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Depression

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How is depression different from sadness? It is normal to feel sad, and moving far away from your country, your family, or losing your job all can make you feel sad and depressed. If your sadness continues for longer than two weeks it is possible you may be experiencing clinical depression and should talk with a healthcare professional. Clinical depression is a serious, but treatable illness, just like diabetes and high blood pressure. It is a chemical imbalance inside you that makes you feel this way.

Factors involved in causing depression

• Having someone in your family with depression.
• Major events that happen in everyone’s lives like moving, graduating, or getting married.
• Sadness from the loss of a loved one, serious illness, problems with people.
• Certain medications, physical, sexual, or emotional abuse, and alcohol or drug abuse also contribute to depression.

In many people, there is not a specific cause of depression except for the chemical imbalance we mentioned earlier.

Signs of depression

Five or more of the following symptoms present during the same two week period indicate that you may be suffering from depression and should be evaluated:

• Sad or depressed mood most of the day.
• Not wanting to do anything or nothing makes you happy anymore on most days.
• Lost or gained a lot of weight when not dieting, or don’t have an appetite nearly every day.
• Cannot sleep, or want to sleep, most of the time.
• Nervous most of the time.
• Tired all the time; no energy to do anything almost every day.
• Feeling like you are not worth anything or guilty most of the time.
• Have problems thinking, keeping thoughts in your mind, or making decisions almost every day.
• Recurrent thoughts of death, hurting yourself, or killing yourself.

Is depression treatable?

Yes, depression is treatable.

Clinical depression is one of the most treatable of all medical illnesses. More than 80% of people with depression can be treated successfully with medication, therapy, or a combination of both. Some people believe that having depression means you are “crazy” or “out of your mind”. This way of thinking is simply wrong. Like any other serious illness, you can’t treat it yourself. Clinical depression requires professional treatment.

Medicine for depression is usually taken once daily. It may take as long as 3-4 weeks for the medicine to help. Most people need to take the medicine for 6 months or longer. Get refills before you run out and do not stop suddenly.

Kim Peoples & Albert Guerrero