Depression: A very common illness

Depression is a leading cause of disability in the world. According to World Health Organisation, depression is a common illness worldwide, with an estimated 3.8% of the population affected, including 5.0% among adults and 5.7% among adults older than 60 years. Approximately 280 million people in the world have depression. There is a difference between having depression and just feeling depressed. One can feel depressed for time being because of minor problems in daily life and that is normal and one gets better in a short time. But having depression is something else. It is a mental disorder and will not go away because one wants it to instead go on for at least two weeks, and then starts affecting daily life severely unless it is not properly treated.

Moreover, depression is a complex disease. No one exactly knows what actually causes it, but it can happen for a variety of reasons. Some people have depression during medical illnesses. Others may have depression with life changes, such as a move or death of a loved one, a break-up with a loved one, or getting divorced. In addition, conflict with members of family and friends, losing a job or income, in case of students failing in certain examinations and extreme academic pressure, and some other personal problems can be the causes of depression.

Symptoms of depression may include; a low mood, loss of interest in things one used to enjoy, feeling worthless or guilty, poor concentration, restlessness or slowness, loss of energy, sleeping either too much or too little, changes in appetite, suicidal thoughts and unexplained physical problems such as back pain or headache. Moreover, depression has symptoms inside the brain. There are changes that can be seen with the naked eye and x-ray vision, these include smaller frontal lobes and hippocampus volumes. On a more microscale, depression is associated with a few things like; the abnormal transmission or depletion of certain neurotransmitters especially, serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine, weakened circadian rhythms, and hormone abnormalities such as high cortisol and deregulation of thyroid hormones.

As living with depression is quite challenging so treating it can improve the condition of one’s mental health. Depression can be treated in many ways such as; medications like antidepressants, and antianxiety these have benefits but have side effects too, hence may be taken with the prescription of a doctor or a psychiatrist, seeking a psychotherapist is the best option as he will properly guide one to either go for medication or therapy and, additionally, consulting with a specialist can make one feel bit relaxed and a proper solution can be found out for the problem.

Depression is a serious problem and is rapidly increasing, especially in teens and young adults. And because the symptoms of depression are intangible, it is hard to know who is actually suffering from it. So, anybody who is suffering from it must reach out to loved ones. And, according to the US National Institute of Mental Health, it takes a person almost ten years to ask for help. So, if a person struggling that hard reaches out to you do listen to his problems gently and help resolve them and make him feel relaxed. If the person is in extreme depression, encourage him to reach out to a psychiatrist and make him aware that having a mental illness is natural like any other physical illness and it may be treated properly. So that this mental illness may be controlled.