From sadness to depression

Have you ever felt so sad that a feeling of emptiness seems to overwhelm you?

Although sadness is an emotion that all of us will go through in our journey of life, prolonged feeling of sadness coupled with other negative emotions can lead to a more serious medical illness.

It could be a symptom of a more disturbing condition. A condition that has become common and yet almost undetectable until it's too late.

I remember a very good friend of mine once texted me saying: hey bro just got off from work and I suddenly felt and still feeling so empty and tired, and no matter how long I sleep and rest I think no amount of those things can take away the emptiness and sadness I'm feeling right now. This feeling of unexplainable sadness that he felt would last for a few days, fortunately he got over it!

But there are those individuals whose suffering from severe sadness will progress into mild to severe depression and more often than not it will be too late before we can find out that someone we know or some one we love is suffering from depression

How do we know if someone is going through depression?

As I have mentioned at the outset, feeling sad could be a symptom of depression if an individual is also loosing interest in activities the individual once enjoyed doing. For example if someone who enjoyed listening to music then suddenly quit enjoyment to music with no reason at all.

A person suffering from depression may change his appetite from eating more than usual or eating less. Depression can also affect an individuals sleeping patterns, someone may sleep too much or sleep would not be possible at all, in either case the results are not good.

You will also notice a change in physical activity, a person suffering from depression may experience loss of energy or increased fatigue.

But it could also be the opposite, someone suffering from depression may display an unusual purposeless physical activity or a bizarre slowness of speech and movement.

A person with depression may vocally or emotional show a feeling of worthless or guiltiness. Difficulty in thinking and concentration or making decisions may also manifest on the illl individual.

And lastly but definitely not the symptom we want to see is the desire to commit suicide of a depressed person.

How can we help?

Depression can be treated with medications and other brain stimulation therapy.

But it starts with those who care and love the depressed individual. They should not close any communication and should not let a person suffering from depression to be alone!!!.

Understanding not judgement is what any depressed individual is longing.

A song goes with these lyrics: Who cares if one more light goes out in a sky with a million stars........ Well I do, I do.

By the way, the singer/composer of that song was suffering from depression and sadly died afterwards by suicide!

Thanks for reading!!!

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