Do you ever feel down, sad, empty, and hopeless the majority of the day, almost every day? Losing interest or pleasure in your hobbies or being with friends and family? Having trouble sleeping, eating, and functioning? If you have felt this way for at least 2 weeks, you may have depression, a serious but treatable mood disorder.
It’s natural to feel low sometimes, but if low mood lingers day after day, it could signal depression. Major Depression is an illness characterized by persistent sadness and a loss of interest in activities that you normally enjoy, accompanied by an inability to carry out daily activities, for at least two weeks.
If you think that when life is rough that’s when depression kicks in. That’s actually not true.
Although tough situations like the death of a loved one, a divorce, or job loss can be triggers, it doesn’t always happen like that. Even if things look fine on the outside, you can still be depressed inside.
Common symptoms include:
- Feeling sad or guilty often
- Eating or sleeping more or less
- Restlessness or feeling slowed down
- Not enjoying things you normally like
- Feeling tired or irritable
- Having problems with concentration or decision making
- Thinking about suicide
There are Different Symptoms when it comes to depression, such as Excessive Alcohol Intake, Losing interest or pleasure in hobbies or being with friends and family and Dwelling on something that makes you feel guilty and as mentioned above.
Anyone can do and feel any of those things when they’re depressed. But women are more likely than men to have symptoms such as feeling sad, worthless, or guilty.
Depressed men are more likely to be irritable and to lose interest in work or hobbies. They’re also more likely to turn to alcohol or other drugs when they feel depressed, which doesn’t help.
There’s a fine line Between Depression and Sadness these are two different things.
Depression is more than the sad feelings, “the blues,” or ups and downs that everyone goes through. It tends to last longer and feel heavier, and it’s harder to lift without treatment.
Depression affects your mood and can affect your body, too. Everyone is different. Some people have no physical symptoms. Others have problems with headaches, other pains, cramps, and stomach problems. But kidney stones aren’t linked to depression. It’s linked to other health conditions, too. For instance, people with depression have a higher risk of heart disease. Depression can also start after a physical health problem. For example, as many as one in 5 people who have a heart attack become depressed.
The Best way to help someone with Depression is to encourage them to talk to their doctor or mental health professional. Just trying to lift their spirits may make them feel misunderstood. Share your support and offer hope that they will feel better with treatment and time.
When you’re depressed, you should Exercise, even if you don’t want to.
The more you move the better. When you’re depressed, you probably aren’t going to feel like it at first. Try to do it anyway. Have you heard the saying, “go with your plan, not with your emotion”? It’s good advice because exercise is a treatment for mild depression rather than taking naps to refresh yourself or only working out if you have the energy for it, even
short walks can help. You should just do it anyway and feel that endorphin rush. Depression is not a sign of weakness or a negative personality. It is a major public health problem and a treatable medical condition.
When recovering, your symptoms will take a while to go away. It’s not magic; it takes a huge amount of time for it to go away.
Give yourself time to see results from your treatment, whether it includes counseling, lifestyle changes (such as exercise for mild depression), or medication. Your sleep and appetite may get better first.
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