What is Depression?
Most of us suffer from being depressed from time to time. However, there is a difference between being depressed and having depression. Being depressed is normal just like being happy or angry or sad etc. No one is “happy” all the time. The problem comes when one of these emotions or states of mind tend to dominate our lives to an extreme.
Being depressed can be any low mood, which may be relatively short-lived and perhaps due to something of even a minor nature, even though it may seem to be much greater at the time.
With the exception of bereavement, which can last for quite some time, many of the causal factors such as being overlooked for promotion, a relationship break up, a loss of money, or an unfair slight on your character, will often soon fade away. Even a rainy day can promote depression in some individuals. An illness, such as a bout of influenza, often brings about a state of depression, especially during its onset. The old adage that “Time cures all ills” is often very true.
This differs from Clinical Depression which is a “state of mind” disease that manifests itself in a condition of intense sadness, or despair that impinges on an individual’s activities and daily living. Clinical Depression is generally more serious than normal depressed feelings and can be the result of many factors; either individual factors, or a conglomeration of factors that can have a tendency to snowball.
Some of these factors are low self-esteem, constant negative thinking, pessimistic views of life, and sometimes substance abuse. In many cases an imbalance of certain hormones and vitamins in the body is linked to the condition. The medical profession tends to treat the problem in most cases by rectifying the imbalance.
Some diseases such as Bipolar Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and Schizophrenia tend to be accompanied by clinical depression.
Extreme depression can result in sufferers inflicting self-harm, or attempting or committing suicide.
Find out how to distinguish between “the blues” and a real episode of depression – to overcome depression it is vital that you be able to identify it as soon as possible when it strikes!