It's All In Your Head

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Depression is much more than simple unhappiness. Clinical depression, sometimes called major depression, is a “mood disorder” that is a significant mental health problem.

Symptoms

The main symptom of depression is a sad, despairing mood that:

·         is present most days and lasts most of the day

·         lasts for more than two weeks

·         impairs the person’s performance at work, at school or in social relationships.

Other symptoms of depression may include:

·         changes in appetite and weight

·         sleep problems

·         loss of interest in work, hobbies, people or sex

·         withdrawal from family members and friends

·         feeling useless, hopeless, excessively guilty, pessimistic or low self-esteem

·         agitation or feeling slowed down

·         irritability

·         fatigue

·         trouble concentrating, remembering and making decisions

·         crying easily, or feeling like crying but being not able to

·         thoughts of suicide (which should always be taken seriously)

·         a loss of touch with reality, hearing voices (hallucinations) or having strange ideas (delusions).

Depression in women

Major depression can occur in 10 to 25 per cent of women — almost twice as many as men. Many hormonal factors may contribute to the increased rate of depression in women — particularly during times such as menstrual cycle changes, pregnancy and postpartum, miscarriage, pre-menopause, and menopause.

Depression in men

Men with depression typically have a higher rate of feeling irritable, angry and discouraged. This can make it harder to recognize depression in men. The rate of completed suicide in men is four times that of women, though more women attempt it.

Depression in children

A child who is depressed may pretend to be sick, refuse to go to school, cling to a parent or worry that the parent may die. Older children may sulk, get into trouble at school, be negative or grouchy, and feel misunderstood. Because normal behaviours vary from one childhood stage to another, it can be difficult to tell whether a child is just going through a temporary “phase” or has depression.

Misconceptions

·         “People should just get over the blues and get on with their lives.”  Clinical depression is not just unhappiness — it is a complex mood disorder caused by a variety of factors, including genetic predisposition, personality, stress and brain chemistry. While it can suddenly go into remission, depression is not something that people can “get over” by their own effort.

·         “My life will never be normal again.” Most people can and do return to function at the level they did before they became depressed.

Source: http://www.camh.ca/en/hospital/health_information/a_z_mental_health_and_addiction_information/depression/Pages/depression_mhfs.aspx