Dealing with Depression
What is depression? How do you deal with it? A few clear guidelines and links to help.
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Depression is an insidious condition. It creeps up on you without you even realising. As a teacher I have been trained to spot the signs of depression in others but I still didn’t notice when it snared me.
Depression is a chemical imbalance in the brain. Despite this obviously physical cause many people will still ask “Why’s that?’ when you tell them you are suffering from depression. It’s like people believe that you should always be in control of your mind and your emotions. Anything that interferes with that control must be your fault. I must admit I thought that too. But think about it for a minute. If you get the flu do you blame yourself? Why should you blame yourself for getting ‘the flu’ in your mind?
Symptoms of depression
Depression is more than just feeling down. The ongoing feelings of despair, the lack of energy and the lack of any feelings of enthusiasm can all be part of the problem. If these symptoms persist for a period of more than two weeks you may be suffering from depression and should seek help. There can also be other signs that you may or may not experience. These can include sleep disorders – either sleeping too much or barely sleeping at all. There may well be a lowering of self-esteem- a feeling that you are not worth anything and perhaps that people would be better off without you. There may be changes in weight – either gains or loss. Sex drive may almost disappear. Problems with concentration and regular thoughts of death are also quite common. Any combination of these symptoms may be signalling that you are suffering from depression and you should seek medical help.
Things to do to Deal with Depression
Education.
I am a sponge for knowledge anyway. When my depression reached the point that I couldn’t work for a while, I needed to try to understand what was happening to me. The more I learnt about the symptoms of depression and the causes the more sense things made to me. I had recognised that my sleep patterns were not healthy- hey less than an hour continuously every night for weeks is pretty obvious. What I didn’t realise was that it was both a symptom and a cause of depression. It made me think about what I needed to do. If you think you may be depressed find out as much as you can about the condition. On its own it’s not a cure but it will help you to understand what you need to do in order to get well.
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