Depression affects nearly 1 out of every 6 Americans each year. It can affect every aspect of your life, including your occupation, home, family and friends. The effects of depression can be severely devastating and can hinder relationships with everyone who has contact with a depressed person. Recognizing the signs of depression can be a great first step in being diagnosed and in treating this serious condition.
What is Depression?
Depression is categorized as state of prolonged sad feelings and/or aversion to daily activities that is more severe than normal sadness related to daily life. This makes a depressed person seem withdrawn, uninterested in family and friends and can cause the depressed person to lose interest in activities that they normally enjoy.
Signs of Depression
Depression varies from person to person, but there are some signs that are very common among people suffering from depression. If you are experiencing a few or more of the following symptoms on an ongoing or prolonged basis, you should be seen by a doctor to determine if you are suffering from depression. Check out depressionsymptoms.net and http://www.nhs.uk for additional insight on the subject.
• Eating too much or too little
• Sleeping too much or too little
• Trouble concentrating or finishing tasks
• Overall lack of motivation
• Inability to control negative thoughts
• Irritability or short temper
• Feeling that life is not worth living
• Little or no interest in daily activities
• Restlessness
• Loss of energy
• Unexplainable aches and pains
If these symptoms are severe, you begin to feel out of control, you feel that you should stop living or have the urge end your life, seek professional help immediately.
Treatment Options
While it may feel like there is no end to the symptoms of depression and the way it can make you feel, depression is in fact very treatable. Generally, counseling and therapy are required to work through the causes or reasons that caused the depression to begin. Also in some cases a prescription medicine can be used to ease the symptoms of depression, although they do not cure this condition.
Friends and Family
Friends and family are a crucial part of both the diagnostic and recovery processes associated with depression. The people closest to a depressed person are the ones who will see the total effect that depression has on the person and can also recognize the changes in behavior better than anyone else. When recovering from depression it is essential to have the support of family and friends in order to return to a normal lifestyle.
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