Depression (major depression)

In this world, depression is considered to be one of the most familiar health conditions. Although depression cannot be categorised as weakness, but you cannot even come out of it immediately. Depression can be classified into clinical depression and main depression disorder. It is normally a medical sickness which involves both body and mind. It affects the way you think as well as your behaviour and can cause different types of emotional as well as physical problems. When you are suffering from depression, you will not be able to carry out your regular activities. It might make you feel burdened at times and your existence would be felt as a mare waste by you.

Today most of the health experts consider depression as a chronic sickness which requires long term treatment, something like high blood pressure or diabetes. Even though, few people experience just a single episode of depression, but majority of them go through frequent episodes of depression symptoms all though their lives.

Effective diagnosis as well as treatment can prove to be of great help in reducing the most serious depression symptoms. With effective treatment, many of patients who are suffering from depression would start feeling better within weeks. After this, they will be able to get back to their regular routines.

Depression symptoms are –

• Feeling down or sad
• Irritability
• Feeling worthless
• Feeling hopeless
• Have no interest to do the daily activities
• No interest in sexual activities
• Problems in sleeping
• Feeling weak
• Feeling fatigued
• Keep crying for unwanted stuffs
• Being easily irritated
• Restlessness
• With no intention gain weight or lose weight
• Trouble in concentration or focusing
• Think of committing suicide or have suicidal behaviour
• Find difficult to make decision
• Couldn’t be explained physical problem, like headaches or back pain

The symptoms of depression would vary from person to person, mainly because different people experience depression in different ways. For example, a twenty five old person will not have the same depression symptoms as a seventy year old man. For few of them, the symptoms of depression are quite serious that their actions make it obvious to others that something is wrong somewhere. On the other hand, some people might usually feel unhappy or miserable without knowing the actual cause.

Causes

It has not yet been proved or detected the actual cause of depression. As for numerous mental sicknesses, it is believed that a range of genetic, environmental and biochemical factors might cause depression.

Environmental – It is said that the environment also may be the cause to some extent. The environment causes are those situations in the life which you find difficult to handle, like losing your loved ones, high stress and financial problems.

Genes – Few studies have shown that depression is most common in individuals who have a family history of the same problem. Researches are being conducted in order to find which genes are responsible for this.

Biochemical – Some of the reports which have been obtained from the studies of high tech imaging indicate that individuals suffering from depression go through physical changes in their brains. The importance of these changes is still not revealed but might ultimately be considered as one of the causes. The brain chemical known as neurotransmitter is naturally occurring and it is connected to the mood, even this might play an important role in causing depression. Hormonal imbalance can also be considered as one of the causes.

Drugs and treatment

Many treatments for the depression are available in the market. Standard treatments of depression are as follows:
Medications – There are numerous medications available in the market to treat depression. Few of the medications are antidepressants and these have been particularly approved by Food and Drug Administration. You could either opt for these types of medications without any prescriptions or go for the one which is prescribed by your doctor.

Psychotherapy – This is considered as another important depression treatment. It is frequently utilised with the medication treatment. Psychotherapy is a general method which is used as a treatment for the patients suffering from depression. A conversation is carried out with the patient on his health condition as well as related issues along with the mental health. There are many kinds of psychotherapy treatments which are effective when it comes to depression illness like cognitive behavioural therapy, psychodynamic psychotherapy and interpersonal therapy.

Electroconvulsive therapy –

In the electroconvulsive therapy, electric shocks are passed in your brain in order to activate a seizure.

Prevention

As we all know that prevention is always better than cure but the saddest part here is that there is no option of preventing from depression. But, steps could be taken to restrain stress, to maximize you resilience as well as increase self worth. Social support and friendship, particularly at the times of difficulty and hardship could help you, no matter how tough the situation is. Additionally, getting yourself treated as soon as you get aware of the symptoms, could help in preventing from depression. Long lasting maintenance treatment will help to prevent the relapse of the depression symptoms.

Life style and home remedies

Depression is normally not considered as that type of sickness which cannot be treated at home. However you could do few things independently which would help in building up your treatment program. You could utilise the home remedy along with the professional treatment. All you have to do is follow the steps given below for depression –

Stick to the treatment program. Never skip the therapy sessions, no matter what you are going through.

Follow your treatment as prescribed. Though you are feeling alright, don’t ignore the treatments. In case, if you don’t continue it, there are possibilities that the symptoms of depression may appear again.

Try studying some relevant text on depression. Getting to know deeper about what you are going through could motivate and empower you to continue with the treatment program.

Attention must be paid, if you get any kind of warning signs. Work along with your physician to gain knowledge about what may trigger the symptoms of depression. Prepare a plan so that when the symptoms return back, you know what to do. Immediately contact your physician if you notice any kind of alteration in your symptoms.

Get active. Exercise and physical activities may decline your depression symptoms, like swimming, walking, gardening, jogging or doing some other activity.

Avoid alcohol and drugs. Illicit drugs and alcohol could worsen the symptoms of depression.