According to the Centers for disease Control and Prevention in any 2-week period, 5.4% of Americans 12 years of age and older experienced some sort of depression. From major depression like being incapacitated, to symptoms like feeling a little blue, many people have been affected by this modern day malady. Understand that not all kinds [...]
According to the Centers for disease Control and Prevention in any 2-week period, 5.4% of Americans 12 years of age and older experienced some sort of depression. From major depression like being incapacitated, to symptoms like feeling a little blue, many people have been affected by this modern day malady.
Understand that not all kinds of depression are created equal. Some people have legitimately unbalanced hormones which can cause them to have major depression symptoms. Other people are in a rut or sorts, sad about the loss of a relationship, a death in the family or losing a job. Then there are also some teenagers, for whom the default setting is “depressed.”
The key here is to recognize that each of these states is different. While medication might be the best choice for some of the major depression symptoms, this is often not the case. That’s the importance of seeing a doctor or mental health professional if you are experiencing symptoms of depression. You need to know if you’re actually biologically depressed.
I recently read an article in the Bloomberg Times that said one in ten Americans are taking antidepressants. This is double the percentage of people taking them in 1996. During the same period the use of psychotherapy has declined because of insurance company restrictions on payments. So if you go to your doctor with symptoms, don’t look to them to supply you with any natural cures for depression. Since medication is more “cost effective”, and easier to get approved, it is typically used for people who are “clinically depressed”. The problem is that it often isn’t needed or even helpful. Does this help you understand why we need medical insurance reform?
Continue reading »
One of the problems of chronic stress is that it can cause depression. One definition I found for depression is “An illness that involves the body, mood, and thoughts, that affects the way a person eats and sleeps, the way one feels about oneself, and the way one thinks about things.” To say the least [...]
One of the problems of chronic stress is that it can cause depression. One definition I found for depression is “An illness that involves the body, mood, and thoughts, that affects the way a person eats and sleeps, the way one feels about oneself, and the way one thinks about things.” To say the least this leaves the interpretation of depression pretty wide open.
Today many times people feeling sad, blue, unhappy or just plain down in the dumps tell others that they are “feeling depressed”. While these might be symptoms of one of many loosely defined types of depression, they probably are not clinically depressed.
How would you know if you are clinically depressed? Clinical depression can be defined as depression that is not a normal, temporary mood caused by life events or grieving. A person who is clinically depressed actually has a mood disorder that interferes with their ability to function normally on a day to day basis. You are clinically depressed when your feelings of sadness, loss, anger or frustration interfere with your everyday life for an extended period of time.
Continue reading »
