Depression is a common mental disorder that causes people to experience depressed mood, loss of interest or pleasure, feelings of guilt or low self-worth, disturbed sleep or appetite, low energy, and poor concentration.
In 2015, an estimated 16.1 million U.S. adults (aged 18 or older), or 6.7 percent of the adult population, had at least one major depressive episode, or experienced depressive symptoms, in the past year, making this condition one of the most common mental disorders in the United States, according to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).
In these days a lot of people are suffering from depression. Half of the people who have depression will only experience it once but for the other half, it will happen again. The length of time that it takes to recover ranges from around six months to a year or more.
Depression can happen to anyone and it is something that disturbs us to be happy, to enjoy life.
People with depression have the following signs and symptoms:
Tiredness and loss of energy.
Sadness that doesn’t go away.
Loss of self-confidence and self-esteem.
Difficulty concentrating.
Not being able to enjoy things that are usually pleasurable or interesting.
Feeling anxious all the time.
Avoiding other people, sometimes even your close friends.
Feelings of helplessness and hopelessness.
Sleeping problems - difficulties in getting off to sleep or waking up much earlier than usual.
Very strong feelings of guilt or worthlessness.
Finding it hard to function at work/college/school.
Loss of appetite.
Loss of sex drive and/or sexual problems.
Physical aches and pains.
Thinking about suicide and death.
Self-harm
What can cause depression?
Depression can be caused by a physical illness, unemployment, problems in the family, dead of the member of the family, divorce. There are a lot of causes that can provoke depression.
If you meet with someone who has depression, try to offer him/her love and advice him/her to go to one specialist.
Offering love, affection and to be for a person who has depression will help him/her.
Talking therapies such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and some forms of counseling and psychotherapy work well for depression, although you may have to wait to see a therapist on the NHS.
Diagnosis
To diagnose a person with depression disorder, doctors may ask patients about their family health history, mood and behavior patterns (such as eating and sleeping), and thoughts of suicide. They may also ask patients to report their depression symptoms on a printed questionnaire
Depression treatment may involve psychotherapy therapy, medications, or a combination of the two.
Offering affection, love, and understanding will help a lot the people with depression. We have to be careful with them and to convince them to go to a specialist.
Please share with me your feelings, and if you have or had or maybe meet a person with depression.