Depression

Depression is a mental illness that affects someone’s mood and mental health and can be very disabling and cause problems with life and relationships. The word depression is derived from the Greek words meaning “departure” and “disappointment”. 

You can think about it as being down or depressed, but more precisely it means an extreme state of sadness and loss of interest in things around you, a feeling of hopelessness over your future or past. It may also have symptoms of anxiety, including irritability, difficulty concentrating or making decisions, sadness, sleep disorders, or insomnia. 

There are many different types of depression and they include major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, stress, trauma-related depression, etc, and so on. 

Some people experience just the opposite as others do, so there’s no one right type of depression.

How severe your depression is matters, but generally speaking most people can live with severe depression without problems or medication for quite some time. Depression affects approximately 8% of adults in the United States according to the CDC. In short, it’s not something we usually talk about. 

I like using the word “depression” rather than just “depression” but I would never want anyone to feel bad about having had depression. We need these words to help us look at this problem in broader terms. 

Our brain chemistry as a whole and particularly our brain chemistry when dealing with certain experiences and circumstances is often dysfunctional at best. 

Even worse, when looking at specific factors such as a person’s genetic history can be even more problematic. Of course, there are other causes of mental illness. Sometimes they might not be obvious and sometimes need only a slight change of lifestyle to make the situation better.

But overall any medical condition affects our mental health. That said there are definitely symptoms of depression. 

While it makes sense to see depression itself, many times we will use the term when it comes to talking about symptoms that can affect everyday personal life. 

Understanding more about it it helps to understand the structure of depression and why it is considered to be serious. 

Let’s take an example. You go back with your ex and ask him or her if they have noticed anything changes. 

They do not. Then you call them to ask and when told that nothing has changed then you get even angrier. That is definitely depression in action. You notice increased anger. You realize you are angry (or maybe even upset). 

You have also seen reduced self-esteem, you have lost self-confidence and you are starting to lose hope and motivation. That is certainly depression in action.

When we have an increase in mood we are going to start to lose more energy. We are going to feel tired and tired almost constantly. We are going to have trouble sleeping.

That’s all part of what happens when we begin to experience chronic fatigue syndrome. If it takes place over a period of weeks or months or even longer, that is a sign we are experiencing chronic fatigue syndrome.

As we look at life today there are no boundaries between what we can accomplish and the rest of the world. 

Sure there are days when we would come back from traveling, and that can help give our mental health a boost days off. 

Other times we would put our mental health before our careers and get work done. Still, we find ourselves doing things we actually don’t want to do. 

We feel a huge need to go somewhere to escape, escape reality, escape from pain, and from everything else that makes us unhappy. So sometimes we feel there’s nothing else to do except get away.

No matter where we go we cannot avoid depression; just going away can bring on a deep depression. A good way to combat this is through mindfulness exercises which can help us become more aware of what’s happening inside our heads. In addition to that, you can try cognitive behavioral therapy and yoga.

These kinds of techniques aren’t really new.

For instance, my own therapist once explained that mindfulness training for long periods of time can decrease inflammation and stress.

This might not seem like it would be very helpful for me, but it really works to make life less stressful. Yoga is another way I have started to try and reduce stress.

I am a certified teacher and can offer private classes whenever it suits my schedule.

Yoga has been shown to lower blood pressure and heart disease risk while increasing the function of dopamine receptors in our brains.

It does not hurt that I also like to climb. 

Just keep in mind though I’m not getting paid to give yoga lessons. 

My clients also get a free retreat if they need one; it gives them time to decompress before working out.

Both of these methods are great options if they don’t help someone, but both are ways to fight depression. 

Many people think this kind of thing is always due to genetics and that may certainly be true for some disorders like the ones mentioned above. 

However, it appears we are far more affected by it than is typically thought. Unfortunately, many of us have not only one of these diseases but multiple and they can happen in the same person over many decades. 

Not all of us, but many more. And if these diseases are not really diagnosed properly then perhaps the number of those who get these conditions could increase. 

Now let’s face the fact that most diseases are similar so maybe some of the diseases you may have heard of may be part of depression as well. 

Also, a little background for our story would be depression (depressive disease) and Alzheimer’s disease. 

They are two separate health issues but they appear closely related and both of them affect the brain.

Depression begins long before a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s is made and may be treated during or after a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s so if it were possible to prevent or slow down the onset of either it would help the individual fight depression once and for all.

Depression can also lead to other types of psychiatric illnesses like schizophrenia, bulimia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, eating disorders (eating disorders), and personality disorders. All of these conditions affect a large percentage of the American population and each is not easy to diagnose but they all share common symptoms.

Regardless of if it is Alzheimer’s or depression, we will always face depression. Hopefully, everyone reading this article knows how to stay positive and happy while fighting depression and mental illness like any other medical condition you encounter.