I have been diagnosed with Depression What is it?
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Depression is a disorder that affects your thoughts, moods, feelings, behavior and even your physical health. People used to think it was "all in your head" and that if you really tried, you could "snap out of it" or just "get over it." But doctors now know that depression is not a weakness, and it's not something you can treat on your own. Depression is a medical disorder with a biological and chemical basis.
Sometimes a stressful life event triggers depression. Other times depression seems to occur spontaneously with no identifiable specific cause. Depression is much more than grieving or a bout of the blues.
Depression may occur only once in a person's life. Often, however, it occurs as repeated episodes over a lifetime, with periods free of depression in between. Or it may be a chronic condition, requiring ongoing treatment over a lifetime.
People of all ages and races suffer from depression. Medications are available that are generally safe and effective, even for the most severe depression. With proper treatment, most people with serious depression improve, often within weeks, and can return to normal daily activities.
There's no single known cause for depression. The illness often runs in families. Experts believe a genetic vulnerability combined with environmental factors, such as stress or physical illness, may trigger an imbalance in brain chemicals called neurotransmitters, resulting in depression. Imbalances in three neurotransmitters — serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine — seem to be linked to depression.
Scientists don't fully understand how imbalances in neurotransmitters cause signs and symptoms of depression. It's not certain whether changes in neurotransmitters are a cause or a result of depression.
Factors that contribute to depression include:
Heredity. Researchers have identified several genes that may be involved in bipolar disorder, and they're looking for genes linked to other types of depression. But not everyone with a family history of depression develops the disorder, and conversely, people with no family history of the disorder can become depressed.
Stress. Stressful life events, particularly a loss or threatened loss of a loved one or a job, can trigger depression.
Medications. Long-term use of certain medications, such as some drugs used to control high blood pressure, sleeping pills or, occasionally, birth control pills, may cause symptoms of depression in some people.
Illnesses. Having a chronic illness, such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer or Alzheimer's disease, puts you at higher risk of developing depression. Having an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism), even mildly, also can cause depression.
Personality. Certain personality traits, such as having low self-esteem and being overly dependent, self-critical, pessimistic and easily overwhelmed by stress, can make you more vulnerable to depression.
Postpartum depression. It's common for mothers to feel a mild form of distress that usually occurs a few days to weeks after giving birth. During this time you may have feelings of sadness, anger, anxiety, irritability and incompetence. A more severe form of the baby blues, called postpartum depression, also can affect new mothers.
Hormones. Women experience depression about twice as much as men, which leads researchers to believe hormonal factors may play a role in the development of depression.
Alcohol, nicotine and drug abuse. Experts once thought that people with depression used alcohol, nicotine and mood-altering drugs as a way to ease depression. But using these substances may actually contribute to depression and anxiety disorders.
Depression affects all ages and all races. Twice as many women experience depression as men. While men are less likely to become depressed than women are, depression does affect men as well. Gender differences in depression may be due in part to biological causes, such as hormones and different levels of neurotransmitters.
Other factors that may put you at an increased risk of depression include a family history of the disorder, pregnancy or stressful life events, such as the loss of a loved one or a job.
Self-help organizations have become potent allies for people who are coping with mental illness or who care about someone with such an illness. For depression or other mental illnesses, self-help groups include:
National Mental Health Association (NMHA): (800) 969-6642; or, in a crisis: (800) SUICIDE (784-2433)
National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI): (800) 950-6264
Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance: (800) 826-3632
Take Care !!
Try reading the information from the following website posted. I have depression/anxiety and it helped clear a few things up that i didn't have chance to discuss with my doctor.
check out this website for more info.
http://www.medicinenet.com/depression/ar...
my advice to you, do not take any of the crazy meds doctors perscribe for depression...i think they are horrible, mind altering meds that do you more harm than good. i would recommend doing "natural" things to improve your depression:
- keep yourself busy
- do what makes you happy
- surround yourself with happy/positive people
- get involved, meet new people
- do not isolate
Basically, your brain has very low levels of seratonin which dramatically affects the way you function, causing you to be down, depressed, excessively sad, as well as experiencing feelings of worthlessness etc.
This is a very basic overview, there's much more to it than that
Depression is a chemical imbalance in the brain that can be successfully treated with medication. the problem is finding the right medication for you. Sometimes you have to try different kinds and if you have side affects, your doctor has to switch to another kind. It takes awhile to find the right ones. Gone untreated, depression can lead to suicide. You can't just be more active and meet new friends and think positive, etc. and expect your illness to improve. Only medication can help.
I have major depression and I take Zoloft, Wellbutrin and Ativan. I haven't been depressed for about 4 years now. I live a completely normal life and you can too. Good Luck!
Depression (mood), a common term for a sad or low mood or the loss of pleasure; an emotion that does not affect capacity to perform personal and vocational obligations
Clinical depression, or major depressive disorder, a state of intense sadness, melancholia or despair that has advanced to the point of being disruptive to an individual's social functioning and/or activities of daily living. See depression treatments, at http://www.ezy-build.net.nz/~shaneris... on page 2.
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