Depression

Many people wonder “When does ‘feeling down’ cross the line into depression?”

It is believed that depression does cause low self-esteem and anxiety. Depression can also be a life-threatening illness when there is a risk of suicide. Depression is an illness in which factors such as genetics, chemical changes in the body and external events may play an important role.

Depression can leave you feeling helpless and out of control of your life, your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. In considering whether you need help with depression, it might be useful to consider the following three dimensions: Frequency, Severity and Duration.

How often do you feel down or depressed? Other times, however, the reasons for our depression are not quite as clear; that is, there may not be just one “cause,” but a variety of contributing factors that accumulate over time and lead us to that feeling of being defeated, demoralized, hopeless, helpless, depressed.

There are actually a lot of things you can do about depression. So any changes you can make for the better, though they may not “fix” the depression or make it go away immediately, are definitely worth doing. So for instance, you may realize that relationship problems are a key contributor to your depression, and decide that assertiveness or communications training would really help remedy that situation.

You could start coping with depression by developing a more healthy, balanced diet. For more serious depressions, psychiatrists sometimes prescribe anti-depressant medications to help get the person back on track more quickly. Medications generally are not seen as substitutes for therapy, but work best together with therapy not only to relieve the depressive symptoms but to enhance the person’s understanding of the depression and expand his or her coping strategies for dealing with the conditions that led to depression in the first place.

Alcohol and drugs can make your depression worse. Taking birth control pills can also contribute to your depression Since depression can leave you feeling exhausted or helpless, getting support from others at this time is very important.

A psychiatrist is specially trained in the use of medication to treat depression. If you are experiencing this kind of depression, you may have been feeling sad, irritable, a downturn in your mood or depressed most of every day for weeks, if not months. These are all signs of a serious depression. People suffering from depression cannot merely expect to “pull themselves together” and get better. The diagnosis of depression is based on the recognition of certain characteristic signs and symptoms affecting your mood state, thinking patterns and physical well-being.

At present, there is no blood test that can confirm or eliminate the diagnosis of depression. However, there is always a chance that your depression may return once a medication is stopped. There are approximately 20 antidepressants currently available and approved for the treatment of depression. The goal of treatment is to effectively eliminate depression with a medication that produces minimal problems or adverse effects. Antidepressants are a relatively safe treatment option in otherwise healthy individuals being treated for depression. Treatment of depression is an ongoing process, with your doctor monitoring and “fine tuning” your medication, depending on how it is working for you.

There are many “natural” substances that you can use to treat depression. John’s Wort is often used for the treatment of depression. But you can also consider: Essential Fatty Acids, Flower essences and Homeopathy

Diet and exercise is very important because what you eat can affect your mood dramatically. Make sure to get weekly servings of Omega-3 rich foods. Avoid any thing with sugar contents,caffeine or any alcoholic drinks. Be disciplined about exercise especially aerobic activities as exercise is effective as antidepressants for major depression. All forms of movement can help such as, swimming, bicycling, yoga, long walks, dancing.

I strongly suggest you write in a journal even if it’s just a few words a day, to keep track of how you’re feeling both when you’re up and down.

This will help you tremendously in understanding what triggers your depression and help you find a way to deal with your problems. With the right tools it is possible to work through this problem.