What is depression?

Depression is a feeling of emptiness and sadness for no particular reason. It is a mood disorder that affects your ability to feel pleasure. Depression leads to various emotional and physical problems. Persistent feelings of depression sometimes make you believe life isn’t worth living. Depression is not a weakness you can treat with just medicines; it requires long-term treatment to make you feel better. Psychotherapy works wonders for most patients to deal with the symptoms of depression.

Causes of depression 

Depression has no particular reason; some personal loss leading to trauma, life’s struggle, or injured self-esteem may lead to early signs of depression. Other factors contributing to the risk of depression include changes in the brain’s neurotransmitter levels and conditions such as bipolar disorder. Genetics also play a vital role in depression; there are high chances that if your relative is suffering from depression, you can also feel depressed. Prolonged illness like diabetes and cancer frustrates the patient, leading them towards depression. Sometimes depression is a result of specific side effects of the medications. People who are too sensitive and emotional and have trouble coping with the changes around them are prone to depression.

Symptoms of depression

The different age groups of people experience various symptoms of depression. 

Depression symptoms in children

Children may experience irritability and anger, and rapid mood swings in them. Children might feel incompetent or have intense sadness. Depression doesn’t come overnight; there are some early signs of depression, like your child refusing to go to school for no reason, avoiding social interactions, or getting into trouble in school. Depressed children find it challenging to concentrate on their studies, and their school grades decline. Their sleep cycle is disturbed; they either sleep too much or feel insomnia. Digestive problems and weight loss or gain are observed in depressed kids.

Depression symptoms in males

Depression symptoms in females. Males experience restlessness, aggressiveness, and anxiousness in their behavior. During the early stages of depression, males no longer find pleasure in their favorite activities. Male tends to have suicidal thoughts and engage in high-risk activities due to depression. They start drinking excessively and, as a result, feel tired quickly. Males find it challenging to finish the task on time, and their responses are delayed during conversations as they feel lost. Physical problems such as headaches, irritable bowel syndrome, and fatigue result from depression.

Depression symptoms in females

Females tend to withdraw from social engagements and lose interest in routine activities. They don’t find pleasure in anything. Their sleep patterns are disturbed; they either find it difficult to sleep throughout the night and wake up early or sleep too much. They find it difficult to memorize things, and you can observe some personality changes in them. Doing new things no more excites them. Females feel irritation for no reason, and some physical problems like a drastic weight change, being less energetic, increase in cramps and pain are seen in depressed women.

How is depression diagnosed?

Feeling sad or low sometimes is normal. Ups and downs make life exciting and worth living. However, you must visit a psychiatrist if you are experiencing intense symptoms. The doctor will ask you for a questionnaire or fill out a form to understand your problem and its cause. The questions will be related to the symptoms, duration of your illness, family history of similar depression problems, and severity of the problem.

Ways to deal with depression:

1)Medications

Your healthcare professional may describe various antidepressants based on your depression stage. E.g., Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors treat depression by increasing the level of the neurotransmitter serotonin in the brain. Drugs increase the story of dopamine and Noradrenaline like Noradrenaline and dopamine reuptake inhibitors.

2)Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy is also known as “talk therapy.”Patients learn to deal with negative thoughts that lead to depression. Psychotherapy, along with medications, is an effective treatment for improving the symptoms of this mental disorder. Therapists have different ways to deal with depression; some are Cognitive behavioral therapy, Dialectical behavior therapy, and Psychodynamic therapy.

Cognitive behavioral therapy

A therapist will try to discover the unhealthy pattern of thoughts and identify how it affects your mood and behavior. The therapist will try to inculcate the habit of replacing evil thoughts with positive ones.

Dialectical behavior therapy

A therapist will help you to accept uncomfortable thoughts and behavior instead of fighting them. This therapy aims to make patients learn to cope with the change.

Psychodynamic therapy

Psychodynamic therapy believes that your past experiences shape your present behavior. It helps patients to deal with routine life problems.

How to stop being depressed?

Prevention of depression is difficult, but few techniques can help to suppress the symptoms of depression. Regular exercise, proper sleep, work-life balance, and socializing with others can benefit.

Conclusion

If you identify the early signs of depression at the right time, symptoms of depression can be suppressed quickly with psychotherapy. The Blue Tree Clinic psychiatrists provide the best counseling and psychotherapy treatments which helps patients to overcome depression and live a better life.

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