can assume that more than 1 in 10 of the population has experienced one or more of these causes yet did not develop depression.
Abuse
If you have experienced any type of abuse in the past, whether as a child or an adult, you are at higher risk of experiencing a major depressive episode that involves a qualified professional’s intervention.
Medication
Some drugs are supposed to treat other illnesses that can bring on depression in some individuals. Some acne drugs, antiviral drugs, and corticosteroids increase your risk of developing major depression.
Conflict
Someone susceptible to depressive episodes may develop worse symptoms when there is a lot of friction within their inner circle of friends and family. The truth is no one is sure what causes depression. People who are seen as happy and privileged still suffer from depression at the same rate as others. Still, some things make depression more likely in an individual.
The signs and symptoms should be around for more than two weeks without treatment to diagnose accurately whether it is depression or a low mood. However, if you or anyone you know has suicidal thoughts, please seek help immediately.
How to treat depression?
There are multiple variations of treatment options for someone with clinical depression. What sort of therapy you participate in depends upon your needs, along with the recommendation of your General Practitioner (GP). Regardless of the treatment you and your GP settle on trying, remember that if it is not working, you can try something different. Still, like most things, time is the best thing you can allow yourself. Eventually, something will work for you.
Medication
Numerous medications can be tried for depression, depending on what type of depression you have and your overall health. Some medications require you to use them longer than 30 days to work. Some will give side affects you would rather not have, and some will not. You just need to try what your GP wants to prescribe after doing your research to find out what will work for you.
Talk Therapy
This works best for people with a known situation that may have caused their depression, such as abuse. However, it can also help people cope with the depression that has no situational reason or cause or is still unknown. The truth is that psychotherapy can help most people, even if they do not have depression, provided they are open, honest and ready to improve.
Exercise
You may not feel much like exercising, but studies show that exercising can improve mood exponentially, even in depressed people. Find an exercise that does not feel like torture to you based on your current health, such as dancing, swimming or running.
Lifestyle Changes
It is important to look at your life and find out what you can change to improve your situation if you have issues contributing to your depression. Are you in
an unhappy marriage? Do you work in a stressful environment that prevents you from switching off? Are you living a healthy life? Anything you can do to improve your life is going to help!
There are multiple variations of treatment options for someone with clinical depression. What sort of therapy do you participate in? it depends upon your needs, along with the recommendation of your General Practitioner (GP). Regardless of the treatment you and your GP settle on trying, remember that if it is not working, you can try something different. Still, like most things, time is the best thing you can allow yourself. Eventually, something will work for you.
Sleep Control
Some studies suggest that for patients with sleep problems, the best thing to do to improve symptoms is a degree of sleep deprivation. Instead of sleeping eight to ten hours a night, work on sleeping from six to seven hours a night. Go to bed and get up at the same time. Usually, within a few weeks, you will feel differently.
Hospitalization
For some people who are suicidal or otherwise destructive, the best course of action is short-term hospitalization that will allow them to be better diagnosed while in a protected environment.
Electroconvulsive Therapy
You may have heard of this as the thing of nightmares from old movies. However, there are good reasons to employ this therapy for some people who need extra treatment to improve their quality of life. It is also highly effective in treating suicidal individuals.
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
This non-invasive treatment uses magnetic fields to stimulate nerves to improve symptoms of depression. This is another effective treatment that can be considered a last resort.
Vagus Nerve Stimulation
This can be a highly effective treatment that uses electrical impulses to stimulate the parts of the brain that affect mood, sleep, appetite, and motivation. It is like a pacemaker. It is inserted in the chest and attached to the vagus nerve. However, it is not good for some forms of mental illness like bipolar or if the person is suicidal.
These treatment options will give you and your GP a lot to think about. More than likely, you will start with medication and talk therapy. During talk therapy, your GP may prescribe lifestyle changes to help you cope and improve your life. If that does not work, you may need to move on with other things on the list.
Difference between low mood and depression
Everyone experiences stressful times and a low mood occasionally. Usually, this is related to an event such as working too long hours or a tragedy with which you are coping.
A low mood is usually triggered by current stresses; for example, disappointments, stress, financial worries, limiting physical disorders or conflict with other people. People affected by low mood feel more exhausted, more thin-skinned or more restless than usual. Some people need more time for themselves, while others try to distract themselves or confide their problems in trusted people such as friends or relatives. A low mood is not a psychological illness. It reflects the current emotional state in the context of current events.
On the other hand, depression may result, if several stressors occur at once or if a depressed mood persists for longer than two weeks. This sickness affects women about twice as frequently as it does males. According to the quantity of the primary and secondary symptoms, doctors classify depressive episodes into three severity levels: minor, moderate, and major.
Download Depression PDF ebook
Here is the link to access the PDF version of depression ebook.
The Bottom line
Depression is a mood illness that results in a constant sense of melancholy and boredom. It affects how you feel, think, and behave and can cause several mental and physical issues. It is also known as major depressive disorder or clinical depression. There are several signs, symptoms, and treatments for depression you can get detailed information about low mood and depression and how to treat depression including therapies, mediation, and in-depth practical applications for treatment on nursingrevalidation.co.uk
You can also read one of the best books for understanding and curing depression, “clinical depression and low mood is not the same thing” by Juan Yanez Herrera the founder of nursingrevalidation.co.uk. This book will be available on amazon books, amazon kindle , and on nursingrevalidation.co.uk
