Mental health struggles have always been really hard for everyone. Depression is one of the most serious ones. It is a mood disorder when a person may feel a certain emotion or several emotions all at once. These emotions may include sadness, anger, frustration, feeling of loss, and sometimes feeling numb. These are not to be taken lightly as they intervene in the person’s daily activities suffering from them.
Due to the lack of awareness, people tend to confuse depression with other things. The symptoms of depression are similar to that of grief and sadness. An example of grief is the feeling you experience after you lose a loved one. Depression leads to a loss of self-esteem, and you might feel lost. This is not the case with grief. That is why depression is a serious condition. Without any proper treatment, it could just get worse. If you have asthma, cancer, obesity, arthritis, diabetes, or cardiovascular disease, your depression could be worsened.
Symptoms Of Depression
The symptoms of depression vary from person to person. However, we will discuss most of them below:
- You may cry a lot.
- You may feel lost, anxious, sad, empty, worried, angry, hopeless, worthless, and annoyed.
- You may lose all interest in the things you used to love.
- Your energy might fall down, and you could face difficulty in concentrating at all.
- Your sleep schedule may change a lot. You might either oversleep or not sleep at all.
- You will see changes in your appetite and face some physical issues like digestive issues, random chest pains, etc.
- You might have thoughts of self-harm and suicide.
- You might see a decrease in your sexual desire or a lack of good sexual performance.
Causes Of Depression
Depression may be caused due to several reasons. Let’s take a look at those:
Chemical Imbalance
Your brain could experience a chemical imbalance in the special parts that manage your moods, thoughts, appetite, and sleep.
Hormonal Changes
The hormonal changes that females go through when they have their menstruation or nearby also cause depression. The hormones like Estrogen and Progesterone play a major role in this regard.
Family History
Depression could be passed to you by any one of your family who previously had it. It can be seen as a genetic disorder as well.
Trauma
One can experience trauma at any age. If that trauma is not addressed, there is a chance that the trauma will develop into depression.
Substance Use
If you are addicted to any form of intoxication, there is a slight chance that you might start seeing symptoms of depression.
Pain
If you are suffering from any illness that causes you a lot of pain, you could go into depression after a long time of tolerating the pain.
Treatment Of Depression
There are several approaches to the treatment of depression. Take a close look at them:
Self Help
This is something that comes from within. It is tough to get yourself to give the help you need when you are suffering from depression. However, certain things you can do to help yourself are exercise, get proper sleep, work on new habits and the old ones you loved, practice self-love, and spend some extra time with the people you love.
Counselling
This involves talking to a mental health professional about your problems and worries. This has proven to be of great help for many people suffering from depression. Therapists are not here to provide you with a solution to your problems, but they will help you address and acknowledge what you need to do to help yourself. In short, they help you help yourself.
Alternative Therapy
If you have mild symptoms of depression, counselling and self-help are the best for you. However, an alternative therapy is a good option too. These include hypnosis, acupuncture, and biofeedback.
Medication
If your depression is extreme and the treatments mentioned above are not helping you, you should go to a psychiatrist. They will understand your symptoms and feelings and prescribe medicines to help you.
Brain Stimulation Therapy
This is also of great help to people who have severe depression or depression with psychosis. These include electroconvulsive therapy, transcranial magnetic stimulation, and vagus nerve stimulation.
What Next?
If you are facing any symptoms of depression, try to look closely and understand what is going on. You must address this as soon as you can. If you get aware of your depression in its early stages, it can be cured without medication. Self-help and counselling can help you in your early stages. However, it will not be sufficient at a later stage, and you will have to start with medication.
