Once in a while, events in our lives disappoint us and make us sad. Having lost someone very important could lead one to say ”I am so depressed.” Some people utter that depression feels like a black curtain of despair coming down over their lives. Although feeling depressed once in our lives is normal, chronic depression occurs among people who are not able to recover from the normal cycle of distress. They are those individuals who have not coped up from stress.
Depression is not just a state of mind but it is also related to physical changes in the brain. Depression is said to be caused by an imbalance of neurotransmitters that carry signals in the brain and nerves. Too much work from the stress respond system propel emotional centers of the brain into overdrive so that negative events make a disproportionate impact and hijack rational response systems. Literally, one cannot think clearly. It makes one think over and over about the difficulties and disappointments one encounter until that’s all one can focus on. The cause of depression can be both blamed to one’s environment and genes. To most, being depressed is inherited. An individual tends to be depressed even when faced with mild stress because it may be inherited. On the other hand, there are people who are not able to adjust to certain changes in their lives, like losing a loved one, or even when after getting married, get depressed. These people may not have inherited depression but still they are prone to be depressed when they are not able to pull through from their sad moments. In addition, a unenthusisastic personality characterized by a low self-esteem, and a negative outlook are at higher risk of becoming depressed. As said earlier, it is normal for people to become depressed but only for a short while. A prolonged depression could always lead to other psychological disorders.
When one is depressed, one may feel hopeless and sad. You always find displeasure in the things that you do. Others either lose or gain weight because of changes in appetite. There are those who cannot sleep at night while others would develop hypersomnia. Also, a depressed person is either restless or feels tired all the time that moving seems to be a great effort .
Gender difference is one factor in considering depression. Women are almost twice as likely to become depressed as men. Reasons could be attributed to changes in the hormones of the body like puberty, menstruation, menopause, and pregnancy. This fact might be debatable because in most cases only a small number of men seek help to cure their depression. Men usually disguise their condition with alcohol or even drug abuse. Moreover, suicide cases due to depression are higher among men than women. Elder people are also prone to becoming depressed. This can be attributed to the fact that most of them are having problems living alone with their children having their own lives already. Seeing themselves useless and unimportant may lead the elderly to feel depression.
Depression doesn’t go away on its own. You must really do something. We are lucky that in the present, treatments are therapies are easily available to teat depression. Supportive therapy assists ease the pain of depression, and tackles the feelings of hopelessness. Cognitive treatment on the other hand, adjusts the negative thinking, expectations, and negative self-evaluations that create depression and sustain it. This therapy helps the person differentiate significant from minor problems and it helps the person to build up positive life goals and a more positive self-evaluation. Behavioral therapy permits the person to try solving certain problems in a more constructive way. It helps the patient develop improved coping skills. These therapies may be combined for a better and faster recovery.
Depression is more of state of mind than of biological basis. Everyone can control their mind. We can say that our minds are very powerful that our thinking affects our judgment and outlook in life, but the individual is capable of allowing these negative thoughts to push them all aside and decide
to view the brighter side of life.
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