Surviving Depression

“Life is so hard when you are sick with depression, feeling guilt, regret, pain, emptiness, loneliness, weakness and so on becomes all you feel all day, all night, every single of the day. I hate my life and the person I have become. I feel I'll never be able to feel happiness again. I wish I could close my eyes make everything come to an end with no more thoughts, no more feelings, nor good or bad, just nothing, but I could never put an end to my life because of the pain it would cause to my family. I just wish it was an easy way to leave existence without causing any suffering to the people that cares about me. I’m feeling depressed!!!!”

DEPRESSION

• Depression negatively affects a person mentally. A sad feeling is the most common and most widely known symptom of depression, but it’s not the only symptom. Another symptom is a feeling of worthlessness, which cause thoughts that you have no purpose, and that your life is not valuable. Hopelessness and helplessness can make you feel like the depression will never go away and that you shouldn’t seek help because there is nothing that will help you. Depression also causes a loss of motivation to do daily tasks and a loss of pleasure or enjoyment in hobbies and activities you used to enjoy. It can also cause loss of concentration.
• Depression negatively affects a person physically. Some people experience a decreased appetite, which can result in weight loss. On the other hand, other people will experience an increase in appetite, causing weight gain. The problem with this is obesity, which can cause joint pain and stress on the heart. It can also lead to diabetes and hypertension. Depression can also cause widespread pain throughout your body. And it can even weaken the immune system, making you more prone to illness.
• Depression (major depressive disorder) is a common and serious medical illness that negatively affects how you feel, the way you think and how you act. Fortunately, it is also treatable. Depression causes feelings of sadness and/or a loss of interest in activities once enjoyed. ... Feeling sad or having a depressed mood.

It can negatively affect you mentally, through feelings of worthlessness, hopelessness, and helplessness, cause loss of motivation and poor concentration. It can affect you physically through changes in weight, sleep patterns, and lower your immune system. But even though depression can cause you to feel helpless and hopeless, there is always help, and there is always hope.

Facts on Depression

The causes of depression are not fully understood and may not be down to a single source.

Depression is likely to be due to a complex combination of factors that include:

• Depression seems to be more common among women than men.
• Symptoms include lack of joy and reduced interest in things that used to bring a person happiness.
• Life events, such as bereavement, produce mood changes that can usually be distinguished from the features of depression. These include bereavement, divorce, work issues, relationships with friends and family, financial problems, medical concerns, or acute stress.
• The causes of depression are not fully understood but are likely to be a complex combination of genetic (having a first-degree relatives with depression increases the risk) biological, environmental, and psychosocial factors.

• Depression is a mood disorder characterized by persistently low mood and a feeling of sadness and loss of interest. It is a persistent problem, not a passing one, lasting on average 6 to 8 months.

• Personality: Those with less successful coping strategies, or previous life trauma are more susceptible.
• Childhood trauma.
• Some prescription drugs: These include corticosteroids, some beta-blockers, interferon, and other prescription drugs.
• Abuse of recreational drugs: Abuse of alcohol, amphetamines, and other drugs are strongly linked to depression.
• A past head injury.
• Having had one episode of major depression: This increases the risk of a subsequent one.
• Chronic pain syndromes: These and other chronic conditions, such as diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and cardiovascular disease make depression more likely.

Symptoms of depression can include:

• depressed mood
• reduced interest or pleasure in activities previously enjoyed, loss of sexual desire
• unintentional weight loss (without dieting) or low appetite
• insomnia (difficulty sleeping) or hypersomnia (excessive sleeping)
• psychomotor agitation, for example, restlessness, pacing up and down
• delayed psychomotor skills, for example, slowed movement and speech
• fatigue or loss of energy
• feelings of worthlessness or guilt
• impaired ability to think, concentrate, or make decisions
• recurrent thoughts of death or suicide, or attempt at suicide

Warning Signs

Not everyone who is depressed experiences every warning sign — some people will experience a few signs, while others, many. Severity of symptoms varies with individuals and also varies over time. These signs are usually pretty clear to those around the person suffering — the person doesn’t seem at all like their normal self. The changes in the person’s mood are (usually) evident to friends and family.

• Depression is not just feeling blue from time to time. Instead, the warning signs of depression are characterized by overwhelming daily feelings of sadness, hopelessness, worthlessness and emptiness. A person who experiences depression often cannot see a future for themselves — they may feel like the world is closing in around them.
• Persistent sad, anxious, or empty mood
• Feelings of hopelessness, pessimism
• Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, helplessness
• Loss of interest or pleasure in hobbies and activities that were once enjoyed, including sex
• Decreased energy, fatigue, being “slowed”
• Difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions
• Insomnia, early-morning awakening, or oversleeping
• Appetite and/or weight loss or overeating and weight gain
• Thoughts of death or suicide; suicide attempts
• Restlessness, irritability
• Persistent physical symptoms that do not respond to treatment, such as headaches, digestive disorders, and chronic pain.

In order for depression to be diagnosed, the person must experience these symptoms every day, for at least 2 weeks.

Treatment

Depression is a treatable mental illness.

• Support, ranging from discussing practical solutions and contributing stresses, to educating family members.
• Psychotherapy, also known as talking therapies.
• Drug treatment, specifically antidepressants.
• Antidepressants are drugs available on prescription from a doctor. Drugs come into use for moderate to severe depression, but are not recommended for children, and will be prescribed only with caution for adolescents.

Conclusion:

You are in control. You have the power to control your thoughts and thus your behavior and depression. Positive thinking has been proven as the one of the most powerful tools to combat and deal with depression.

There are some things in life that is out of our control that we can’t change and we have to live with. There are some times in life when we fall down, we feel like we don’t have the strength to get all back up. The choices we have is either to give up or to keep going. Happiness is a choice.
Crisis comes to serve the person who wants to use it as fuel. You have a choice…you can be a victim and let it break you or you can actually defeat it…and tell yourself “the hell with you darkness”.

Thanks Everyone!!!!