Diseases | Adult's Health | Depression

What is depression?

Everyone feels sad or “down in the dumps” at times, but the sadness usually goes away. However, for some people, these sad feelings remain for a long while. A person who feels bad for a very long time might have depression or anxiety or both, called Anxiety-Depression Disorder. Depression is disease that affects a person’s moods. Moods are the way a person feels and how he or she expresses those feeling. Someone who suffers from depression may feel sad, angry, irritable, tired, confused, guilty, or worthless. A person who is depressed may lose interest in almost everything he or she used to enjoy.

Depression can cause physical changes in the body, too. A person with depression may have aches and pains and other health problems. Depression also changes the way a person acts. Somebody who is depressed may yell and throw things. He or she may not eat enough or eat too much. This person might have trouble sleeping or feel so tired that he or she stays in bed most of the time. Depression can have a serious effect on a person’s life. It can cause problems with school, a job, family, and friends.

Depression is not a weakness or a personality problem. It is painful for the person who has it. The disease can also be difficult for the person’s family and friends. The good news is that a person with depression can be helped. There are a number of treatments that a doctor can use to help him or her feel better. There are also things a person with depression can do to get healthier. While there is no one single cure for depression, there is help and there is hope. No one with the disease should suffer alone.

Depression may now be defined in terms of the following attributes:

1) A specific alteration in mood: sadness, loneliness, apathy

2) A negative self – concept associated with self-reproaches and self-blame

3) Regressive and self-punitive wishes: desire to escape, hide, or die

4) Vegetative changes: anorexia, insomnia, loss of libido

5) Change in activity level: retardation or agitation