Depression

Depression is a common mood or mental disorder and it is a leading cause of disability worldwide. It is also a major contributor to the overall global burden of disease, affecting more than 264 million people of all ages. It may be described as feelings of sadness, loss, or anger that interfere with a person’s everyday activities.

This is different from the usual mood swings and short-lived emotional responses to the struggles in everyday life. Depression may become a serious health condition especially when one seemingly "drowns" in it, where by it becomes intense, causing the affecting person to suffer greatly.

People handle and experience depression in so many ways. It most of the time interferes with daily work, influences relationships negatively and is known to effect some chronic health conditions. At its worst, depression can lead to suicide. Close to 800 000 people die due to suicide every year. Suicide is the second leading cause of death in 15-29-year-olds.

It’s important to realize that feeling down at times is a normal part of life as sad and upsetting events happen to everyone. But, if you’re feeling down or hopeless on a regular basis, you could be dealing with depression which could get worse without proper treatment.

Depression could be classified into certain types;

Major depressive disorder is the more severe form of depression. It’s characterized by persistent feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and worthlessness that don’t go away on their own.

Persistent depressive disorder (PDD) used to be called dysthymia. It’s a milder, but chronic, form of depression. 

Bipolar depression occurs in certain types of bipolar disorder, when the person experiences a depressive episode. People with bipolar disorder may experience significant mood swings.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a type of anxiety disorder. It causes unwanted and repeated thoughts, urges, and fears (obsessions). These fears cause you to act out repeated behaviors or compulsions that you hope will ease the stress caused by the obsessions.

These types of depression can be chronic over an extended period especially if they go untreated.

The symptoms of depression varies among men, women and children, some affect your mood, and others affect your body. Symptoms may also be ongoing, or come and go which includes; sudden mood swings such as anger, aggressiveness, irritability, anxiousness, restlessness, feeling empty, sad, hopeless, thoughts of suicide, drinking excessively, using drugs, reduced sexual desire, lack of sexual performance, inability to concentrate, insomnia, restless sleep, excessive sleepiness, not sleeping through the night leading to fatigue, pains, headache, digestive problems, feelings of incompetence “I can’t do anything right” or despair. The list is endless and some that cannot be explained by a medical diagnosis.

But there are effective treatments for moderate and severe depression like psychological treatments such as behavioural activation, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT), or antidepressant medication such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs). Such psychological treatments should only be delivered by professionals and supervised by therapists. Antidepressants can be an effective form of treatment for moderate-severe depression but should not be used for treating depression in children and in the treatment of adolescents, they should be used with extra caution.

There are several possible causes of depression. These include:

Family history of depression or another mood disorder. Early childhood trauma which affect the way your body reacts to fear and stressful situations. Brain structure. There’s a greater risk for depression if the frontal lobe of your brain is less active. Medical conditions such as chronic illness, insomnia, chronic pain, or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Drug misuse or alcohol misuse can affect your risk. Low self-esteem or being self-critical. Personal history of mental illness. Stressful events, such as loss of a loved one, economic problems, or a divorce

Don’t ignore symptoms of depression. If your mood doesn’t improve or gets worse, seek medical help. Depression is a serious mental health illness with the potential for complications. They can be temporary, or it can be a long-term challenge. Treatment doesn’t always make your depression go away completely, however, treatment often makes symptoms more manageable. Managing symptoms of depression involves finding the right combination of medications and therapies may work better in helping you manage your condition.