Everything You Need to Know About Depression (Major Depressive Disorder)

According to the American Psychiatry Association, depression (major depressive disorder) is a common and serious medical illness that negatively affects how you feel, the way you think, and how you act. Fortunately, it is also treatable. Depression causes feelings of sadness and/or a loss of interest in activities you once enjoyed. It can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems and can decrease your ability to function at work and at home.

Similarly, the World Health Organization (WHO) revealed that Depression is a common illness worldwide, with an estimated 3.8% of the population affected, including 5.0% among adults and 5.7% among adults older than 60 years. Approximately 280 million people in the world have depression. Depression is different from usual mood fluctuations and short-lived emotional responses to challenges in everyday life. Especially when recurrent and with moderate or severe intensity, depression may become a serious health condition. It can cause the affected person to suffer greatly and function poorly at work, at school, and in the family. At its worst, depression can lead to suicide. Over 700,000 people die due to suicide every year.

Symptoms of Depression:

Symptoms of depression can vary from one person to another, and from simple to complex states. Some of the most common symptoms include:

1. Unnecessary anger or mood swings: A depressed person mostly gets angry unnecessarily over little and inconsequential things. Also, such a person may usually experience mood swings at every point in time. This normally starts at the early stage of depression.
   
   

2. Feeling sad and worried: When one is depressed, he/she is usually faced with prolonged sadness. Such people always worry about everything and are mostly lost in their own thoughts.
   
   

3. Anti-socialness: Depression often brings about anti-social behavior. A depressed person is always alone; seeking to comfort in him/herself. They isolate themselves from others. They always tend to avoid other people, social gatherings, and events. They mostly prefer living a solitary lifestyle.
   
   

4. Inability to sleep: When one is depressed, he/she experiences difficulty sleeping. This is because such a person is always thinking; about what to do, and how to do it, among others. Their thoughts and worries hinder them from sleeping.
   
   

5. Inferiority complex: When a person is depressed, he/she mostly feels that he is not as good as other people. He feels inferior to other people. He sees other people being superior to him. He feels worthless and miserable. This is one of the major things that lead to suicide.
   
   

6. Lack of appetite: Depressed people find it difficult to eat, as they are more concerned about their worries and problems, which they don’t have any solution to.

Causes of Depression:

Depression could result from social, psychological, biological, and even economic factors. Some of the common causes include:

1. Bereavement: The death of a loved one could result in serious depression. For example, a single mother who lost her only son may develop depression if not taken good care of. The loss may be too much for her to handle.
   
   

2. Traumatic events: Traumatic events such as sexual abuse often lead to depression as the victims find it difficult to live with the stigma.

3. Unemployment: Lack of job often leads to depression as it makes the unemployed idle and miserable.
   
   

4.  Poverty: It is quite worrisome when one needs something important but cannot afford it due to poverty, and that often leads to depression.

Treatment of Depression:

Depression is one of the mental disorders that can be treated, you can consult a doctor or a clinical reference laboratory. Some of the treatable measures include:

1. Therapy: Therapies such as Psychotherapy (talk therapy) and Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) have proven to be efficient in the treatment of depression. They help depressed people to recognize negative thoughts and afterward, replace them with positive ones.
   
   

2. Medication: There are medications called ‘antidepressants’ that are often recommended by psychiatrists for depressed people to take, and these medications have been confirmed to be effective if taken appropriately.
   
   

3. Self-Contained Measures: Regular exercise, sleep, eating healthy food, and having nice and supportive friends and family are some of the self-contained measures that could be used in treating depression.