The Truth About Depression

By Anita Hale


According to The Health and Social Care Information Centre, depression is considered the most diagnosed mental disorder in England, experienced by just under ten percent of the population.

It can sometimes be difficult to diagnose depression as it can also be a symptom of an anxiety disorder. In addition, the catalogue of indicators linked with depression is protracted and arguably imprecise. As an example, symptoms can include lack of sleep, feeling miserable and tearful, self-esteem issues, loss of appetite, loss of sex drive and inability to concentrate.

On the other hand, most of us have dealt with some of these problems at some stage in our lifetime and this does not necessarily mean that we have suffered from clinical depression. If you are concerned about how you're feeling than you should think about how often you experience these emotions. For instance, feeling tearful every once in awhile isn't something unusual. But if you go experience several of the symptoms of depression everyday for two weeks then its time to take action. The first port of call should be your local doctor so make sure you book an appointment and don't suffer in silence.

In the instance that you are diagnosed with depression, it is important to know that the way it will be handled will vary according to its intensity. This is because there isn't any singular irrefutable reason behind depression. There has been a suggestion of a congenital basis to manic depression (bi-polar disorder), but not so much with the depression we're referring to here. Nevertheless, if you've got past family members with depression there is a suggestion that you are pre-disposed to developing it as well

Various other causes of depression include an unforeseen change in circumstances or disruption to daily life which can often generate the symptoms mentioned. These can include traumatic events such as loss of a loved one or a relationship breakdown. However, symptoms can also be triggered by more innocuous circumstances like moving house or starting a new job. Depression has also been found to occur as a result of taking certain narcotics and prescribed medication. And there has even been a link made between the food we eat and depression.

Your medical evaluation will ideally give some thought to your medical records and not just your current wellbeing. From here your General Practitioner should offer you treatment as befits your depression. Having said that, the most common treatment is prescribing selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. These can be extremely good at treating more severe forms of depression, but they do have the drawback of carrying with them many side effects. That is why there are a lot of non-medicated treatments that are gaining interest in treating more conventional varieties of depression. Group therapy, cognitive behaviour therapy and one on one counselling can also be effective forms of treatment and are worth asking your doctor about.




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