Understanding Depression

Depression and all the problems it comes with.

By Flora McCraith

Everybody has mood swings; sometimes they’re the happiest people around and sometimes they can be the worst downer. But if that bad mood lingers for days at a time, it could be early signs of depression. Major depression is an episode of sadness that can be extremely hard to pull yourself out from and can be severe enough to disrupt daily activities. Depression doesn’t signify a person’s weakness but it is considered a health problem that can be treated.


Symptoms: Emotional

* Wreaks havoc on emotions
* Loss of interest in life
* A sense of worthlessness, guilt and lack of hope
* In some incidences thoughts of death or suicide occur
* Things and activities that were once pleasurable lose their appeal


Physical

* 65 per cent report that depression is accompanied by pain
* Headaches, back ache, tender muscles and sore joints are some symptoms
* Fatigue and low energy, dizziness and too much or too little sleep are also
common
* Changes in appetite and weight
* Persistent nausea, diarrhoea or constipation


Impact

Without treatment, depression can ruin a person’s career and relationships, which makes it difficult to concentrate and make decisions. It can also affects a person's sex drive and in some instances be life threatening as some sufferers are likely to commit suicide.


Suicide warning signs

A person who talks about death or suicide, threatens to hurt people or themselves or engages in risky behaviour is inadvertently sending out signals that they are possibly suicidal.


Who is at risk?

Anyone can be affected by depression, but genetics can sometimes play a role. Women are twice as likely to be affected as men and children can suffer from depression also. This may appear in behaviour known as “acting out” and without treatment they can also become suicidal.


Causes

Doctors aren’t sure what exactly causes depression but believe it is altered brain structure and chemical function which causes neurotransmitters to become unbalanced. It can also occur when a person goes through an intense time of stress of suffers from a traumatic experience.

Certain types of medication, alcohol and substance abuse are also known to trigger depression in some people, as well as hormonal changes and three out of four new mothers are affected by postpartum depression which is also known as 'the baby blues'.


Diagnosis and treatment

There is no test for depression and doctors rely on the patient's description of their symptoms to diagnose it. Therapy, medication, exercise, light therapy (phototherapy), St John’s Wort (for mild depression), pets and social support have all been proved to help in the treatment of depression.

Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS) – when patients don’t respond to treatment a VNS is surgically implanted and is like a pacemaker for the brain.


Anyone who appears suicidal should be taken very seriously

If you know anyone or you yourself need to talk, see below

Lifeline Association Malaysia

Helpline 1: (063) 92850039 Helpline 2: (063) 92850279 Helpline 3: (063) 92850049

Befrienders Worldwide

- MSN