My experience with depression is a little more tricky as I believe that I have dealt with it for a very long time, but didn’t recognize the emotions, the symptoms, and dealing with it until more recently. I am still learning about depression and how to deal with it while experiencing it.
Some facts about Depression:
Depression (major depressive disorder) is a common and serious mental disorder that negatively affects how you feel, think, act, and perceive the world.
Nearly three in ten adults (29%) have been diagnosed with depression at some point in their lives and about 18% are currently experiencing depression, according to a 2023 national survey. Women are more likely than men, and younger adults are more likely than older adults to experience depression. While depression can occur at any time and at any age, on average it can first appear during one’s late teens to mid-20s.
Symptoms of depression can vary from mild to severe and can appear differently in each person. These symptoms can include:
- Feeling sad, irritable, empty, and/or hopeless
- Losing interest or pleasure in activities you once enjoyed
- A significant change in appetite (eating much less or more than usual)
- Sleeping too little or too much
- Increase in purposeless physical activity (e.g., inability to sit still, pacing, handwringing) or slowed movements or speech that are severe enough to be observable by others
- Decreased energy or increased tiredness or fatigue
- Feeling worthless or excessively guilty
- Difficulty thinking or concentrating, forgetfulness, and/or difficulty making minor decisions
- Thoughts of death, suicidal ideation, or suicide attempts
It is normal to experience moments of sadness or feeling “down in the dumps” or the blues as part of the human experience. However, a diagnosis of depression requires that the above symptoms occur for most of the day, nearly every day, for more than two weeks, along with a clear change in day-to-day functioning. Fortunately, depression is very treatable.
Risk Factors for Depression
- Biochemical: Differences in certain chemicals in the brain (such as the neurotransmitters serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine) may contribute to symptoms of depression
- Genetic: Depression can run in families. For example, if one identical twin has depression, the other has a 70% chance of having the illness sometime in life
- Personality: People with low self-esteem, who are easily overwhelmed by stress, or who are generally pessimistic may be more likely to experience depression
- Environmental: Continuous exposure to violence, neglect, abuse, or poverty can also pose risks for developing depression
Depression is Different from Sadness or Grief/Bereavement
The death of a loved one, loss of a job, or the ending of a relationship are difficult experiences for a person to endure. It is normal for feelings of sadness or grief to develop in response to such situations. Those experiencing loss often might describe themselves as being “depressed”.
But being sad is not the same as having depression. The grieving process is natural and unique to each individual and shares some of the same features of depression. Both grief and depression may involve intense sadness and withdrawal from usual activities. They are also different in important ways:
- In grief, painful feelings come in waves, often intermixed with positive memories of the deceased. In major depression, mood and/or interest (pleasure) are decreased for most of two weeks.
- In grief, self-esteem is usually maintained. In major depression, feelings of worthlessness and self-loathing are common.
- In grief, thoughts of death may surface when thinking of or fantasizing about “joining” the deceased loved one. In major depression, thoughts are focused on ending one’s life due to feeling worthless or undeserving of living or being unable to cope with the pain of depression.
- Grief and depression can co-exist. When grief and depression co-occur, the grief is more severe and lasts longer than grief without depression. Distinguishing between grief and depression is important and can assist people in getting the help, support or treatment they need.
**disclaimer: the info about Depression came from psychiatry.org**
Empath Vortex 