Around one out of every ten to fiftheen US adults suffer from major depression. It very much depends on whom you ask, so when you do some research on your own, you may come up with a different number. But let's face it. It doens't really matter if it is one out of every ten or one out of every fiftheen (or 30 for arguments sake!) it is still a shocking number. To make sure you understand the impact, I challenge you to think about how many people live in your street and make a quick calculation on how many suffer major depression. And if you have kids, you have just found out that probably two or three of your kids class mates have a parent that suffers from major depression. Scary number isn't it?
That isn't all the bad news, I'm afraid. There is more. Major depression is a good deal more relentless than a casual feeling of sadness. Therefore this sickness will significantly intervene with your thoughts, behaviour, temper and physical health. As a matter of fact, after heart diseases, major depression is anticipated to become a leading cause of disability.
Sings of major depression won't be observable overnight. There are however a number of early warning signs you'd better beware of;
- A lasting sad mood
- High irritability
- Noticeable changes in every day habits
- Disturbed sleep and eating patterns
- Lower energy level
- Feelings of agitation
- Loss of interest in normally pleasurable activities
- Persistent feelings of guilt, worthlessness, hopelessness and emptiness
- Thoughts of death or suicide
- Persistent physical symptoms (such as headaches, digestive disorders and chronic pain for no apparent reason)
Whenever you're undergoing a combination of a few of these symptoms and whenever they last for more than 14 days, you'd better consult your doctor. Especially if matters start to intervene with your day by day living.
Scientists, researcher and doctors all over the world are studying major depression, hoping to find out what exactly causes it. So far without a breakthrough. What they did find though, is that there is never just one single cause. There are always more. On the other hand, it's also rare that there are too many causes to single out what started major depression.
Since a couple of years, there seems to be scientific consensus to the fact that major depression is primarily a disorder of the brain. Without getting too much into technical details, what it boils to down to, is a chemical imbalance between norepinephrine, serotonin and dopamine, the chemicals that connects your brain cells.
The latest types of antidepressant drugs can increase the availability of neurotransmitters (the guys that helps your brain cells communicate properly) and compensate the imbalance. But as stated, there is never just one single cause of major depression and therefore there is never just one cure. Antidepressants are a part of the solution.
Another part is often cognitive therapy. Cognitive therapy will help you to deal with most if not all problematic areas in your everyday life. often a combination of drugs and therapy can work wonders. Curing major depression is team work.
Facts on Depression #1
The most common signs of depression are feeling sad, blue, helpless, guilt, empty, worthless, frustrated, lost, angry and miserable - often in combination, for prolonged periods of time and interfering with every day life. |
Facts on Depression #2
Almost 20 million people in the US suffer from depression. That's one out of every 15. About 70% of all patients are women. The costs of depression are close to $20 billion each year. Just one out of every three depression patients seek proper treatment. |
Facts on Depression #3
To make an accurate diagnoses of depression, health care professionals often use a depression scale. There are several depression scales available. Most of them can only be used by or with the help of trained professionals, but some are designed to be used and even analyzed by the patient itself. |
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