According to World Health Organization reports, the rate of depression has risen over the past 10 years, including among children and adolescents. Depression has always existed. People nowadays seem more prepared to look it in the face, to explore it, not to send it to the corner of quasi-invisible ailments.
This type of mood disorder causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest or pleasure. It affects the way a person feels, thinks, and behaves and can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems. There may be difficulties in carrying out normal daily activities and sometimes the impression that life is not worth living. The depressive episode is experienced as a vital sadness, accompanied by the loss of the joy of living, emptiness, and inner anxiety.
Recognizing it can sometimes be difficult due to factors such as ignoring the symptoms even by the person himself. Fear of being labeled mentally ill, worrying about the side effects of possible drug treatment, and ignoring signs of depression in people suffering from depression are just some of the things blocking them to take action and reach for help.
More than just a melancholy crisis, depression is not a weakness and does not go away on its own. It may require long-term treatment, but most people might feel better with medication, psychotherapy, or both.
What is depression?
Depression is a mood disorder that involves changes in the human body.
From an emotional perspective, depression is based on the triad of negative thoughts and emotions accompanied by discouraging behaviors. Depression is mainly triggered by a distorted interpretation of a certain negative life event.
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What are the causes of depression?
Depression does not have well-known causes, research implicitly indicates the onset of the disorder without warning signs. The bio-psycho-social model brings to the fore the main factors that can be considered triggers of depression.
Major life changes, novelty, and uncertainty can create major states of discomfort turned into sadness. Changing jobs or changing homes can trigger depression in the face of anxious thoughts about the future and irrational beliefs such as “I won’t be good enough, I won’t be able to cope, I won’t be able to adapt.” If a form of anxiety is initially established, the comparisons we make with difficult situations in the past, attract depressive mood.
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Relationship problems, whether we are talking about divorces or separations, or whether we bring to the fore all the other types of interpersonal relationships: with parents, children, and friends, are the most common causes of depression.
The loss of a loved one. The fear of death haunts each of us. More than our own death, the loss of those we love terrifies us. In all cases, the mourning period turns into a struggle with depression. Sadness is a healthy and somehow necessary emotion as long as it does not become chronic. Among the causes of depression, however, mourning is a very common trigger.
Symptoms of depression
The general state of sadness is accompanied by feelings of uselessness. When all of our minds are focused on negative things and we feel completely helpless in the face of our own state, we are most likely facing depression.
Anhedonia: the things we liked before do not arouse any interest in us, and here we can talk about meetings with friends, family, hobbies, passions or relaxation activities. The lack of these pleasures is a sign that depression has set in.
Guilt occurs when the person accuses himself of not being able to overcome his condition, that he has no energy, and that there is a slowness that keeps him with lost thoughts and looking at the walls. Guilt accentuates our depression.
Insomnia or hypersomnia. If we go through a period of two weeks in which disorganization dominates our sleep hours, whether we fall asleep in the morning or sleep excessively, (with the presence of other symptoms) we can talk about a depressive episode.
Gaining or losing weight is another indicator of depression. Lack of appetite uncorrelated with another medical condition or, conversely, an increased, unfamiliar appetite, are signs that indicate an imbalance.
Lack of concentration or slow attention. If it is much more difficult than usual for us to focus, forget about our daily activities, get distracted or find it difficult to stay connected in a dialogue, it would be useful to analyze the whole picture. Depression can gradually send us subtle signs.
Suicidal thoughts. When suicidal thoughts occur, it is more than recommended to go to a specialist as it is a sign of severe depression.
Depression, work, and finances
Workplace stress or overwork are among the factors that cause depression.
The environment in which we spend most of our time is necessary to be as stress-free as possible. We should protect ourselves from defiant leaders, and remain aware of our own expectations and those of others.
Financial problems. Living in a society means chasing status and money. It is only natural, isn’t it? We all want to be paid, to evolve on this block, to be able to reward ourselves based on our work.
Many times, all the defamatory thoughts can make us sabotage ourselves and get stuck in an unnecessary comfort zone.
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What keeps us from asking for help?
A first hurdle is thinking about what others will say. I said at the beginning that we have a quarter of the battle won in the face of stigma, unfortunately not far enough to make people who feel depressed feel secure. And we want to keep an era: they are people with depression, not “depressed” people, therefore we do not offer a characteristic of man, but we keep two separate entities.
Depression may still seem like a fad in the eyes of some people, so how do I get the courage to expose it when I may be disabled? Vulnerability is not on the podium of the qualities coveted by people, invalidated in turn and considered an attribute of the “weak man”.
Individual will and responsibility
Put more pressure on people? No, we’re just trying to help him find the resources. If he has support and empathy, the man still needs and wants to face depression.
Lack of financial support
Psychologists and psychiatrists are expensive services that seem incomprehensible at first glance. The system is not yet working hard enough for this type of condition. There are NGOs that have taken over this side and are acting in certain cases.
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How do we help people with depression? How to better understand this mood disorder?
Well..by reading this article you actually made the first step. It is always good to know more about a subject before starting to say or judging people. Also, as you can see, there are so many people fighting this mood disorder.
First of all, it is necessary to stay alert and connected to people, and when we notice irregularities, to start encouraging them to go to the specialist. The treatment of depression includes therapy and medications that help relieve symptoms, accompanied by support from family, friends, and colleagues.
It is said that no form of therapy is stronger in the fight against depression than the support of loved ones, which is the most important treatment for depression. In fact, the most effective and focused team consists of therapy plus support.
We need to contribute dynamically to behavioral activation, launch invitations, find activities we enjoy, and keep the golden rule of step-by-step interventions.
The brain works on the basis of neuroplasticity, so we can use all the minor changes before moving on to the major ones. It is important to help the person experiencing depression feel important, to be valued, and to help them differentiate between reality and interpretations of reality.
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