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DEPRESSION

Definition:

Depression is more than just sadness. People with depression may experience a lack of interest and pleasure in daily activities, significant weight loss or gain, insomnia or excessive sleeping, lack of energy, inability to concentrate, feelings of worthlessness or excessive guilt and recurrent thoughts of death or suicide.Depression is the most common mental disorder. Fortunately, depression is treatable. A combination of therapy and antidepressant medication can help ensure recovery.

Symptoms:

How to Recognize Depression Symptoms and Get Effective Help:

The normal ups and downs of life mean that everyone feels sad or has "the blues" from time to time. But if

emptiness and despair have taken hold of your life and won't go away, you may have depression.

Depression makes it tough to function and enjoy life like you once did. Just getting through the day can be

overwhelming. But no matter how hopeless you feel, you can get better. Understanding the signs,

symptoms, causes, and treatment of depression is the first step to overcoming the problem.

Feelings of helplessness and hopelessness. A bleak outlook—nothing will ever get better and there’s nothing you can do to improve your situation.

Loss of interest in daily activities. No interest in former hobbies, pastimes, social activities, or sex. You’ve lost your ability to feel joy and pleasure.

Appetite or weight changes. Significant weight loss or weight gain—a change of more than 5% of body weight in a month.

Sleep changes. Either insomnia, especially waking in the early hours of the morning, or oversleeping (also known as hypersomnia).

Anger or irritability. Feeling agitated, restless, or even violent. Your tolerance level is low, your temper short, and everything and everyone gets on your nerves.

Loss of energy. Feeling fatigued, sluggish, and physically drained. Your whole body may feel heavy, and even small tasks are exhausting or take longer to complete.

Self-loathing. Strong feelings of worthlessness or guilt. You harshly criticize yourself for perceived faults and mistakes.

Reckless behavior. You engage in escapist behavior such as substance abuse, compulsive gambling, reckless driving, or dangerous sports.

Concentration problems. Trouble focusing, making decisions, or remembering things. Unexplained aches and pains. An increase in physical complaints such as headaches, back

pain, aching muscles, and stomach pain.

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Causes:

You may have heard people talk about chemical imbalances in the brain that occur in depression, suggesting that depression is a medical illness, without psychological causes. However, all psychological problems have some physical manifestations, and all physical illnesses have psychological components as well. In fact, the chemical imbalances that occur during depression usually disappear when you complete psychotherapy for depression, without taking any medications to correct the imbalance. This suggests that the imbalance is the body's physical response to psychological depression, rather than the other way around.

Some types of depression do seem to run in families, suggesting a biological vulnerability. This seems to be the case with bipolar depression and, to a lesser degree, severe major depression. Studies of families, in which members of each generation develop bipolar disorder, found that those with bipolar disorder have a somewhat different genetic makeup than those who are not diagnosed.

However, the reverse is not true. Not everybody with the genetic makeup that causes this vulnerability to bipolar disorder develops the disorder. Additional factors, such as stress and other psychological factors, are involved in its onset as well. Likewise, major depression also seems to occur, generation after generation, in some families, but not with a frequency that suggests clear biological causes. Additionally, it also occurs in people who have no family history of depression. So, while there may be some biological factors that contribute to depression, it is clearly a psychological disorder.

A variety of psychological factors appear to play a role in vulnerability to these severe forms of depression. Most likely, psychological factors are completely responsible for other forms of mild and moderate depression, especially reactive depression. Reactive depression is usually diagnosed as an adjustment disorder during treatment.

People who have low self-esteem, who consistently view themselves and the world with pessimism, or who are readily overwhelmed by stress are more prone to depression. Psychologists often describe social learning factors as being significant in the development of depression, as well as other psychological problems. People learn both adaptive and maladaptive ways of managing stress and responding to life problems within their family, educational, social and work environments. These environmental factors influence psychological development, and the way people try to resolve problems when they occur. Social learning factors also explain why psychological problems appear to occur more often in family members, from generation to generation.  If a child grows up in a pessimistic environment, in which discouragement is common and encouragement is rare, that child will develop a vulnerability to depression as well. 

A serious loss, chronic illness, relationship problems, work stress, family crisis, financial setback, or any unwelcome life change can trigger a depressive episode. Very often, a combination of biological, psychological, and environmental factors are involved in the development of depressive disorders, as well as other psychological problems. When you feel depressed, and don't know where to turn, talk to someone who can help.

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Psychological treatments for depression:Psychological treatments (also known as talking therapies) help people with depression to change negative patterns of thinking and improve their coping skills so they are better equipped to deal with life's stresses and conflicts. Psychological therapies may not only help a person to recover, but can also help to prevent the depression from reoccurring.

There are several types of psychological treatments shown to be effective in the treatment of depression:

Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT):CBT is a structured psychological treatment which recognizes that a person's way of thinking (cognition) and acting (behaviour) affects the way they feel. CBT is one of the most effective treatments for depression, and has been found to be useful for a wide range of people, including children, adolescents, adults and older people.

In CBT, a person works with a professional (therapist) to identify the patterns of thought and behaviour that are either making them more likely to become depressed, or stopping them from improving once they become depressed.

CBT has an emphasis on changing thoughts and behaviour by teaching people to think rationally about common difficulties, helping them to shift their negative or unhelpful thought patterns and reactions to a more realistic, positive and problem-solving approach.

CBT is also well-suited to being delivered electronically (often called e-therapies).

Interpersonal therapy (IPT):IPT is a structured psychological therapy that focuses on problems in personal relationships and the skills required to deal with these problems. IPT is based on the idea that relationship problems can have a significant impact on a person experiencing depression, and can even contribute to the cause.

IPT is thought to work by helping people to recognize patterns in their relationships that make them more vulnerable to depression. Identifying these patterns means they can focus on improving relationships, coping with grief and finding new ways to get along with others.

Behaviour therapy:Behaviour therapy is a major component of cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), but behaviour therapy focuses exclusively on increasing a person's level of activity and pleasure in their life. Unlike CBT, it does not focus on changing the person's beliefs and attitudes. Instead it focuses on encouraging people to undertake activities that are rewarding, pleasant or give a sense of satisfaction, in an effort to reverse the patterns of avoidance, withdrawal and inactivity that make depression worse.

Mindfulness based cognitive therapy (MBCT):MBCT is generally delivered in groups and involves learning a type of meditation called 'mindfulness meditation'. This meditation teaches people to focus on the very present moment, just noticing whatever they are experiencing, be it pleasant or unpleasant, without trying to change it. At first, this approach is used to focus on physical sensations (like breathing), but later it is used to focus on feelings and thoughts.

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MBCT helps people to stop their mind wandering off into thoughts about the future or the past, or trying to avoid unpleasant thoughts and feelings. This is thought to be helpful in preventing depression from returning because it allows people to notice feelings of sadness and negative thinking patterns early on, before they have become fixed. It therefore helps the person to deal with these early warning signs better.