Who Can Get Depression?

Among those who are prone to depression are people: 

• With close relatives who have had depression,especially recurrent depression episodes or who have had bipolar disorder
• Who have had depression before
• With low self-esteem or self-loathing
• With chronic medical disorders,including thyroid disease,diabetes,and high blood pressure
• Who take certain medications,including oral contraceptives,steroids,and some medications for high blood pressure
• With a loved one who is seriously ill
• Who are alcoholic or drug abusing
• Who are withdrawing from alcohol or drug addiction
• Who are going through stressful or traumatic life events

When depression first occurs in those over the age of 60, it:

• May be a predictor of Alzheimer's disease
• May be caused by an undiagnosed general medical disorder before the symptoms of the disorder become evident
• May be a side effect of many drugs that are commonly prescribed for the elderly 

Symptoms of Bipolar Disorder,Dysthymia,and Seasonal Affective Disorder(SAD)

Symptoms of Bipolar Disorder:

• Increased energy
• Racing, disconnected thoughts
• Increased talking and physical activity
• Decreased need for sleep
• Extreme feelings of excitement,joy,agitation or irritation that may be inappropraite to a given situation
• Impulsive behavior and poor judgement; classic manic behavior includes excessive spending or rash business decisions
• Increase in implusive sexual activity
• Odd or improper social behavior
• Grandiosity, an elevated belief in one's own importance
• Hallucinations, seeing or hearing things that are not there
• Experience paranoia, feeling they are in danger
• Harbor false, unshakeable beliefs about such things as wealth,power,or "super" abilities

Symptoms of Dysthymia:

• Feeling emotionally numb; as if they exist in a state of perpetual,low-level melancholy,going through the motions of everyday life with very little enthusiasm or interest
• Tends to be negative thinkers, usually seeing the proverbial glass as half-empty instead of half-full
• Is unable to savor or enjoy anything(anhedonic), even things they once enjoyed
• Often subsequently develop episodes of major depression

Symptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder(SAD):

• Cravings for sweet and starchy foods
• Weight gain
• A need for more sleep

Symptoms of Major Depression

• Depressed mood
• Persistant feelings of hopelessness, guilt, or worthlessness
• Fatigue or lack of energy
• Slowed behavior(feeling of "dragging oneself around")
• Reduction or loss of pleasure in life
• Decreased motivation
• Negative or pessimistic thinking
• Loss of interest in friends, activities, hobbies or work
• Change in eating habits; weight gain or loss
• Sleeping problems, including waking up early
• Frequent crying
• Difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions
• Irritability
• Being anxious or worried a lot
• Thoughts of death or suicide
• Suicidal thinking or suicide attempts

A couple different forms of depression, a little bit about them, and some facts about Bipolar Disorder

Some forms of depression:

• Major Depression= also known as melancholia or unipolar depression,can last up to a year if not treated. A person experiencing an episode of major depression will experience some physical problems,such as headaches,other aches and pains,or digestive upset,in addition to emotional difficulties
• Bipolar disorder= once called manic depressive illness,causes mood swings that soar to unusual elation,and plummet to depression
• Dysthymia= a chronic(ongoing),low-grade depression. It often begins in childhood or adolescence and may last for many years in adulthood if not treated. It is a less severe form of clinical depression,but at times it can be almost as disabling as major depression

Seasonal affective disorder(SAD)= a form of depression thought to be triggered by a decrease in exposure to sunlight. In the Northern Hemisphere,the condition usually occurs in late fall and winter,when daylight hours are short,and it is more common in geographical areas that have four clearly defined seasons

 

Some facts about Bipolar Disorder:

• Bipolar disorder occurs in about 1 in 10 people with clinical depression
• It usually begins before the age of 30
• It strikes men and women equally
• It is twice as likely as major depression to run in families
• Bipolar Disorder triggers more frequent and severe episodes of illness than major depression
• The most disabling part of bipolar disorder are the often prolonged depressive episodes   

The meaning of depression and a few facts about it

Depression is a disorder that involves feelings of sadness lasting for two weeks or longer,often followed by a loss of interest in life,hopelessness,and decreased energy. These distressed feelings can affect a persons ability to do daily every day tasks and activities.

Facts about depression:

• Depression affects the mind,but it doesn't mean "it's all in your head."
• Up to 90% of depressed people respond positively to one treatment or another
• Sometimes psychotherapy or counseling is all that is needed,but there is also a wide variety of effective antidepressant medications and other alternatives
• Sometimes,the first treatment will work well. At other times,a second or possibly even a third treatment trial is required to find the best(most effective and easily tolerated)treatment for the patient
• Depression affects nearly 19 million Americans
• It is the most common mental illness,yet fewer than half of depressed people seek help
• Depression affects one in five people at some point in their life
• It is the leading cause of suicide
• It afflicts twice as many women as men
• Depression affects people in all age groups 

Controversy

Some people say "Well how can you write a whole blog devoted to depression and helping people when you posted up in one of your entries that pretty much every psychologist, psychiatrist, and counselor in the world is stupid?" Well here is your answer as to why I said what I did, I have been to countless psychologists, psychiatrists, and counselors and let me tell you not one of them even had a clue as to how in the world to help me. One of the psychologists I went to asked me "Do you feel like you're being bullied", another psychologist even dressed her 6 year old child in the morning just to avoid conflict with her. Like the kid cant dress herself if you just layout the clothes for her and help her tie her shoes if she needs help? Another counselor I went to tried to push me to go back into a public school which I didn't want to do and in turn it upset me so bad that the second I got home I cut myself because it brought back all the memories of being bullied when I was in public schools. One psychiatrist I went to put me on 400mg of Seroquel (a sleeping medication) which knocked me out in half an hour to 20 minutes and it also made my heart race which is a serious side effect of the medication plus he talked to me about being bullied like I had never been bullied before.  

Feelings

When you have no emotions
You just feel like your there
Sitting on this planet looking out
Out into this world full of strangers
When I see people walking by the house
I wonder what their lives are like
I think about what happens in this world
I think about what will happen next
What will happen to them
What will happen to me
Will it be bad?
will it be good?
I dont know
But what I do know is that things change
People change
The world changes for the good or bad
This world is different
More different than I remember
It will never be the same again
It makes me sad to know that it's not good anymore
To know that this world used to be good
But now it's not a good place at all
What is this world becoming?