Depression-The truth explained

The term "depression" is commonly used to describe a temporary mood, when a person may feel sad or down. Ideas about what causes and constitutes depression have evolved over the centuries. Today, mental health professionals regard chronic and severe depression as a serious and often disabling condition that can significantly affect a person's work, family and school life, sleeping and eating habits, general health and ability to enjoy life.

Most of us feel depressed from time to time. This is generally linked to life changes like:

Job loss, Physical problems, Relationships, Grief, Sorrow or Age

These kind of Depression are usually transitory and lifts when life go back to normal.

As mentioned on beyondblue - a national, independent, not-for-profit organisation working to address issues associated with depression, anxiety and related substance misuse disorders in Australia:

"Depression is more than just a low mood - it's a severe illness. While we all feel sad, from time to time, some people experience these way of thinking intensely, for a long time and over and over again without reason. People with depression find it hard to function every day. Depression is one of the most common of all mental problems. One in five people experience depression at some stage of their lives"

Types of Depression

There are six main types of Depression

Major depression: That it is also called clinical depression and last for several weeks.
Mixed depression and anxiety
Dysthymia: A depressed mood that last for years
Psychotic depression: Seeing or hearing things that are not there, thinking that everyone is against you.
Bipolar disorder: involves feeling low and high.
Postnatal depression. For many women having a baby is a life-changing event. They have to cope with the day by day stress of a new baby, especially if they have to be along and do all the house cores plus the enormous responsibility of looking after the new born. PND can interfere with the developing relationship between the mother and the baby.

It is very important to tell your Doctor about your symptoms of distress as well as any problem of depression that you had in the past.

The symptoms of depression include:

Change in appetite
Loss of sex drive
Apathy
Erratic sleep behavior
Many physical ailments
Lost of affection
Sadness
Hopelessness
Fear , anxiety and worry
Hostility
Feelings of inappropriate guilt
Thoughts of death

Depression is an illness that can be cured but can get worse if left untreated.

They are many health professionals and service available to give information, treatment and support. They are:

Medical treatment
Psychological treatment
Unconventional treatment

Medical treatment

When people become depressed, many changes take place in chemicals in the brain. In the human brain something happens to cause depression. When somebody is diagnosed with clinical depression, the neurotransmitters function are disrupted. Neurotransmitters are chemicals that carry signals from one part of the brain to the other. They are many kind of Neurotransmitters but the ones that affect the person's mood are serotonin, dopamine and noradrenalin.

When the brain functions normally, Neurotransmitters go from one nerve cell to the other with the same amount of the energy. However in a depressed person the Neurotransmitters fail to function normally, so the signal is disrupted before passing to the other nerve. For this reason the three Neurotransmitters start to function abnormally.

Visiting a GP is an excellent step in receiving help for a mental problem. Some doctors can manage depression by given a good antidepressant. They are many different types on the market and can help to see more clearly what is going on. Antidepressant is designed to correct the imbalance of the chemicals messages between the neurons in the brain.

Psychological treatment

Psychologists and psychiatrists may not only help to get well, but can also to prevent another crisis.

Unconventional treatment

Many people go to the doctor or to the Psychologists and psychiatrists but also want to help themselves.They are: