Felling low and sad is expected; as humans, we are social animals and express our inner 90feelings separately. However, feeling unhappy regularly can be a problem, and it can signify depression.
Depression is a common mood problem affecting people in their daily lives. According to CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), one out of every six adults will suffer from depression at some point in their life. However, being low and sad is only the tip of the iceberg called depression, as it is way bigger than that because it affects every aspect of your life.
We will discuss several causes below, but first, you need to know what depression is? Because many people consider sadness as depression which is not only the case, there are many more things.
“Depression is being colorblind and constantly told how colorful the world is”
– Atticus
However, you must understand the difference between sadness and depression moving forward.
What is Depression?
Depression is a mental state that is also called a feeling of fear, sadness, and anger that affects a person’s everyday activities. It is common when a person suffers a loss of a loved one or any trauma for depression to occur.
Grief and depression are often looked at with the same eyes, but some key things differentiate both. For example, grief is the sadness we feel when we lose someone and miss them, whereas depression involves loss of self-esteem and a lot of self-doubt and criticism, which is not present in grief.
In grief, the moment of sadness is accompanied by other emotions like happy moments with the persons you have lost; however, in depression, it’s just the sad feeling over and over again.
Depression also tends to interfere with the everyday activities of people. It lowers your ability to work and reduces your overall productivity.
Depression can also affect some medical conditions such as:
- Cancer
- Diabetes
- Cardiovascular disease
- Asthma
- Arthritis
- Obesity
The best way to deal with depression is to get professional help. Because many effective methods can help you remove depression from your life, you should know more about what can cause depression and what symptoms usually appear when you are suffering from depression.
Causes of Depression
There can be many possible things that can cause depression. It can be biological or based on different life circumstances that can cause depression in people.
Common causes such as:
- Early childhood trauma: People suffering from any form of childhood trauma are more likely to get depressed. It also changes the way react to fear and specific situations.
- Brain structure: Studies show that you are much more likely to get depression if your front lobe of the brain is less active. However, more studies need to be done to put more light on the situation.
- Brain chemistry: Brain chemistry also plays a vital role in depression to occur. The imbalances in the brain chemicals can cause mood change, and if the issue is permanent, it can cause depression.
- Family history: The risk of getting depressed increases when someone in your family is suffering from depression.
- Substance use: Substance misuse can also create depression. Things like alcohol and drug abuse increase the chances of being depressed. It changes the brain composition that creates the risk of depression.
- Pain: Pain can also contribute, especially people suffering from chronic pain are more likely to get depression.
These are some of the common causes that increase the chances of depression. However, there are more possible causes, so it would be best to go to the doctor if you see symptoms of depression mentioned below.
Symptoms of Depression
There are several symptoms of depression that can be seen in people suffering from this disease. The symptoms are also different and state the severity of depression. If you have these symptoms regularly for more than two weeks, you might suffer from depression. Some of the general symptoms are mentioned below, such as:
- Constant sadness, anxiety, and an empty feeling.
- Cry a lot
- Low energy and fatigue.
- Always annoyed
- Move or talk slowly
- Low appetite
- Suicidal thoughts
- Thinking about self-harm and death
- Feeling hopeless and worthless
- Pessimistic feeling
- Do not enjoy the interests and hobbies you used to like.
- Could not concentrate or make decisions.
- Difficulty in sleeping
- Always demotivated
These are some of the common symptoms that appear in the case of depression. However, it would be best to get a doctor’s advice rather than self-diagnoses and treatment. Several forms of treatment are available to cure depression.
Treatments for curing depression
Depression is a curable disease, and there are many different treatments available that you can follow to get rid of depression. The two primary forms of treatment are therapy and medical-based treatment.
Your doctor will allow you treatment according to your condition. It will enable us to get the best possible results with the minimum risk. Treatment of depression cures the symptoms and underlying issues that is causing depression.
Therapy treatment
Therapy, also known as psychotherapy and talk therapy, is a very effective treatment that works on the root cause of the problem. It addresses the thoughts and feelings of the user in their everyday life.
It is effective because it allows you to see how your life is going and the changes you can make to improve things. In addition, it helps to change the person’s perspective towards the problems they are facing in their lives. However, some people feel shy to share their concerns and condition, but talk therapy allows them to work on those issues.
Some of the common goals of psychotherapy include:
- Handling the stress
- Be better and get healthier
- Quitting habits like smoking, drinking alcohol, and drug abuse.
- It helps you to identify things that cause depression.
- Allow you to have a better relationship with family and friends.
- Recognizing underlying issues and improving them
Medical treatment
One of the quickest ways to cope with depression is to go for medical therapy. It would help if you talked to your doctor before starting antidepressants because they are potent medicines. Medical treatment works in your brain to improve the symptoms of depression.
The doctor only prescribes antidepressants when the benefits are greater than the risks involved in the medicine. However, according to research, certain antidepressants works best for people, such as:
- Lexapro (escitalopram)
- Celexa (citalopram)
- Prozac (fluoxetine)
- Zoloft (sertraline)
- Trintellix (vortioxetine)
Only use these medicines if your doctor prescribes you. Discuss everything with your doctor before using this medicine because they tend to show side effects in the user.