What is Depression - Depression is a common and serious medical illness that negatively affects how we feel, think, and act. There is 1 in 5 adults who are likely to suffer from depression. Fortunately, this disease can be treated.
Depression causes feelings of sadness and loss of interest in activities you used to like. Depression can also cause a variety of emotional and physical problems, and reduce our ability to play our roles properly both at work and at home.
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In this article, we will help you understand the difference between feelings of sadness and depression. We will also present some suggested actions that can be taken to seek help.
Difference between Sadness & Major Depression
Sadness
Feeling sad or depressed is a normal emotion that everyone experiences in various stressful or sad situations, such as the loss or absence of a loved one, ending a relationship, losing a job or income, failing an exam, conflict or trouble at home or at work, etc.
However, a person experiencing grief will feel relieved after crying, venting, or talking about their frustration.
Sadness is usually associated with specific triggers and will pass over time. If feelings of deep sadness last for more than two weeks, this is a sign that the person should seek help from a mental health professional or doctor.
Depression
Depression or Major Depressive Disorder is a medical disorder. Like diseases like diabetes, where the production of the hormone insulin in our body is disturbed, depression can occur when some hormones such as serotonin are out of balance. Depression usually results in an inability to function normally at work or at home.
What Causes Depression?
There are many factors that contribute to depression. Among others are:
Biochemistry: differences in the composition of certain chemicals in the brain, neurotransmitters' function, and parts of the brain such as the hippocampus, can contribute to depression.
Genetics: depression can run in families. If one of the identical twins is depressed, the other twin has a 70% chance of experiencing the same thing.
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Environmental factors: continued exposure to violence, neglect, abuse (physical or verbal), or poverty can make some people vulnerable to depression.
Personality: people with low self-esteem, are overwhelmed by stress, and those who are pessimistic are more likely to experience depression.
How to Treat Depression?
Before making a diagnosis or treatment, a healthcare professional should perform a thorough diagnostic examination, including an interview and possibly a physical examination.
In some cases, blood tests may be done to check for possible depression caused by a medical condition such as a thyroid problem.
Through this examination, specific symptoms can be identified, medical and family history, cultural factors, and environmental factors then proceed to diagnosis and treatment plans.
Here are some healing methods that can be done:
Medications: Chemicals in the brain can contribute to a person's depression. For this reason, antidepressants may be prescribed to help balance these chemicals. These drugs are not sedatives, uppers or stimulants, or other types of sedatives because they are not addictive.
Antidepressants can show results in the first 1-2 weeks of use. Full results can be seen after 2-3 months. If a patient feels little or no improvement for several weeks, the psychiatrist may change the dose or increase or change to another antidepressant.
Psychotherapy: a psychiatrist sometimes only uses psychotherapy or “talk therapy” for the treatment of mild depression. Meanwhile, moderate to severe depression is usually combined with antidepressant drug therapy.
Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT): CBT is a form of therapy that focuses on the present and problem-solving. That is, through CBT a person eats is helped to recognize deviant thoughts and then change these behaviors and thoughts. Depending on the severity of the depression, this therapy can take several weeks or even longer. In most cases, significant changes can be seen in 10 to 15 sessions.
Electroconvulsive therapy or ECT: ECT is a medical treatment used for patients with severe depression or bipolar disorder that cannot be treated by other methods of therapy. This therapy involves brief electrical stimulation of the brain while the patient is under anesthesia. A patient usually receives ECT 2-3 times a week for a total of 6-12 sessions.
Self Healing and Handling
There are a number of things you can do to help reduce symptoms of depression.
For many people, regular exercise helps create positive feelings and a better mood.
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Getting enough and quality sleep regularly and eating a healthy diet while avoiding alcohol (depressants) or tobacco can also help reduce symptoms of depression.