What Is Depression?
Depression is a common but serious mood disorder. It causes severe symptoms that affect how you feel, think, and handle daily activities, such as sleeping, eating, or working.
It is more than just a low mood – its a serious condition that affects your physical and mental health.
Depression is intense feelings of sadness and other symptoms, like losing interest in things you enjoy, may last for a while. Depression is a medical illness. It affects how you feel about yourself and makes life more difficult to manage from day to day.
It is a common and debilitating mood disorder that is affecting more and more people around the world. It is a serious illness caused by changes in brain chemistry.
Types of Depression
Some forms of depression are slightly different, or they may develop under unique circumstances, such as:
Persistent depressive disorder (also called dysthymia) is a depressed mood that lasts for at least two years. A person diagnosed with persistent 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.
Perinatal depression is much more serious than the Persistent (relatively mild depressive and anxiety symptoms that typically clear within two weeks after delivery) that many women experience after giving birth. Women with perinatal depression experience full-blown major depression during pregnancy or after delivery (postpartum depression). The feelings of extreme sadness, anxiety, and exhaustion that accompany perinatal depression may make it difficult for these new mothers to complete daily care activities for themselves and/or for their babies.
Psychotic depression occurs when a person has severe depression plus some form of psychosis, such as having disturbing false fixed beliefs (delusions) or hearing or seeing upsetting things that others cannot hear or see (hallucinations). The psychotic symptoms typically have a depressive “theme,” such as delusions of guilt, poverty, or illness.
Seasonal affective disorder is characterized by the onset of depression during the winter months, when there is less natural sunlight. This depression generally lifts during spring and summer.
Winter depression, typically accompanied by social withdrawal, increased sleep, and weight gain, predictably returns every year in seasonal affective disorder.
Bipolar disorder is different from depression, but it is included in this list is because someone with bipolar disorder experiences episodes of extremely low moods that meet the criteria for major depression (called “bipolar depression”). But a person with bipolar disorder also experiences extreme high – euphoric or irritable – moods called “mania” or a less severe form called “hypomania.”
Classification of Depression - Mild depression
- Mild to moderate depression
- Moderate to severe depression
Who is at risk? Depression does not discriminate. Men and women of every age, educational level, and social and economic background suffer from depression.
Causes of Depression Depression can be due to a number of factors including stresses which can range from mild to severe, combined with vulnerability or predisposition to depression that can result from biological, genetic or psychological factors.
Each type of depression is associated with different mixtures of causes. For psychotic or melancholic depression, physical and biological factors are relevant. In contrast, for non-melancholic depression, the role of personality and stressful life events are important.
Although scientists agree that depression is a brain disorder, the debate continues about exact causes. Many factors may contribute to the onset of depression, including genetic characteristics, changes in hormone levels, certain medical illnesses, stress, grief, or substance abuse. Any of these factors alone or in combination can bring about the specific changes in brain chemistry that lead to the many symptoms of depression, bipolar disorder and related conditions.
Symptoms/Signs of Depression Behaviour - Not going out anymore
- Not getting things done at work/school
- Not doing usual enjoyable activities
- Relying on alcohol and sedatives
- Unable to concentrate
- Withdrawing from close family and friends
Feelings - Disappointed
- Guilty
- Frustrated
- Indecisive
- Irritable
- Lacking in confidence
- Overwhelmed
- Miserable
- Sad
- Unhappy
Physical - Churning gut
- Headaches and muscle pains
- Loss or change of appetite
- Significant weight loss or gain
- Sleep problems
- Sick and run down
- Tired all the time
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