What is depression?
Everyone experiences the emotion of sadness from time to time. The experience of sadness is as normal as the experience of any other emotions, including fear, anger, and happiness. While it might sound strange to talk about the benefits of sadness, emotional pain may motivate us to reflect on out behavior and make changes in our life to prevent future losses.
For example, experiencing sadness after the breakup of an unhealthy marriage may make us think twice about getting into another unhealthy relationship. Low mood in response to a difficult situation may also prevent us from making impulsive decisions that we might regret later. Difficulty making decisions and a lack of motivation are features of sadness, that may help prevent us from making decisions too quickly.
Clearly though, not all sadness is helpful or adaptive. If you are reading this article chances are that you or someone you care about has suffered from a more extreme form of sadness known as depression. Severe depression can have a devastating effect on a person's life. When depression is too intense, prolonged, or frequent, it can become a significant problem, affecting almost all areas of an individual's functioning(such as work, school, relationships, housework, social life, and hobbies).
People who are depressed 'cannot pull themselves together' and get better. It is a mental health disorder that can affect the way you eat and sleep, the way you feel about yourself, and the way you think about things.
Depression is characterized by lack of interest (anhedonia), and feelings of sadness and emptiness.
This mood state is often accompanied by feeling less energetic, having difficulties thinking or concentrating, or losing interest in or motivation to engage in pleasurable activities. The symptoms of depression may vary from person to person, and also depend on the severity of the depression. Such a mixture can include (but is not limited to) anger, fear, anxiety, despair, guilt, apathy, perceived helplessness, loss of interest in pleasure, pain, and/or grief, in addition to what many people would describe as typical 'sadness'.
Depression can cause physical changes in the body. A person with depression may have aches and pains and other health problems. 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. It affects at least 2 in 100 children under 12 and 5 in every 100 teenagers, and it is even more common in adults.
Young people are much more likely to become depressed if they have separated parents, have lost a parent in early life, have suffered from abuse, neglect or live in inner city areas where there are high rates of poverty, unemployment and crime. Depressives sometimes engage in violence or excessive criticism of others. Many depressed people have obsessions, alcoholism or other addictions. Depression is harmful to the human body and can affect proper functioning of the brain. Extended depression can lead to suicidal tendencies.
Without treatment, symptoms can last for months or years. Treatments such as antidepressant medications and psychotherapy can reduce and sometimes eliminate the symptoms of depression.
The American Psychiatric Association has defined a number of different problems from which a key feature is depression. Although there are a number of different disorders that are associated with depression, two of the most commonly diagnosed problems are Major Depression Disorder (MDD) and Dysthymic Disorder.
