Depression  డిప్రెషన్ (మానసిక కృంగుబాటు)

What is depression?

Sometimes we all feel sad, low in mood and miserable or fed up. These feelings don’t usually stay longer than a week or two, and they don’t affect our lives too much. Sometimes there’s a reason, sometimes not. We usually cope – we may talk to a relative or a friend but don’t otherwise need any help.

However, in depression:

your feelings don’t lift after a few days – they carry on for weeks or months

your feelings are so bad that they affect your life in the way you function.

డిప్రెషన్ (మానసిక కృంగుబాటు) అంటే ఏమిటి?

కొన్నిసార్లు మనం అందరం విచారానికి, బాధకు, విసుగుకు లోనౌతాము. ఇవి మన భావాద్వేగాలలో సాధారణ భాగాలు కాబట్టి, ఇలాంటి భావోద్వేగాలు ఒకటి రెండు వారాలకంటే ఎక్కువగా వుండవు, మన జీవితాన్ని కూడా అంతగా ప్రభావితం చేయవు. ఇలా జరగడానికి ఒక్కోసారి కారణం ఉండవచ్చు, లేకనూ పోవచ్చు. సాధారణంగా మనం ఇలాంటి పరిస్థితిని తట్టుకోగల్గుతాము. కొన్నిసార్లు మన కుటుంబ సభ్యునితోనో లేక మిత్రునితోనో మాట్లాడితే మన మానసిక పరిస్థితి కుదుటపడుతుంది, అంతకంటే ఎక్కువ సహాయం మనకు అవసరం ఉండదు. ఇలా జరగడం సర్వ సాధారణమైన విషయం.

కానీ డిప్రెషన్ (మానసిక కృంగుబాటు) కలిగినపుడు మాత్రం –
మన విచారం, బాధ చాల రోజులయినా కుదుటపడవు, వారాలు నెలలైనా అలానే ఈ భావోద్వేగాలు కొనసాగుతాయి.

ఈ భావోద్వేగాల తీవ్రత వలన, జీవితంలో మనం నిర్వర్తించే విధులపైన ప్రభావం పడుతుంది.

HOW DOES IT FEEL WHEN YOU ARE DEPRESSED?

Most people with depression will NOT have ALL the symptoms listed below, but most will have AT LEAST FIVE OR SIX.

You:

  • lose interest in life and can’t enjoy anything
  • feel unhappy most of the time (but may feel a little better in the evenings)
  • find it harder to make decisions
  • feel utterly tired
  • take 1-2 hours to get off to sleep, and then wake up earlier than usual
  • lose appetite and weight (some people find they do the reverse and put on weight)
  • can’t cope with things that you used to
  • feel restless and agitated
  • lose interest in sex
  • feel useless, inadequate and hopeless
  • lose your self-confidence
  • feel irritable
  • avoid other people
  • think of suicide.
  • feel worse at a particular time each day, usually in the morning

You may not realise how depressed you are for a while, especially if it has come on gradually. You try to struggle on and may even start to blame yourself for being lazy or lacking will power. It sometimes takes a friend or a partner to persuade you that there really is a problem which can be helped.

You may start to notice pains, constant headaches or sleeplessness. Physical symptoms like this can be the first sign of depression.

What causes depression?

Events that happen in our lives

Situations

Physical diseases

Personality traits / our set ways of reacting to stress

Alcohol

Gender

Hereditary causes / Genes

CAN DEPRESSION OCCUR IN BIPOLAR DISORDER (MANIC DEPRESSION)?

Yes. Depressive episodes can occur as part of Bipolar Disorder. People suffering from Bipolar Disorder experience phases with moods of opposite nature – that means – a period of depressed mood during depressive episodes and a period of elevated mood (overly happy and hyperactive) during manic / hypomanic episodes and sometimes mixture of both elevated and depressed moods.

Is depression just a form of weakness?

People suffering from depression may feel that they appear ‘weak’ mentally to others, as if they are not fighting ‘hard enough’ and are making a ‘choice’ of ‘giving in’. The fact is that when people suffer from depression, they feel overwhelmed with a depressed mood which affects their thought process with negative themes. Even powerful personalities from every profession in the world can experience deep depression. In India, many influential people who suffer from depression do not openly admit to it. In 2015, Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone bravely admitted to suffering from depression and set up a charity called ‘Live Love Laugh’ to raise awareness.

When do I need to seek help?

When you have feelings of depression are intense and don’t get better without any intervention

If you find yourself feeling that life is not worth living, or that other people would be better off without you

When you have feelings that your life is not worth living and that people around you would be better off without you

How to help yourself

Talk to someone 

Engage yourself in activities 

Eat healthily

Stop / Cut down alcohol!

…. and Ganja or any drugs

Manage your sleep

Address the cause

Stay with hope, don’t lose it

What help is available?

Guided self-help

Talking treatments

JPMR Jacobson Progressive Muscle Relaxation

Counselling

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)

Problem-solving therapy

Couple therapy

Support groups

Bereavement counselling

Interpersonal and psychodynamic psychotherapy

Group therapy

Problems with talking treatments

 

Antidepressants

How do antidepressants work?

Problems with antidepressants

Antidepressants and young people

Alternative treatments

Which will suit me better – antidepressants or talking treatments? 

Will I need to see a psychiatrist?

What will happen if I don’t get any treatment?

Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)

How can I help someone who is depressed?