What is depression?
Depression is an illness that directly affects the brain. Anyone who is suffering from depression will let you know, that it’s not imaginary. Depression is more than about just sensing “low.” It is a very serious health problem that triggers the brain. According to the recent research, there are some of the factors that starts the illness of depression, which includes, genetics, changes in hormone levels, stress, certain medical ailments, or heartache. Any of such factors, can precipitate changes in brain that lead to depression.
Depression is a momentous condition. Depression is amongst the most disabling disorders, that affects approximately one in five women and one in ten men. It is also estimated that 21% of women and 12% of men are the victim of depression.
Causes
The causes of depression are not fully known, but researchers feel that there is an imbalance in the brain is signaling chemicals and that may be in charge of the problem in many patients. However, there are several concepts in which this imbalance occurs. Moreover, a number of distressing life situations are also associated, which includes childhood trauma, unemployment, the accident of someone you care about, divorce or a financial trouble.
Most likely, depression can hereditary, natural, environmental, and mental health factors.
There are certain medical ailments that may also result into major depression, which includes an underactive thyroid gland, cancers, heart disease, long term pain and other significant diseases. Also, hormonally induced depression can occur either after childbirth or at menopause.
Also, some narcotics, such as sleeping pills, and high blood circulation pressure medications are associated with depression.
Symptoms
People with depressive disorder may experience a number of symptoms, but mostly, “a deep sense of sadness or a proclaimed lack of interest or pleasure in day to day activities”. Other symptoms of depression include:
- Bad temper, anxiety or restlessness
- Inability to focus or make decisions
- Insomnia or feeling sleepy too much
- Sudden changes in weight, eating too much or inadequate
- Fatigue and insufficient energy
- Unexplainable crying spells
- Unexplainable physical symptoms such as head pain or body aches
- Being hopeless or worthless
- Weakness from social situations and normal activities
- Thoughts of mortality or suicide
Treatment
Depression, is one of the most unfortunate and severe case, that can be cured. The sooner the treatment will start, better will be the condition. Depression is usually cared with medications, psychotherapy, or a balance of both. If these treatments do not reduce symptoms, then electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and other brain activation therapies are used.
Medication: Prescription medications, called antidepressants, help modify mood by impacting naturally occurring brain chemicals. There are many types of antidepressants, but doctors usually focus on a category of drugs called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), and can also try other medications if the patient’s condition didn’t improve.
SSRIs concentrate on the brain’s serotonin, a signaling substance (neurotransmitter) that studies have found to be engaged in depression. This medication includes fluoxetine (often called Prozac), sertraline (Zoloft), citalopram (Celexa), escitalopram (Lexapro) and paroxetine (Paxiland Unwanted effects), that are usually temporary, which include changes in digestive problems, headaches, sleeping disorders and nervousness.
Other classes of antidepressants include serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs), Tricyclic antidepressants, Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) and Norepinephrine and dopamine reuptake inhibitors (NDRIs).
Medications take some time — approximately 2 to four weeks — to work, and frequently symptoms such as cravings, focus problems and sleeping improve before people may notice any mood changes.
Psychotherapy: Also called talk remedy or counselling, this treatment has been proven to help some patients with depression. Several studies have recommended that the combination of psychotherapy and medication, is most effective for treating people who have been affected by severe depression. Various kinds of psychotherapy include cognitive-behavioral remedy, which helps a person to change their negative thought patterns and replace them with better ones, as well as social therapy, which was created to help someone understand and sort out difficult relationships. Another form of psychotherapy is problem-solving remedy, which involves discovering realistic answers to cope with stressful situations.
Less common treatments: Patients with severe depression who have not responded to any medication or psychotherapy, then doctors may consider transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). TMS Therapy involves obtaining short magnetic pulses on the head to promote nerve skin cells in the mind that are usually involved in mood regulation and in major depression.
Verdict:
Depression is a very serious cause that put a great impact on the whole life. There are number of people who are suffering from depression and the reason is normally found, fights in relationship, divorce, death of loved one and many more. These things really affect the lifestyle of a person but one should always try to overcome from such situations so that you can able to live a fruitful life.
Author Bio:
Rahul Divan is a Content Writer. He is a specialized in sharing her views about health care and fitness, by updating people that how they can improve their health by taking appropriate precautions on or before time. Although, she does research before writing, to provide the useful information to her readers.