Depression
Guide

Depression

What is Depression

People normally think that depression is something that is not a serious issue and they will get over with it in some time, but they are wrong. I would rather say that they are dead wrong. Have you ever seen a tree that is being eaten by termites? The termites just eat out the entire tree bit by bit and if you consider yourself that tree, then consider depression as a termite.

Depression is an alarming situation and is being caused by the change in the levels of the chemicals in the brain that control depression. If these levels go down then the individual suffers from the feeling of depression.

The feeling of depression is something that the individual just tends to get into without knowing as to whether they are falling in that pit unless that condition totally engulfs them. Some people think that they can fight it all along, but this is something of a much higher magnitude than they can ever think.

You must know that depression is a state that is going to move your from the axis of your original self and then it is going to turn you into a different person or individual whom the people who are close to you would identify as to something different that you are going through and the changes are pretty evident.

It is really important that the condition of depression is being diagnosed as early as possible because then it would be possible to treat it. If this condition is not detected early, then an individual will display a very different behavior with time and this is going to affect their mental and emotional health in a very disastrous way.

It is really important that this condition is recognized as soon as possible because it can turn the happy and healthier life into a living hell, which is not only going to have a pretty strong impact on the life of the individual who is going through but also will damage the mental and emotional being of the entire family.

Depression and You

Depression is a psychiatric disorder in which the individual can go through any of the symptoms such as they can lose the ability to concentrate, loss of sleep, loss of appetite, lack of interest in the activities that one used to have, extreme degree of sadness, feelings of guilt, feelings of helplessness and feelings of hopelessness and even to the extreme degrees one thinks about death.

Now you need to know as to what are things that you are going through from as mentioned above. It is really important that you need to identify and differentiate your different feelings so that you are able to know as to exactly the nature of your feelings. If you are able to identify any one of the feelings inside you, then you can say that you are going through a bout of depression.

You need to remember and know as to how many times you have been through these feelings so as to understand as to how long you have been going through the bouts of depression and you and neither the people around you noticed the changes in your feelings.

Do you see as to how the depression is affecting your life and how it is progressing to deteriorate the balance in your life and uprooting you slowly and gradually. You need to take this very seriously and know the fact that you need to get out of this situation you are in.

Just remember that you are the captain of your ship and you are the one who is going to steer yourself out of this situation rather than any other person. You need to grip yourself and need to know that you need to stop the things that are growing inside of you and see as to how you would be able to come out of it.

This is a war between you and your state that is trying to overcome you and you can beat this thing that is creeping up on you. It is really very important that you feel your heart and do not let yourself drown in the feelings that you are in because this is the time that you realize that you need to take off the cloak of the feelings that you are getting into.

Depression and Children

Depression is a clinical condition, which is not limited to adolescents but also affects the children to a large extent. In a study that was conducted in children suffering from depression, it was found out that the children whose parents have the affective disorders have a greater tendency to develop depression rather than their peers whose parents do not have mood disorders.

There are a lot of factors that can trigger the children to develop depression and out of them the most important one is the family environment. As a parent, have you asked yourself as to what kind of an environment are you giving to your children? Are you someone who is aggressive and scolds their children most of the time? Have you ever asked yourself as to what are the different feelings that are being instilled in your children because of your behavior? Do you evaluate yourself on a consistent basis and evaluate the environment the environment in which your children are living?

If you are a parent who goes through all the questions in their mind and come up with different ideas and thoughts as to what your children go through the different feelings with your rough attitudes, then you are a parent who can bring a positive change in your children. Your nurturing of today will develop your child for tomorrow and if you are a parent who care as to how your children grow up as an adult, then you can clearly see that your attitude today is going to matter a lot as to how they grow.

You must know as to what are the different behaviors of your child and must learn as to what they want to express through different behaviors so that you can know as to what mental state they are going through. It is going to be best for you to closely observe your children because they are going to show everything through their attitudes and the changes in their behaviors that they are going through. You can be a parent with whom your child can share everything. This will serve as a window for them so that they are able to vent out and share as to what is bothering them.

According to a recent data, there are a lot of children who are suffering from depression and the numbers are increasing every day even while this article is being written. Therefore are a lot of reasons that can cause a child to suffer from depression. The most important reason that can cause them to develop depression is the development of understanding that the love they are getting from their parents is not the same as being given to one or the other siblings. This feeling will cause depression and will ultimately lead them to isolate and not participate in the activities that they usually do.

The first ones to spot such changes are the parents and along with parents the teachers are the individuals who observe the children very closely. The findings of these changes can be very slight at the beginning and then can become more and more prominent along with time and it is really beneficial if these changes can be seen at a very early level so that the proper remedies can be done.

Your child is your asset and their mental health is playing a major part in their grooming and brought up, so it is really important that you are able to see what changes you need to bring about in you so as to make your child a mentally healthy individual and they are able to live a happy and a prosperous life.

Depression is Contagious

As infections have the potential to spread, depression has the same potential too where it can be transferred from one human to another. The main reason to share this thought was to give you an understanding that if you are going through depression, just raise your head and see as to how many people who are part of you are going through the same feelings.

Did you know that before that depression was contagious, that it transfers from one human to another. If you didn’t know it before, then it is in your knowledge now and I am glad that you are going through this article to learn this fact..

When you went into a depressed state, your family and the friends were the first ones who came to know about, even if you try to hide your feelings, you cannot hide it, because one way or the other you are going to expose yourself as to how you are feeling. You would be different in certain ways that would allow your family and friends to determine that something is wrong with you.

In a depressed state, the individual tends to have as much time alone as they can and this is the fact that depression starts to gain its ground. When you start finding your time in isolation, you are neglecting the time that your spouse and your children need. They will try to comfort you, but this state tends to pull the person into their own and you will not find a way to come out.

Then when you will not be open to your family, this will put them through a series of questions as to went wrong and what are the things that they have done wrong that have put you in such a situation that you are wanting to be alone. This will put them through the depressed feelings as well. This is going to affect all your family and know that you will not be alone.

In order to save yourself and your family from this situation, you need to share your feelings, you need to tell them as to why you are feeling that way and how can you come out of those feelings. When you will share, you will see as to how much support you are going to get from your loved ones that it will not be difficult for you to get yourself back. Just be open and do not close yourself out. The ones around you love you and want you to feel the best.

Call or Visit Your Doctor to Seek Help

When you feel that you are going through severe bouts of sadness and those feelings are something that you are unable to manage, then you must take these feelings into consideration and do not just keep that inside you. This is something that you need some professional help with.

The sooner you find these symptoms inside of you, the sooner you should contact your doctor to ask them to make an appointment so that you could explain to them as to what are the different feelings that you are going through and how these feelings are affecting your life.

In your appointment, the doctor or your primary physician is going to ask you different questions as to what are the feelings that you are going through, what is the cause of those feelings, were there any traumatic episodes that you have gone through with. They will also ask you as to whether you are taking any medicines for different conditions, as those medicines can also cause depression as a side effect.

Just remember that you need to be totally honest about everything and tell them exactly as to what you are going through because if you will keep something to yourself then the doctor cannot help you with your problem entirely. Because there are times when the drug is enough to help a person, but there are situations in which the individuals need some counseling on a weekly basis where they can share their feelings with the counselor and are able to overcome the feelings over the passage of time.

The doctors can also ask you whether you have any feelings where you want to hurt yourself and if you do have feelings of hurting yourself, then the doctor can ask you to sign a contract for safety so that it can be assured that you would not be hurting yourself.

Your doctor will also prescribe you the medicines specific for depression and will ask you to come back for another visit where he will ask you regarding any benefit that you have gained from the medicine, so that they can make a decision as to continue the medicines or to change them. Your doctor will also give you his or her number so that you can contact them and ask for help at whatever time you would like.

Depression Screening Test

Depression is a clinical condition, which is characterized by an inability to concentrate, lack of sleep, loss of appetite, anhedonia (loss of interest in activities), feelings of extreme sadness, guilt, helplessness and hopelessness, and thoughts of death.

There are specific questionnaires that can be filled out to determine whether the individual is going through the depression or not. These questions are solely targeted to determine whether the individual is going through depression and in this article we are going to give you a depression screening test to fill out so you could see whether you are going through one or not.

Question 1: Do you feel sad, blue, unhappy or “down in the dumps”?

  1. Never.
  2. Rarely.
  3. Sometimes.
  4. Very often.
  5. Most of the times.

Question 2: Do you feel tired, having little energy, unable to concentrate?

  1. Never.
  2. Rarely.
  3. Sometimes.
  4. Very often.
  5. Most of the times.

Question 3: Do you feel, restless, uneasy, or irritable?

  1. Never.
  2. Rarely.
  3. Sometimes.
  4. Very often.
  5. Most of the times.

Question 4: Do you have trouble sleeping or eating (too little or too much)?

  1. Never.
  2. Rarely.
  3. Sometimes.
  4. Very often.
  5. Most of the times.

Question 5: Do you feel that you are not enjoying the activities that you used to?

  1. Never.
  2. Rarely.
  3. Sometimes.
  4. Very often.
  5. Most of the times.

Question 6: Do you feel that you lost interest in sex or experiencing sexual difficulties?

  1. Never.
  2. Rarely.
  3. Sometimes.
  4. Very often.
  5. Most of the times.

Question 7: Do you feel inadequate, like a failure or that nobody likes you anymore?

  1. Never.
  2. Rarely.
  3. Sometimes.
  4. Very often.
  5. Most of the times.

Question 8: Do you feel that it takes you longer than before to make decisions or unable to concentrate?

  1. Never.
  2. Rarely.
  3. Sometimes.
  4. Very often.
  5. Most of the times.

Question 9: Do you feel guilty without a rational reason, or put yourself down?

  1. Never.
  2. Rarely.
  3. Sometimes.
  4. Very often.
  5. Most of the times.

Question 10: Do you feel that things always go or will go wrong no matter how hard you try?

  1. Never.
  2. Rarely.
  3. Sometimes.
  4. Very often.
  5. Most of the times.

These are the 10 questions that will let you know as to where do you stand in terms of depression. If your answers are leaning more towards the d and e options then you are suffering from depression for sure, which means that you need to take the advice of your doctor as to what can be done in terms of treating your depression. Just answer the questions sincerely and you will get the true results. I hope this article will help you determine as to what are the different questions you are scoring the most, which will help you determine the feelings that you are going through right now and then you can determine as to what are the different things that are leading you to go through such feelings. You will come out of these feelings that are making you feel bad and you will be able to put yourself back in track and fill your heart with good feelings.

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