Beating Depression: The Complete Guide to Depression and How to Overcome It

Beating Depression: The Complete Guide to Depression and How to Overcome It 

(Class Health)

What is depression?

Every human being has changed in their mood. Experiencing good, not so good, and low mood is normal. The variety of our feelings is essential to our being lively and responsive to our surroundings. We would otherwise be totally predictable and robotic. Contrasting moods and feelings add depth to our lives. There will be times when elated, or extra good mood, is appropriate – something really good has happened and we are very happy.

 It will also be entirely appropriate to feel low, tearful and negative in other circumstances, for example being made 2 Beating Depression redundant. The difference, however, between that experience and being depressed, can be subtle but all-important. It is the difference between normal experience and illness. Many people would feel bad at losing a job but not everyone would go on to be ill. Illness begins and normal experience ends, at the point at which your everyday functioning is affected and continues to be affected beyond what would reasonably be expected. You would not expect a person who has lost their livelihood last week to be functioning well this week, but you would expect a gradual improvement over the course of the following months. If this (normal) mood is protracted and it starts to change the way someone is coping (or not coping) with life, it starts to become a problem or illness.

Frequently asked questions about depression?

How common is depression? 

Depression of one sort or another is the commonest illness of all; it’s said that 40% of all of us get this illness at some time in our lives. Nearly a quarter of all GP attendances are for some form of the emotional problem; 3% of the population are estimated to be suffering from depression, and 8% suffer from mixed anxiety and depression, at any one time. Many more people, who don’t have a full-scale illness, have difficulties or disabilities owing to some depressive symptoms. There is a wide range of severity of this remarkable illness. It can range from a quite subtle loss of enthusiasm and pleasure in life, which is hardly even recognized by the person concerned or their family, to a severe condition that can need urgent hospital treatment for the patient’s safety. Most cases of depression are in the mild to moderate range. So about 90% of people with depression will be most appropriately treated by their family doctors, generally with a combination of antidepressants and counseling. The other 10% will need more intensive and specialized looking after by a psychiatrist – and members of their team, such as clinical psychologists, community psychiatric nurses, and other therapists. Only a very small percentage will actually need treatment in the hospital.

This is relatively quite rare. Depression can have accumulated over many years and a catalyst could have set the final crumple-switch into action, causing the breakdown to develop into severe depression. Many people do not recognize it happening to them. Others around them can also be blind to it or don’t seem able to help.

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