Depression
Featured Article
Some people have described depression as a heavy black curtain of despair that envelops their lives. Depression affects your life, and the lives of those around you. It can severely disrupt how you function, eat, sleep, and get along with others. Although most people who suffer from depression feel as though they are suffering alone, roughly 20% of the American population suffers from depression. Depression is a disease, and like any other disease, it can be treated and managed. Read on to learn more about depression and what you can do to get help.
Are You at Risk for Depression?
Most people know the risk factors for illnesses such as heart disease or high blood pressure, but not many people realize that clinical depression has risk factors associated with it also. Having these risk factors doesn’t mean you will suffer from depression, only that you may be predisposed to it.
What is Depression (and what is it not)?
Depression is an illness, in the same way that diabetes or heart disease are illnesses. Depression is an illness that affects the entire body, not just the mind. Depression is an illness that one in five people will suffer during their lifetime. Depression is the leading cause of alcoholism, drug abuse and other addictions. Depression is an illness that can be successfully treated in more than eighty percent of the people who have it.
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Diagnosing Depression
At any given time, 19 million Americans are suffering from a form of depression. Not only does this affect their lives, but the lives of those around them. Since depressive disorders are also are a major cause of lost productivity in the workplace, there is an economic impact on all of us.
Suicide Prevention
If you or someone you know suffers from depression or manic depression (also known as bipolar disorder), you understand all too well its symptoms may include feelings of sadness and hopelessness. These feelings can also include thoughts of self-harm or suicide. Whether we have suicidal thoughts ourselves or know a severely depressed person who does, there are ways that we can respond with strength and courage.
About Mood Disorders
Depression and bipolar disorder (also known as manic depression) are both highly treatable medical illnesses. Unfortunately many people do not get the help they need because misunderstanding the issues surrounding the illnesses or the fear associated with stigma.
Depression Facts
Depression is a treatable illness involving an imbalance of brain chemicals called neurotransmitters. It is not a character flaw or a sign of personal weakness. You can’t make yourself well by trying to “snap out of it.” Although it can run in families, you can’t catch it from someone else. The direct causes of the illness are unclear, however it is known that body chemistry can bring on a depressive disorder, due to experiencing a traumatic event, hormonal changes, altered health habits, the presence of another illness or substance abuse.
Reducing Depression Does Not Reduce Fatigue
Cancer patients often experience both depression and fatigue, and physicians have had good reason to think that relieving depression might also reduce fatigue. But a new large randomized trial has disproved that theory and shifted researchers’ attention to other possible strategies to fight cancer-related fatigue.
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College Student Depression
College offers new experiences and challenges. This can be exciting-it can also be stressful and make you, or someone you know, feel sad. But when “the blues” last for weeks, or interfere with academic or social functioning, it may be clinical depression. Clinical depression is a common, frequently unrecognized illness that can be effectively treated.
Gene More Than Doubles Risk Of Depression Following Life Stresses
Among people who suffered multiple stressful life events over 5 years, 43 percent with one version of a gene developed depression, compared to only 17 percent with another version of the gene, say researchers funded, in part, by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Those with the “short,” or stress-sensitive version of the serotonin transporter gene were also at higher risk for depression if they had been abused as children. Yet no matter how many stressful life events they endured, people with the “long” or protective version experienced no more depression than people who were totally spared from stressful life events.
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Older Adults: Depression and Suicide Facts
Depression, one of the most common conditions associated with suicide in older adults, is a widely underrecognized and undertreated medical illness. In fact, several studies have found that many older adults who die by suicide-up to 75 percent-have visited a primary care physician within a month of their suicide.
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