Overview of depression
Depression is a depressive disorder that involves a person's body, mood, and thoughts. It can affect and disrupt eating, sleeping, or thinking patterns, and is not the same as being unhappy or in a "blue" mood, nor is it a sign of personal weakness or a condition that can be willed or wished away. People with a depressive illness cannot merely "pull themselves together" and get better. Treatment is often necessary and many times crucial to recovery.
Three types of depression
There are three primary types of depression, including:
major depression (clinical depression)
manic depression (bipolar disorder)
dysthymia
(dysthymic disorder)
Major depression, also known as clinical depression or unipolar depression, is classified as a type of affective disorder or mood disorder that goes beyond the day's ordinary ups and downs, becoming a serious medical condition and important health concern in this country.
Who is affected by major depression?
The onset of depression is occurring earlier in life than in previous years, with women nearly twice as likely than men to develop major depression.
What are the symptoms of major depression?
The following are the most common symptoms of major depression. However, each individual may experience symptoms differently. Symptoms may include:
persistent sad, anxious, or empty mood
loss of interest in activities once previously enjoyed
excessive crying
increased restlessness and irritability
decreased ability to concentrate and make decisions
decreased energy
thoughts of death or suicide, or suicide attempts
increased feelings of guilt, helplessness, and/or hopelessness
weight and/or appetite changes due to over- or under-eating
changes in sleep patterns
social withdrawal
physical symptoms unrealized by standard treatment (i.e., chronic pain, headaches)
For a diagnosis of major depression to be made, an individual must exhibit five or more of these symptoms during the same two-week period. The symptoms of major depression may resemble other psychiatric conditions. Always consult your physician for a diagnosis.
Depression in the Workplace
Depression affects nearly 18.8 million American adults each year, including persons of all income levels, educational backgrounds, and professions. In the workplace, untreated depression is costly. In fact, the latest figures estimate that depression accounts for close to $12 billion in lost work days each year.
Additionally, more than $11 billion in other costs result from decreased productivity in the work place - mostly due to depressive symptoms that affect decision making skills, attention span, fatigue, lack of energy, difficulty concentrating, and problems with memory.
These figures increase significantly when the depression leads to substance abuse and addiction.
Seek consultation from an employee assistance counselor or consult your physician if depression and/or substance abuse and addiction is affecting your work performance. By law, all information you share will remain confidential.
How is major depression diagnosed?
Because depression has shown to often co-exist with other medical conditions, such as heart disease, cancer, or diabetes, and other psychiatric disorders, such as substance abuse, or anxiety disorders, seeking early diagnosis and treatment is crucial to recovery.
A diagnosis is often made after a careful psychiatric examination and medical history performed by a psychiatrist or other mental health professional.
Treatment for major depression:
Specific treatment for major depression will be determined by your physician based on:
your age, overall health, and medical history
extent of the disease
your tolerance for specific medications, procedures, or therapies
expectations for the course of the disease
your opinion or preference
Treatment may include either, or a combination, of the following:
antidepressant medications (especially when combined with psychotherapy has shown to be very effective in the treatment of depression)
psychotherapy (most often cognitive-behavioral and/or interpersonal therapy that is focused on changing the individual's distorted views of themselves and the environment around them, working through difficult relationships, and identifying stressors in the environment and how to avoid them)
family therapy
electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)
Two-thirds of persons with major depression do not seek the appropriate treatment, although 80 percent of all people with clinical depression who seek treatment improve, usually within weeks. Without treatment, symptoms can persist for weeks, months, or years. Continued treatment may help to prevent reoccurrence of the depressive symptoms
Please know that you can share this article with anyone you want to and to maybe some you don't Even like, because it's that good & will in turn show that you love your neighbors, please pass it along as long as the footer is left in tact, my goal is to reach 2,000,000 people with this new Conciseness. I feel is Heavenly inspired to raise money for the Mentally Ill, I am setting up a non-profit Organization called Out of Darkness & Into The Light, please know if you want to make a difference in someone's life, please donate $1 to our pay pal account Outof_darkness@yahoo.com, I can honestly say this will go to people who prove there is a need for their medication and they need it bad! Millions donated to the victims of Hurricane Katrina, I am asking you all out there to donate to MENTAL HEALTH DISODERS, as it is becoming a very hard topic to get people to donate to and the system is really under funded and we need to change that and now! We can change this you and me together. This organization will help provide medicine for those who can not afford it, so they don't have to eat dog food or, instead of getting there medicine So remember anyone reading this because of you, I Will Lay my life down, because of you I took another breath today. They don't call me The Zig Ziglar of Mental Health for nothing, please know, if you are suffering right now, that tomorrow can and will get better, I am a walking miracle and if I CAN RECOVER, SO CAN YOU! Because of you!
Leading Psychiatrists are calling Arthur a 'walking miracle'-After 15 years in mental institutions, absorbing inhumane shock treatments, abusing alcohol, he's now being called worldwide' The Zig Ziglar of Mental Illness 'Read about his amazing comeback and what #1 best-selling author Mike Litman has called The Most Inspirational Book of 2002' Out of Darkness - One Man's Journey From The Depths Of Mental Illness to Pure Joy
They are calling Arthur Buchanan's methods of recovering from mental illness REVOLUTIONARY! (MEDICAL COLLEGE OF MICHIGAN) 'Arthur Buchanan has given us a revolutionary blue print for recovery in these uncertain times, when Mental Illness at a all time high in the United States of America, yet if you follow this young mans methods, we assure you of positive results and I QUOTE 'If these methods are followed precisely, their is no way you can't see positive results with whatever illness you have' Dr. Herbert Palos Detroit, Michigan'
Listen to Arthur Buchanan on the Mike Litman Show!
http://freesuccessaudios.com/Artlive.mp3 THIS LINK WORKS, LISTEN TODAY!
With Much Love,
Arthur Buchanan
President/CEO
Out of Darkness & Into the Light
43 Oakwood Ave. Suite 1012
Huron Ohio, 44839
www.out-of-darkness.com
567-219-0994 (cell)