What is depression and how can it be treated effectively?

When people talk about depression in everyday life, it can refer to a variety of problems. The word "depression" can refer to both an emotional state and a mental health disorder. Depression can be referred to as malaise that passes fairly quickly, i.e., frustration, fatigue, discouragement, and feelings of sadness that happen in normal life. Usually, these feelings help people change and grow and do not require special treatment to overcome them.

Sometimes depression is defined as a depressed mood that can last from several days to several months, but that does not cause life-challenging symptoms. Passing, caused, for example, by frustration, bad moods and depression are not mental disorders, their experience does not mean illness and they do not need medical treatment.

The difference between grief and depression is that in the case of grief there is usually an object and a cause, such as the loss of a loved one or a job. The grieving person usually experiences feelings and memories associated with the loss. In the case of depression, however, it is quite rare to be able to identify one particular cause.

Depression refers to a mental health disorder when there is a prolonged depressed mood and other symptoms affecting thoughts, feelings, behavior, and the entire body. When depression is diagnosed, it can be treated effectively.

Depression is rarely the result of a single cause

Causes of depression requiring treatment can vary. Usually depression is the sum of biological, psychological, and social factors; rarely does just one specific cause lead to depression. Heredity, early developmental conditions, and characteristics of a person's life determine the degree to which he or she is susceptible to depression.

The likelihood of depression increases, for example, in cases of a difficult childhood, when a child is physically, mentally or sexually abused or abandoned. Depression can be a consequence of any overly difficult, sad or difficult events.

Depression can be caused by a physical illness such as dementia, thyroid dysfunction, or Parkinson's disease. For some people, depression can be caused by side effects of certain medications, drugs, and alcohol. Hormonal causes or lack of sunshine during the winter may also influence the development of depression.

Symptoms of depression

The symptoms of depression are described below. Based on the severity of the symptoms, depression is classified as mild, moderate and severe.

Depressed mood

Depressed moods include despondency, sadness, lethargy, and irritability. The future seems bleak and unimportant. There may be a significant increase in tearfulness.

Loss of enjoyment

Things that used to bring good spirits are no longer satisfying or interesting. Joy has disappeared from life.

Fatigue

Depression causes loss of initiative, inertia and a feeling of fatigue, it seems that there is not enough energy to do even small things.

Loss of self-confidence or self-esteem

Thoughts of one's own weakness and worthlessness, and belief in one's own success is very weak, are characteristic.

Excessive self-criticism or unwarranted guilt

The person feels guilty and deserves to be punished. The feeling of guilt often arises in relation to problems that the person himself cannot influence or in which he did not even make mistakes.

Repeated thoughts of death or suicide, or attempts to do so

A depressed person may have thoughts of death, wish for their own death, and suicidal thoughts.

Feelings of indecision or impaired ability to concentrate

The person is unable to concentrate or act even on things that previously seemed easy.

Psychomotor lethargy or agitation

Either stupor or hyperactivity may be observed.

Sleep disturbances

Sleep disorders can manifest themselves in difficulty falling asleep, intermittent sleep and early awakening, as well as increased sleepiness.

Changes in appetite and weight

Appetite may disappear and weight may decrease; sometimes, conversely, appetite and weight may increase.

Symptoms of depression can vary quite a bit from person to person. Sometimes the leading symptoms of depression can be a variety of physical pain and malaise, in which case it can be difficult to identify depression itself. The depressed sufferer also has a lot of difficulty describing how he or she feels to loved ones or medical professionals, or he or she may talk about, for example, relationships with people, sleep problems, or concerns about finances or health, instead of depression.

In conclusion

Suicidal thoughts often occur in depressive patients. The desire for death and suicidal thoughts express the desire to get rid of the extremely painful state inherent in severe depression. The hopelessness and suffering caused by depression is not, however, a permanent condition. There is an effective treatment that speeds up the recovery from depression.

People who have overcome depression often say that the meaning of life returned, even though it was completely lost during the depression. The greater the severity and duration of depression, the greater the risk of suicide. This is why it is always important to seek help in time. The relatives of a depressed person should always take talk about suicide seriously and encourage the person to seek professional help.