| Reply 1 : Symptom of Depression
We all feel fed up or down sometimes but these feelings usually last for a couple of days or weeks at the most, and we can still go about our everyday lives and gain pleasure from the usual things that give us pleasure like seeing friends or going out for dinner with our partner. Sometimes there’s a reason, sometimes there’s no particular reason. We may have a chat with a friend but otherwise we don’t need any help.
Someone who gets these feelings most days and they don’t go away and interferes with their everyday lives is suffering from Depression.
Some of the symptoms of physical illnesses may be similar to those of depression. For example, loss of appetite or disturbed sleep may also be caused by physical illnesses, like thyroid problems, heart disease or arthritis. If you do have depression, you will have many of the thoughts and feelings listed below.
Feel unhappy most of the time
Lose interest in life and can’t enjoy anything
Find it harder to make decisions
Can’t cope with things that you used to
Feel exhausted
Feel restless and aggravated
Lose appetite and weight (some people put on weight)
Take 1-2 hours to get to sleep, then wake earlier than usual
Lose interest in sex
Lose your self confidence
Feel useless, inadequate and hopeless
Avoid other people
Feel irritable
Feel worse at a particular time each day usually in the morning
Think of Suicide
If you have all or most of these signs and have had them over a long period of time, it may mean that you are depressed.
Who gets depressed?
Depression can strike anyone regardless of age, background, socioeconomic status or gender. It does not care who is sweeps up in its path.
The most common time of onset is between the ages of 30 and 40, with a later peak between 50 and 60, and the condition appears to be more common in women.
Depression is quite a common condition, and about 15% of people will have a bout of severe depression at some point in their lives. However, the exact number of people with depression is hard to estimate because many people do not get help, or are not formally diagnosed with the condition.
Women are twice as likely to suffer from depression as men, It may be that depression in men is harder to spot because they are less likely to talk about their feelings. Men are far more likely to commit suicide.
Depression can affect people of any age, including children. Studies have shown that 2% of teenagers in the UK, are affected by depression.
People with a family history of depression are more likely to experience depression themselves.
THE FACTS:
Depression is very common.
Between 5 and 10 per cent of the population are suffering from the illness to some extent at any one time.
Over a lifetime you have a 20 per cent, or one in five, chance of having an episode of depression.
Women are twice as likely to get depression as men. Depression is more common in women than in men, though its most dramatic outcome, death by suicide, is more common in men.
Bipolar affective disorder is less common than depressive illness with a life-time risk of around one to two per cent. Men and women are equally affected.
It is estimated that close to 10% of the population has a depressive disorder.
Women experience depression at roughly twice the rate of men
Over 6% of adults 18 and older suffer from a major depressive disorder in a given year.
While major depressive disorders can develop at any age, the median age at onset is 32.
It is estimated that close to 3% of the population has a bipolar disorder with the median age being 25.
2.5% of children suffer from depression.
Two-thirds of children with mental health problems do not get the help they need.
80% of people who get help for their depression have a better quality of life.
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a subtype of depression. Research suggests that SAD arises from some people’s sensitivity to seasonal changes in the amount of available daylight.
People sometimes react emotionally to changes in the amount of daylight available. For example, with less sunlight in the winter, some individuals become depressed, sad and irritable. They want to sleep a lot and eat constantly and lose interest in socialising. When spring arrives with more daylight hours, their mood enhances; they feel better and start getting their energy back.
Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder
This condition is experienced by approximately four percent of menstruating women. Different from premenstrual syndrome (PMS), women who suffer from premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) have more severe symptoms of deep depression or irritability for a week or two prior to or during menstruation. |
