Monday, 22. March 2010
Depression is not a passing feeling of unhappiness, natural expected feelings of sadness from a difficult or painful event. It is a very real and sometimes even dangerous mental illness. Depression most often presents itself as feelings of sadness, but sadness is not necessarily depression.
Depression sufferers often have feelings of complete despair, hopelessness and a lack of purpose in life and enthusiasm for the world around them.
Depression may be one part of another condition or it may be its own concern apart from any other illnesses. It is a symptom of bipolar disorder, but not the entire disorder, depression is a very large part of manic depression and other associated illnesses but not the whole of manic depression.
Although depression may have a trigger in many cases, it is wrong to assume that some event may cause it.
Certainly stress and unfortunate life events may cause depression. It may present itself after an inability to achieve an individual’s goal or desires, but should not be confused with natural feelings of disappointment or sadness.
Depression may strike an individual who experiences hormonal imbalance, which explains why women who face menopause are often a statistic of depression studies. Scientific research has also found a link to a gene fault that controls serotonin levels to the brain.
Some depression sufferers have also been recorded to be affected by weather conditions. Further investigation has found a vitamin deficiency in these sufferers. Much the same as statistics reveal depression is common in alcoholics due to a vitamin B1 deficiency.
Certainly depression sufferers feel unhappy most of the time, but someone who may not appear unhappy, or an individual who may rarely experience unhappiness may suffer from depression. As with many illnesses not all signs and symptoms have to be evident for the condition to be present.
Below are some of the signs and symptoms of depression. Again I will stress that signs and symptoms may not be obvious or evident for each individual.
. Unhappiness
. Lethargy in life, loss of interest in sex and/or other life joys
. Difficulty with decision making
. Feelings of drowsiness
. Restlessness, anxiety, and agitation
. Eating problems, either a loss of appetite, or excessive binge eating
. Feelings of inadequacy and/or a lack of self confidence
. Suicidal or self destructive thoughts
Please remember that not all depression sufferers entertain thoughts of suicide either by expression or in their own private thoughts. In fact, depression sufferers are not helped with the natural assumption from others that they must be suicidal. This is a serious sign and unfortunately, very common among sufferers and must be addressed, but this is not the ‘be all’ of the condition of depression.
Depression may also present with physical signs and symptoms, these include: headaches, joint aches and pains, dizziness, cramps or belly aches.
The good news is that depression help is available and can start right away by taking back control. A depression sufferer must take a deep breath and be bold in taking a step forward. A few of the things you may do for depression help is to establish a healthy eating plan, implement a natural sleeping pattern and change ‘habits’, certainly a change in routine is good for us all from time to time, on the occasions our routines, and routine thought patterns become stagnant or even harmful we may make a conscious effort to turn them into positive routines and thought patterns.
A depression sufferer should consciously praise themselves and establish a positive affirmation in reflection of their good qualities.
Most important, depression help must consist of self confrontation and talking to someone. Talk is essential for recovery, you are not alone. Most depression sufferers feel quite alone in their pain, actively seeking someone to share your concerns with does help depression.
While it is an important process towards wellness to take a proactive step towards recovery and practice self help I must recommend that you should seek professional advice if you experience the signs and symptoms of depression. Do not be fooled into the belief that depression is all in your head. Often, depression may be a symptom of another illness or an undiagnosed condition.
Depression help means discussing your concerns with a qualified practitioner. If perhaps you have been unfortunate enough to come across a GP who does not understand depression and who may not evaluate your condition to your satisfaction seek a second opinion. Although the medical world has come a long way in the past decade in the understanding of depression some doctors may not be quite up to date. Professional depression help is available; depression is a real condition and must not be ignored.
Alex Olson wrote a number of highly popular articles on health problems. In them she pays much attention on depression, its causes and treatment.
Posted in Depression Articles by remedy -
Sunday, 21. March 2010
Depression is a very widespread problem today affecting one in four women and one in eight men. Many people are aware of the many symptoms of depression, including feelings of hopelessness or helplessness, obsessive negative thoughts, loss or gain in appetite, insomnia or an increased need for sleep, social withdrawal, irritability and loss of memory or concentration, and recurrent thoughts of death or suicide. It is tempting to think that depression is sadness and the causes of depression will simply disappear and the negative feelings will subside. However, the causes of depression are not so simple, and while a negative event may trigger depression, the causes of depression are not external factors alone. Many of the causes of depression are issues with the sufferer.
Causes of depression are 40 – 70% hereditary and children of depressed children are more likely to be depressed. This would mean that the potential for depression lies in one’s genetic makeup, and a stressor may trigger a latent potential for depression. However those who dispute heredity as one of the causes of depression cite other true observations that those who live with depressed individuals are more likely to be depressed, and a depressed parent may lack parenting skills or the necessary energy or patience to deal with a child properly, and may be one of the causes of depression. It is hard to know who really wins the nature versus nurture argument, but once we learn more about the role heredity plays among the causes of depression, the better we will understand how genes have an impact on our moods.
Whether causes of depression are hereditary or not, there is a physiological basis for the problem, which refutes claims that depression is nothing more than a bad mood that will pass. Low serotonin levels have been shown to be one of the causes of depression, and loss of neurotransmitters in the hippocampus has also been identified as one of the causes of depression. Seasonal affective disorder is also one of the causes of depression, and it has been shown that those who are deprived of light and warmth in the wintertime and become depressed as a result are not merely suffering from the “winter blues” but have a problem caused by the shorter days and longer nights. Seasonal effective disorder can develop into full blown depression if it not treated as one of the series causes of depression. Hormones may also play a role as one of the causes of depression, especially among those women who suffer from Pre Menstrual Syndrome or post-partum depression. In fact, while one out of every four women suffers from depression compared to one in every eight men, this discrepancy disappears among women who have undergone menopause, when there are lower levels of estrogen. More study is needed to determine whether these hormonal fluctuations are actual causes of depression, or merely triggers.
Losing one’s job, getting a divorce or a death in the family may not be actual causes of depression, but they can trigger the problem in those who have a predisposition for the problem. Certainly, such events can cause sadness and a feeling of worthlessness, but if these feelings are not persistent, they are normal aspects of the grieving process and are not causes of depression. However, if the negative feelings are prolonged and obsessive, they may be triggers in setting off depression. There are some physical aliments which are included among causes of depression. Hepatitis and heart conditions can be causes of depression, in addition to Aids and other illnesses which cause weakness and fatigue.
Posted in Depression Articles by remedy -
Saturday, 20. March 2010
Clinical depression goes by many names — depression, “the blues,” biological depression, major depression. But it all refers to the same thing: feeling sad and depressed for weeks or months at a time (not just a passing blue mood), accompanied by feelings of hopelessness, lack of energy, and taking little or no pleasure in things that gave you joy in the past.
Psychiatrists estimate that one in four women and one in ten men can expect to develop depression during their lifetime; depression affects at least one in 50 children under 12 and one in 20 teenagers.
Symptoms
Generally, the symptoms of depression include:
• Feeling sad, hopeless and despairing
• A loss of interest and pleasure in normal activities
• Loss of appetite or weight
• Loss of sex drive
• Sleeping problems, such as an inability to get to sleep or early waking
Types of Depression
Psychotic Depression:
Sufferers of psychotic depression begin to hear and see imaginary things – - sounds, voices and visuals that do not exist. These are referred to as hallucinations, which are generally more common with someone suffering from schizophrenia. The hallucinations are not “positive” like they are with a manic depressive. The sufferer of psychotic depression imagines frightening and negative sounds and images.
Melancholic Depression
Is a more severe depression than non-melancholic depression and is primarily caused by biological factors. It is an uncommon type of depression, affecting only around 1-2% of the population and roughly the same number of males and females. It can occur on its own (unipolar) or as part of Bipolar Disorder.
Major Depression
An individual with major depression feels a profound and constant sense of hopelessness and despair.
Major depression is manifested by a combination of symptoms that interfere with the ability to work, study, sleep, eat and enjoy once pleasurable activities. Such a disabling episode of depression may occur only once but more commonly occurs several times in a lifetime.
Cyclothymic disorder
Cyclothymic disorder is when a person has mild and alternating mood swings of elation and depression occurring over a long time period. Because the mood swings are mild, and the elation is often enjoyable, frequently people with cyclothymic disorder do not seek medical help.
The periods of elation and depression can last for lengthy periods, such as a few months. Often, a person with cyclothymic disorder has a relative with bipolar disorder, or they may develop bipolar disorder themselves.
Psychotic depression –
A depressed mood which includes symptoms of psychosis. Psychosis involves seeing or hearing things that are not there (hallucinations), feeling everyone is against you (paranoia) and having delusions.
Non-melancholic – in this case the depression is not melancholic, or, put simply, not primarily biological. Instead, it has to do with psychological causes, and is very often linked to stressful events in a person’s life, alone, or in conjunction with the individual’s personality style.
Non-melancholic depression is the most common of the three types of depression. People with non-melancholic depression experience:
• a depressed mood for more than two weeks
• social impairment
Posted in Depression Articles by remedy -
Friday, 19. March 2010
The American Heritage Dictionary describes depression as being “a psychiatric disorder characterized by an inability to concentrate, insomnia, loss of appetite, anhedonia, feelings of extreme sadness, guilt, helplessness and hopelessness, and thoughts of death.”
Depression is the common cold of mental disorders — most people will be affected by depression in their lives either directly or indirectly, through a friend or family member. Confusion is commonplace about depression, for example, about what depression exactly is and what makes it different from just feeling down.
The facts
If you are depressed, you may have feelings of extreme sadness that can last for a long time. These feelings are severe enough to interfere with your daily life, and usually last for weeks, or months, rather than days.
Depression can affect people of any age, including children. Studies have shown that 2% of teenagers in the UK, are affected by depression.
Symptoms
generally, the symptoms of depression include:
• Feeling sad, hopeless and despairing
• A loss of interest and pleasure in normal activities
• Loss of appetite or weight
• Loss of sex drive
• Sleeping problems, such as an inability to get to sleep or early waking
Types of Depression
Major Depression
When you hear the term clinical depression, it merely means the depression is severe enough to require treatment. When a person is badly depressed during a single severe period, he or she can be said to have had an episode of clinical depression. More severe symptoms mark the period as an episode of major depression (also known as unipolar depression and major depressive disorder). Many mental health experts say the key to judging this gradation lies in the amount of change a person undergoes in his or her normal patterns along with a loss of interest and a lack of pleasure in them. An almost-daily tennis player, for instance, who began to break her court dates frequently, or a regular bridge player who lost interest in weekly games, might be edging into an episode of major depression. The more severe the depression, the more it is likely to affect its sufferer’s life.
Dysthymia is another mood disorder. People who have it may feel mildly depressed on most days over a period of at least two years. They have many symptoms resembling major depression, but with less severity.
Symptoms of depression may surface with other mood disorders. They include seasonal major depression (also known as seasonal affective disorder), postpartum depression, and bipolar disorder.
Atypical Depression
We think of depression as one thing. It’s not. In this in-depth article, leading depression experts tell WebMD about the many forms of depression.
Psychotic
Psychotic depression is a less common type of depression and its symptoms include an even more severely depressed mood, more severe psychomotor disturbance, and psychotic symptoms (either delusions or hallucinations), and over-valued guilt ruminations. Psychotic depression has a very low spontaneous remission rate. It responds only to physical treatments (such as antidepressant drugs).
Cyclothymic disorder
Cyclothymic disorder is when a person has mild and alternating mood swings of elation and depression occurring over a long time period. Because the mood swings are mild, and the elation is often enjoyable, frequently people with cyclothymic disorder do not seek medical help.
The periods of elation and depression can last for lengthy periods, such as a few months. Often, a person with cyclothymic disorder has a relative with bipolar disorder, or they may develop bipolar disorder themselves.
Posted in Depression Articles by remedy -
Thursday, 18. March 2010
Everyone knows what depression feels like. Everyone feels the blues at times. Sadness, disappointment, and fatigue are natural parts of life. There is a correlation between the blues and clinical depression, but the difference is like the difference between the sniffles and pneumonia.
Depressive disorders are whole person illnesses; they concern the body, feelings, thoughts, and behavior. The depression itself can make us feel as if it’s hopeless to try to find help. The excellent news is that 80 to 90 percent of people with depression can be treated successfully, but the bad news is that only one sufferer in three seeks treatment. More bad news is that almost half the American public see depression as a character defect, rather than an illness or emotional disorder. In addition, only half of all cases of depression are correctly diagnosed, and only half of those get satisfactory treatment.
We tend to confuse depression, sadness, and grief. But the opposite of depression is not happiness, but vitality – the ability to experience a full range of emotion, including happiness, excitement, sadness, and grief. Depression is not an emotion itself. It’s not sadness or grief, it’s an illness. When we feel at our worst, sad, self-absorbed, and helpless, we are experiencing what people with depression experience, but they don’t recover from those moods without help.
The trademark of depression is a unrelenting sad or empty mood, sometimes experienced as tension or anxiety. Life shortage of pleasure. People with minor depressions may go through the motions of eating, sex, work, or play, but the activities appear shallow; people with more severe depression withdraw from these activities, feeling too drained, tense, or hostile to contribute. There is often a nagging fatigue, a sense of being powerless to focus, a feeling of being ineffective.
People with depression usually experience a lowered self-esteem. In a depression, you may feel that you are a helpless victim of fate, but also feel that you don’t deserve any better. Feelings of guilt, dishonor, and misery are common.
There are often a host of physical symptoms, of which sleep disturbances are key. People may have difficulty falling asleep or may get up early without feeling refreshed. Others may sleep excessively, again without feeling rested. Appetite may increase or decrease. There may be difficulty in sexual functioning. There may be harassing aches and pains that don’t respond to medical treatment. But there are physical illnesses that cause symptoms like depression – Lyme depression, diabetes, thyroid conditions, anemia – and depressions can cause physical symptoms like other diseases.
If you are feeling depressed, it is important to be sure that an underlying health problem does not exist, and you should see your physician for a checkup. At the same time, if you know you have a health problem and are feeling depressed, don’t imagine you will feel better once the health problem is under control.
There is a sequential process in the recognition of depression. First is a stage of confused pain in which the sufferer knows he suffers, but doesn’t know why. People often blame circumstances. Adolescents blame their home lives, married people blame their spouses, and employees blame their bosses. But there is acknowledgment that the pain is not ordinary.
The second stage is recognition that something is definatley amiss. It may be that external circumstances have changed but the pain keeps on going, or it may be a gradual recognition that the suffering is so dangerous that circumstances can’t be blamed. This is a painful recognition that often takes years. It is an acknowledgment of a damaged self. But because of the nature of depression, the self-blame and guilt that are manifestations of the disease, this acceptance does not always lead to searching for help.
People then may move to the third stage, a crisis that habitually leads to professional intervention and diagnosis. It is often a suicide attempt or psychiatric hospitalization. The diagnosis often supplies hope, that treatment or a cure is possible, and explanation, a way to understand what has only been confusion before. The fact is that this is a diagnosis of a mental illness, with all the shame and stigma that that entails.
The fourth stage involves acceptance of an illness identity. Depression comes to be seen as an outside agent invading the self, rather than as a manifestation of the self.
It is essential that anyone suffering from depression gets good help from a competent, qualified professional. If the warning signs are obvious, always seek a professional diagnosis. Going to a health professional with your troubles could prove, at worse, embarrassing, if the problem is really just a seasonal case of the blues that can be dealt with without medical intervention, but the potential cost of failing to diagnose a serious case of depression should far outweigh any concern about potential embarrassment.
Posted in Depression Articles by remedy -
Wednesday, 17. March 2010
Some people call it the ‘pits’ and some people call it the ‘blues’ and some just call it ‘feeling down in the dumps’. But whatever you may call it, being depressed is a terrible feeling.
The most common types of depression are:
Major Depression, which is characterized by a sad mood, sleep disorders, and a decreased or absent appetite. Often when a person is in a major depression, the person feels a complete lack of drive and motivation and the sufferer lacks the desire to do anything in life. Some people are completely disabled by depression, and some even consider suicide.
Dysthymia: This is a less severe type of long term depression that typically does not completely disable the individual. But it prevents the person from feeling motivated and functioning at optimum levels. Sometimes people who are suffering with Dysthymia also suffer from Major Depression, and when this occurs it is called double-depression.
Manic Depression is also called Bipolar Disorder. This type of depression is not as common as Dysthymia or major depression. It involves cycles of a manic state, alternated with a depressed state. This is often a long term recurring disorder. Sometimes the mood swings occur suddenly. But generally speaking, they tend to be gradual.
There are many variations of depression; the types described here are only three of the most common.
Some of the symptoms of depression include:
Sadness; anxiety; pessimism; insomnia and other sleep disorders; feelings of worthlessness; guilt; restlessness; pain; fatigue; weight loss; headaches; and thoughts of suicide.
Sources of Depression:
As previously stated, there are several types of depression: Major Depression; Manic Depression; and Dysthymia being three of the more common forms.
Many types of depression are hereditary. Living in a stressful environment can lead to depression. A traumatic experience such as a serious loss, relationship problems, or financial trouble can also lead to depression.
Women are twice as likely to suffer from depression as men are, but scientists do not know why.
If you suffer from depression, you will want to seek the advice of your physician. He may prescribe medication for you. But keep in mind that every medication has side effects.
Wouldn’t it be phenomenal if you could regulate and eliminate your depression just by having certain thoughts? I know that this sounds too good to be true, but very often, various types of depression are caused by thinking negative thoughts.
Don’t believe me? Then try it out! It’s really quite basic and simple. Just imagine something that you feel is very troubling or sad. Go ahead, think about it right now! Then come back to this article.
Okay, so what happened? If you really focused and visualized the sad situation, you began to feel sad and a little depressed. And the longer you allow yourself to remain in that thought pattern, the sadder you will feel. As you stay in sad thoughts and keep feeling sadder, you lead yourself into a gradually intensifying depression.
The good news is that if you focus on a happy thought, then you will displace that sadness and depression and have happy feelings instead.
Listen closely now, because here are the keys to eliminating your depression: Our persistent thoughts spring forth from the unconscious mind. These are the thoughts that we find ourselves automatically thinking about during the day.
If the persistent thoughts that keep recurring in your mind are about your problems or sad experiences, then you raise your levels of anxiety, stress, and depression.
But here is the ‘Light at the end of the tunnel’: Since hypnosis can be used to alter our unconscious thoughts, NLP and self hypnosis stress management CDs will rapidly alter the way that you think, feel, and behave. The interesting thing is that the exact same techniques that work for stress management also work just as well for eliminating depression!
Now I’m going to tell you exactly how and why it is going to happen. Hypnosis is a natural state of mind. Specifically, it is the Alpha state of consciousness. We go through the Alpha state as we are falling asleep at night. And we go through it again as we wake up in the morning. We also enter the Alpha state when we are daydreaming and imagining.
The unconscious mind is the seat of our emotions, and it is like a computer; the input controls the output! Hypnosis therapy is a wonderful tool for reaching directly into the unconscious mind and reprogramming it to automatically divert you away from negative thoughts, and promote positive thinking. It’s a tool that allows you to bypass the consciousness to create positive expectations, which will in turn generate positive feelings. You can overcome depression by using hypnosis therapy.
Alan B. Densky, CH is an NGH certified hypnotherapist. He has helped thousands of clients since 1978. He offers CDs for self-hypnosis depression therapy. Visit his Neuro-VISION self-hypnosis website for the hypnosis article index, or watch his free video hypnosis collection. http://www.neuro-vision.us/
Posted in Depression Articles by remedy -
Tuesday, 16. March 2010
The general definition of depression is a psychological disorder that affects a person’s mood changes, physical functions and social interactions.
Depression is an illness in which factors such as genetics, chemical changes in the body and external events may play an important role. is a psychological condition that changes how you think and feel, and also affects your social behavior and sense of physical well-being.
Depression Symptoms : There are lots of reasons for a person to get depressed but you can easily identify the symptoms of depression and help the person to overcome it. Few symptoms are easily identifiable .The symptoms like Over weight or loss of weight, insomnia or excessive sleep can be the symptoms of depression.
Although it is often classed as ‘mental illness’, clinical depression often has as many physical symptoms as mental. The feelings or emotions that are depression symptoms actually begin to cause the physical effects. How this happens is a vital part of understanding depression and the symptoms that come with it.
Depression Causes : There is no single cause of depression. Early life experience, genetic predisposition, lifestyle factors, and certain personality traits all play a part in causing depression. Something that causes depression in one person may have no effect on another.
The causes of depression are many. Depression is a complex disease that can occur as a result of a multitude of factors. For some, depression occurs due to a loss of a loved one, a change in one’s life, or after being diagnosed with a serious medical disease. For others, depression just happened, possibly due to their family history.
Depression Remedies: Herbal remedies are used by many people suffering from anxiety or depression. It is therefore important to know whether they generate more good than harm. A systematic review of the published literature revealed trial data for Ginkgo biloba, Lavandula angustifolia, Hypericum perforatum, Valeriana officinalis, Crataegus oxyacantha, Eschscholzia californica, Matricaria recutita, Melissa officinalis, Passiflora incarnate and Piper methysticum.
Relaxation and meditation are also effective measures in the treatment of depression. The best method of relaxation is to practice shavasana or the dead pose. Meditation involves training the mind to remain fixed on a particular external or internal location. Mediation helps to create balance in the nervous system. One of the Effective Home Remedies for Depression.
Depression Treatment: Psychological treatment of depression (psychotherapy) assists the depressed individual in several ways. First, supportive counseling helps ease the pain of depression, and addresses the feelings of hopelessness that accompany depression.
Depression is not a disease, which you can leave untreated no matter what is the intensity of depression it needs treatment. As depression is a recurrent illness, it is suggested that successful short-term treatment be pooled with ongoing, maintenance therapy. A person suffering from depression can have chronic mental illness that requires medication and psychiatric therapy together.
Posted in Depression Articles by remedy -
Monday, 15. March 2010
A lot has been said, written and preached about depression. Many researches and analysis have been made in this regard. Some people feel that it is a stage where one feels similar to a black curtain of despair clouded over their lives. Others feel really irritable and that no energy is left in them to lead a happy life.
When it comes to symptoms of depression, these tend to vary from one person to other. However, when you feel that depression has become an integral part of your life and has not been going away even after two weeks of complete existence, it becomes important to visit a health care practitioner.
Some people are able to overcome depression easily but others take it to heart and get seriously ill. Once, this disorder takes a serious form, it becomes really difficult to handle. However, several treatments are available and the best part is that almost all these treatments are effective and can help the patient to overcome the trauma.
Most people who have once faced a phase of depression in their lives may again experience it in future. Don’t take it lightly if the symptoms persist for too long. Visiting a doctor and discussing your problems with him will help you a lot.
Unfortunately, a lot of people with depression never try to get a professional help. Treating depression is important because the disorder tends to affect your family and loved ones. The treatments given for depression are really effective.
Most people make a mistake of thinking that depression as an untreatable disease. However, the truth is completely reverse. Depression is completely treatable. Some people under depression often try to harm themselves just because they think that their condition will never change. Hence, it becomes extremely necessary to take effective measures to treat this disorder.
Life with depression is not difficult if you learn to manage it or take professional help to treat it. Once you meet a doctor, he may prescribe you different medications according to your health condition. He may also recommend you to see a therapist or even ask you to make certain changes in your lifestyle to come out of the stage of depression.
The patient needs to keep in mind that change will not happen overnight. However, with correct and adequate treatment you can protection yourself from depression and its serious symptoms.
Depression can be caused by a lot of factors. One of the main factors that helps in triggering this disorder is a type of chemical change that affects the functioning of the brain.
Anyone can suffer from depression. However, the condition is more common among men, women and the elderly.
According to a research, about 21 million people suffer from depression. The disorder affects a lot in the way one feels about oneself. The whole process involves the individual’s body, thoughts and mood. In case, a person is depressed, it can affect the sleeping and eating related activities. Feeling blue is entirely different from suffering from depression.
In case, a person with depression is unable to get proper treatment, it is going to affect his life in a different way.
Depression is primarily divided into three main types such as dysthymia, depression and bipolar disorder. Keep track of the symptoms of depression and get it treated on time.
Posted in Depression Articles by remedy -
Sunday, 14. March 2010
If you’re currently feeling so out of it, totally out of your normal system and just basically hating and ignoring almost, always everything and anyone that comes along, try to get yourself checked by a psychiatrist because you those little mood swings and erratic Ally McBeal-ish behavior that you’re trying to ignore for some long may actually be symptoms of depression. Act fast because if you do, it’ll certainly be a lot harder for you to be able to have yourself cured from this illness, especially once self-delusion starts to kick in. Actually start by hauling your depressed ass into the hospital and get yourself diagnosed by a reputable psychiatrist, one that’ll actually help you with your depression concerns, answer all the possible questions that you may have when it comes to depression as well as provide you with the best available to depression treatment that’ll make you give yourself some good-old, yet extremly effective depression help. All it needs is the right attitude. After actually being honest with yourself when it comes to actually being a patient who is suffering from depression, quit turning youself into a victim and find out from these various types of depression the actual one that you’re suffering from: Manic or Bipolar depression – characterized by sudden and extreme changes in one’s mood wherein one minute he or she is in an elevated state of euphoria while the next minute (day or week) he or she is feeling to be in a personal hell, Postpartum depression – characterized by a prolonged sadness and a feeling of emptiness by a new mother wherein physical stress during child birth, an uncertain sense of responsibility towards the new born baby can be just some of the possible factors why some new mother go through this, Dysthimia – characterized by a slight similarity with depression, although this time, it’s been proven to be a lot less severe, but of course with any case, should be treated immediately, Cyclothemia – characterized by a slight similarity with Manic or Bipolar depression wherein the individual suffering from this mental illness may occasionally suffer from severe changes in one’s moods, Seasonal Affective Disorder – characterized by falling in a rut only during specific seasons (i.e. Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall) studies however, prove that more people actually fall in to a rut more during the Winter and Fall seasons and lastly, Mood swings, wherein a person’s mood may shift from happy to sad to angry in just a short time. But in spite of how scary or how daunting a task is the road towards a sound mental health is, depression help abounds and is just up to you if you’re willing to take in some of that depression help, may it be from your family, friends, support group and mainly starting from yourself, there really is a lot of depression help to go around. The old adage, slowly but surely greatly applies in trying to treat depression, as the patient continues taking the prescribed medicines for his/her depression treatment, as well as the corresponding therapy sessions with the cognitive behavior therapist, a patient being treated from depression needs all the support and depression help that he or she can get. While being treated for depression, the patient as well as his or her family and other loved ones are advised to make realistic goals concerning depression wherein, to not assume that their depression can be easily treated in a snap. Depression help begins with trying to understand the patient’s situation and continue on being patient as well as always extending your help because depression help is never easy nor is the depression treatment itself, which is why both patients and loved ones need to help each other out through every step of the way. Never set goals that are high above your reach, give yourself some depression help by not being too hard on yourself, believe that you are good and strong enough to achieve your goals but only one step at a time.
Posted in Depression Articles by remedy -
Saturday, 13. March 2010
This book is for the ‘Average Joe’ in this country who likes information given in an understandable way. You want it kept simple and you don’t need to read about all the technical stuff behind the subject. Depression happens to the average Joe all the time and most of us who have it don’t get treated for it. That’s a shame because depression is one of the most treatable diseases. I hope that if you understand it and know that it isn’t something to hide, cover up, or ignore, your can have the power to beat it. At the very least, 30% of the American population suffer from a depression. The economic cost is out of sight but the cost in suffering for those who are depressed can never really be counted. Depression can not only destroy persons suffering with it, but everyone around them who cares about them. A serious major depression can ruin a family if left untreated. This is really bad news! The good news is that there is quick treatment and relief available for depression sufferers. However, the majority of people who get depressed do not get treated. We have now learned that depression is mostly due to a chemical imbalance or mix-up in the brain. These mix-ups can be treated with medications. The medications available now can help you save your life or that of someone you love. Depression is treatable, just like high blood pressure, diabetes, and an ulcer. It is simply a matter of reaching out for help, getting the right medication, and following directions. Think of this as like having a car that goes on the blink. You wouldn’t ignore trouble signs like an engine light flashing and think you could just keep on driving. You would investigate what was going on, get someone with training to check out your car, and fix whatever went wrong. Same thing applies if you develop a temperature over 102, are dripping with sweat, and become weaker and weaker. You know something has to be done, and done quickly. It is exactly the same when you experience depression. Something is terribly wrong and you must act. I used to tell my new clients to think of themselves coming in to see me for a tune up, not a major overhaul. You won’t need the big overhaul if you take action quickly. How do you know if you have depression? There are some things that really stand out which can help you decide if a depression is going on. It involves your mood, your thoughts, your appetite, your sleep, and your feelings of self esteem. It is not just the blahs or the blues. Everybody has a few days or more when they feel down and sad. This is different. It’s not like the normal experience of sadness you have when things go wrong or when you are disappointed and hurt. This is an emotional pit you’ve fallen into which affects your family, your job, and your whole life. It’s a horrible feeling of hopelessness, of failure, of knowing that there is no way to make things better. You actually do ‘drag’ yourself along, going through the motions at home and work, thinking that you would rather hide in a cave and avoid everyone. If you are depressed you cannot just ‘get it together’, put a smiley face on, square your shoulders, and get a stiff upper lip. No matter how hard you try to lift yourself up, you can’t. And it tends to get worse, not better. If you don’t get treatment, this can last for months or even years. Why put yourself through something this awful when the right medication can get you back on track, able to feel better quickly? There are some facts that will help you agree that it is good to know about depression, understand the symptoms, and get the treatment which will help. Depression is not something that you have made up in your head. It’s feeling “down” and “low” and “hopeless” for months at a time. Depression can affect people at any age, of any race, any ethnic, or any economic group. It doesn’t just happen to soft people and is truly an equal opportunity illness. It is not a form of weakness but is a serious health problem, like any other illness. It is not something which should be hidden or anything to be embarrassed about. The names of famous people who have suffered from depression like David Letterman, Mike Wallace, Terry Bradshaw, Wynona Ryder, Delta Burke, Tipper Gore, Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, and so many more tell us that celebrities who seem to have all the breaks have suffered with depression. Depression is a thief. It comes into your life, steals your energy and self esteem, and whispers to you that you are worthless. It shoves you down deeper into the bottom of the pit where no angels want to go. It can drive you to actually think about suicide, getting it over with, and ending the agony which has made your life pure hell. This book is intended to help you understand depression by giving you information that you will be able to understand. You will not have to have a Ph.D. to get through these chapters and by the time you have finished, you will know a lot. After reading this paragraph you won’t have to think about ‘genetic implications’ or such things as ‘human leukocyte antigen’. You may even surprise yourself with how much you have learned about depression and how to deal with it. I hope you will feel comfortable reading and rereading chapters that seem to have real meaning for you. You are the reason this book has been written.
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