What is depression?
A medical illness that involves persistent feelings of sadness, loss, and anger.
Types of Depression:
Persistent Depressive Disorder: This type of depression is characterized by extreme sadness for at least two years along with at least two other symptoms of depression.
Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder: PMDD is a physical and behavior symptom that commonly occurs during the onset of menstruation, this is very common and can result in extreme mood shifts.
Bipolar Disorder: This disorder is characterized by major mood swings that range from depressive lows to maniac highs.
Atypical Disorder: Overeating, sleeping too much, fatigue, extreme sensitivity to rejection, and a strong reactive mood are all characteristics of Atypical disorder.
Seasonal Affective Disorder: This type of depression is related to the changes in seasons. Most often seasonal depression starts for people in fall and continues into winter, causing them to be moodier. Not that many cases of SAD occur during the summer.
Major Depressive Disorder: characterized by a persistent depressed mood and loss of interest in activities causing an impact in daily life.
Postpartum Disorder: Some women get this depression after they have a baby, this makes the mother feel sad and hopeless, and not want to care for the baby.
Risk factors that may cause depression:
Depression is a very complex disorder, researches are unsure about what exactly causes depression, but several things are linked to its development. Research suggests that a combination of genetics, brain chemistry imbalance, poor nutrition, drugs, stress, physical health issues, family history of depression, and trauma can trigger depression.
Signs and Symptoms:
Depression signs and symptoms vary from person to person and include...
Loss of interest in daily activities
Changes in your sleep schedule
Anger or irritable emotions
Loss of energy
Feeling of guilt or as if you are not worth it
Aches and pains
Having trouble concentrating
Changes in appetite or weight
Feeling of helplessness
Sudden reckless behavior
Treatment:
There is no treatment that can recover someone from depression, however, there are variety of treatments that can help a person on the path to recovery.
Psychotherapy: A psychotherapist is trained in several techniques to help a patient recover from their mental illness. Psychotherapy is a very effective technique to tackle depression because a therapist can help the patient find the possible reason causing them to have depression and find coping methods.
Hospitalization: Hospitalization is a good option when a person becomes a danger to themself or others around them. They may also be provided with therapy as well as prescribed medicine that is appropriate in helping the patient recover from depression.
Self-help strategies: Self-help strategies are helpful when an individual is unable to access a professional resource. Methods to handle depression can include…
Exercise
Aerobic and anaerobic exercises
Relaxation techniques
Deep breathing
Meditation
Guided Imagery
Self-help books
Books help give individuals skills to help with coping that are offered in therapy
Online resources
The internet contains many resources from articles to treatment programs that can help people work through their symptoms.
Medication: There are several medications that can help reduce the symptoms of depression, some classes of medications that are commonly prescribed by doctors are…
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors
Antidepressant
Anxiolytic
Antipsychotic
Statistics:
In 2017, 31% of high school students reported feeling hopeless or sad for at least 2 weeks in a row.
13% of adolescents aged 12-17 reported having at least 1 major depressive episode in 2016.
In the year 2017, 22% of females and 12% of male high schoolers have reported seriously considered attempting suicide. Of those, 9% of females and 5% of males have actually attempted suicide at least once.
The total percentage of teenagers who have faced depression had increased by 59% from 2007 to 2017. This growth rate was faster for teenage females (66%) than for teenage males (44%).
45% of teenage females have received treatment for depression while only 33% of teenage boys have gotten treatment after recent depressive episodes.
In 2017, 1:5 teenage girls (about 2.4 million) have had experienced at least one major depressive episode.
7% of teenage males (845,000) have had at least one major depressive episode as of 2019.
Suicide prevention: If you know someone that is having thoughts about suicide, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.
Citations:
Depression Symptoms and Warning Signs. (2020, May 11). Retrieved from
https://www.helpguide.org/articles/depression/depression-symptoms-and-warning-signs.htm
Geiger, A. W., & Davis, L. (2019, July 12). A growing number of American teenagers –
particularly girls – are facing depression. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/07/12/a-growing-number-of-american-teenagers-particularly-girls-are-facing-depression/
Office of Adolescent Health. (2018, November 15). United States Adolescent Mental Health
Facts. Retrieved from https://www.hhs.gov/ash/oah/facts-and-stats/national-and-state-data-sheets/adolescent-mental-health-fact-sheets/united-states/index.html
Schimelpfening, N. (2020, March 21). 7 Types of Depression You May Not Know About.
Retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/common-types-of-depression-1067313
Schimelpfening, N. (2020, March 24). Do You Know About All the Treatment Options for
Depression? Retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/treatments-for-depression-1065502
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