Learning about Depression

By Margaret Himler


Depression is a grave medical condition defined by extreme and overwhelming feelings of sadness that disrupts one's life. This disorder has been documented to affect as much as 15% of the entire population in most developed countries, in the US, the figure stands at 18.8 million Americans. Depression is not bound by age, gender or race. It can affect anyone at any given time and the severity often differs on how one copes and handles their depression.

The most common signs of depression include extreme sadness, disassociation and isolation, visible lack of pleasure in life, appetite and sleep changes, fatigue, self disgust and violence that may lead to suicidal tendencies. Depression involves an overall feeling of negativity that damages one's sense of worth.

Depending on these indicators or symptoms, Depression is further classified into the unipolar and Dysthmic Types. Unipolar disorder is the recurring type of depression. It is diagnosed by the presence of 5 or more of the known symptoms of depression. Statistics shows that this type of disorder leans towards the 15-30 age group population. The Dysthmic type of Depression manifests in a longer time frame and is often identified with the occurrence of 2 depression symptoms.

Depression threatens one's life and mental sanity. It can seriously alter how we live our life and how we deal with our relationships. False beliefs on depression are often the reasons why most people suffering from this disorder are left untreated, most of us believe that these feelings are normal and will eventually go away, but the truth is that depression can take one's life.

Depression is a clinical disorder and should not be a cause of shame, and as with any disorder it is curable given the right diagnosis. Available treatments for depression can vary depending on the severity; it can run from anti depressants, to psychotherapy and rehabilitation.

Depression is often a result of giving into the despair and grief that depression brings, a loving relationship as well as a healthy and strong well being can ward off Depression. Our life will always be marked by experiences that will test our faith. It is in these experiences that we can grow stronger and prevent ourselves from being part of the growing number of depression sufferers.




About the Author:



0 comments:

Post a Comment

top