Depression: What is It?

Depression is an illness that can affect the body, mood, and thoughts.  IT affects the way a person eats and sleeps, the way one feels about oneself and the way one thinks about things.  Depression is not the same as a passing blue mood.  It is not a sign of personal weakness or a condition that can be willed or wished away.  People with depression cannot merely pull themselves together and get better.  Without treatment, a person can feel bad for weeks, months, or years.  The right treatment, however, can help most people who suffer from depression.  In any given 1-year period, 9.5% of the population, or about 18.8 million American adults, suffer from depressive illness. 

THE FOLLOWING ARE TYPICAL SIGNS OF DEPRESSION:

 

Depression: How to Treat It?

The first step to getting the right treatment for depression is a physical examination by a physician.  A good doctor's exam will include a complete history of your feelings of depression, such as, when they stared, how long they have lasted, how are they affecting your life-style, and whether these feelings have happened before.  If these feelings have happened before, the doctor will want to know if you saw a doctor at that time and if so what the doctor suggested.  There are many medications that can be used treat depression and counseling can also help with depression.  Most people do bets using both mediation prescribed by a doctor and seeing someone for regular counseling.  Medication can assist with helping someone start to feel better faster and counseling can help in learning better ways to deal with life's problems.

When taking medications, patients often stop taking the medicine too soon.  They may feel better and they think they no longer need the medicine.  Or they may think the medication isn't helping at all.  It is important to keep taking medication until it has a chance to work.  If side effects happen before the person starts feeling better, they should talk with their doctor about how they are feeling before stopping the medication.  The doctor can help with the side effects and may even need to change the medication.  Once a person is feeling better, it is important to continue the medication for 4 to 9 months to make sure that the feelings of depression do not come back.

The medications side effects that someone might have:


For more information about depression, you can contact these organizations and their relevant websites:

National Alliance for the Mentally Ill
1.703.524.7600; 1.800.950.NAMI
http://www.nami.org

National Mental Health Association
1.703.684.7722; 1.800.969.6642
http://www.nmha.org

National Foundation for Depressive Illnesses, Inc.
1.212.268.4260; 1.800.239.1265
http://www.depression.org

National Depressive and Manic Depressive Association
1.312.642.0049; 1.800.826.3632
http://www.ndmda.org

National Institute of Mental Health Information Resources and Inquiries Branch
1.301.443.4513
http://www.nimh.nih.gov