Symptoms of depression, its signs, causes and treatments.

What is depression and what are its main signs

Individual symptoms of the disease (sadness, melancholic mood, apathy) are familiar to every person when there are unfortunate moments in life. After the situation changes for the better, the symptoms disappear by themselves. Depression is a mental disorder in which a person does not feel joy from familiar things, feels longing and sadness, as well as an inability to receive joy from life. This disease affects all aspects of our life and manifests itself on the mental, spiritual and bodily levels. Depression can be talked about when its symptoms persist for several weeks or even months, while the person’s condition continues to worsen.

It is safe to talk about depression if you experience:

* Emotional disturbances: melancholy, apathy, disappointment in life, inability to enjoy familiar things, constant guilt, anxiety, fears, pessimism, unwillingness to live.
* Psychological disorders: dissatisfaction with oneself, unwillingness to communicate with people, difficulty in making decisions, lack of motivation for any action, self-flagellation, low self-esteem, insecurity.
* Social disorders: refusal from favorite activities and communication with friends and family, difficulties in establishing social contacts, the desire for a secluded lifestyle, neglect of one’s desires, the emergence of bad habits, aggressive reactions to the advice of others.
* Somatic disorders: feeling of weakness and drowsiness, fatigue, lethargy, decreased vitality, pain in the body and limbs, disturbances in the work of the cardiovascular and digestive systems, lack of appetite, problems concentrating, sleep disturbance, lack of sexual desire.
* Changes in worldview: thoughts about the worthlessness and meaninglessness of your life, misunderstanding of your life purpose, distrust of life, disappointment in people, disturbances in the perception of time, loss of a sense of control over your life, nightmares.

Why Depression Occurs

In most cases, it occurs due to prolonged exposure to stress, traumatic situations, difficult living conditions, intense nervous experiences and overstrain. Sudden lifestyle changes can also cause depression, for example: changing the circle of friends, moving, changing jobs, the death of a loved one, conflict situations at work. Look at the symptoms if something has changed dramatically in your life.

In each age group, special reasons for the occurrence of such a condition can be distinguished:
* In children – symptoms of depression may appear due to an unfavorable situation in the parental family, a lack of love and attention from adults.
* In adolescents – rejection of their body, conflicts with peers, hormonal surges, low self-esteem.
* In women – in the postpartum period and during menopause.
* For middle-aged men – due to the inability to acquire the desired social status or receive the necessary income.
* In the elderly – due to somatic diseases, disorders in the circulatory system, age-related changes in the work of the brain, due to retirement and changes in living conditions.

Such symptoms cannot be ignored. Depression signals that your life is not well and that you have certain problems. At any age and regardless of the causes that cause it, depression must be eliminated as soon as possible so that it does not become chronic.

Treatment methods

You can defeat depression in the early stages on your own using methods of psychological self-regulation and lifestyle changes. However, if the disease has passed into a deep form, then drug therapy is needed for recovery. Please note that all medications, when seeing symptoms of depression, should only be taken as directed by your doctor.

There are the following treatments for depression:
* Drug therapy. If you observe symptoms, then emergency medication is needed if the person has neurological disorders or suicidal thoughts that are associated with depression. Some forms of depression, including relapses of this nervous disorder, are effectively treated with medication alone. It is imperative to take the pills prescribed by the doctor if, due to a mental disorder, a person has health problems (disturbances in the work of the cardiovascular, digestive and nervous systems).
* Psychotherapeutic sessions. In some cases, medications help relieve the patient’s condition, but cannot completely relieve him of the manifestations of depression. In this case, psychotherapy is highly effective. Unlike drugs, it not only removes symptoms, but also acts on its root cause. Meetings with a psychotherapist are held regularly for several months, as a result of which the specialist will understand the cause of your depression and the mechanisms of its development, and will also draw up a treatment plan. In addition, communicating with a therapist will help the person feel understood and listened to, supported and cared for. The psychotherapist corrects the client’s mood and behavior, reduces the severity of the manifestation of depression. Working on yourself is quite difficult and emotionally painful, but if you want to cope with the disease, you must go this way, because the result is worth it.

Depression is a psychological disorder that lowers the quality of life and prevents a person from living happily. In the initial stages, seeing the manifestation of depression, you can cope with it on your own, but if there is no improvement within a few weeks, we advise you to seek help from specialists.