DEPRESSION - AN EASY SOLUTION

Living With Depression

Living with depression can be hard. You may already feel the benefits of treating your depression:

• Increased energy
• Feeling hopeful
• Finding more joy in life

Even if you're feeling better, you may still have occasional concerns that you aren't sure how to address. In this step-by-step guide you'll find answers to your questions, including:

Why doesn't my medication work better?

1. How can I minimize antidepressant sid effects?
2. What else can I do to get well?
3. What if my depression comes back?

Recovering from depression takes time and effort. It's important to keep working closely with your doctor and therapist. You need to keep taking your medicine as prescribed, finding ways to manage stress, and avoiding triggers that may have contributed to your depression before.

At the end of this article you will find a list of more in-depth articles on many of the topics discussed here.

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What Are Symptoms of Depression?

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, symptoms of depression may include the following:

• Difficulty concentrating, remembering details, and making decisions
• Fatigue and decreased energy
• Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, and/or helplessness
• Feelings of hopelessness and/or pessimism
• Insomnia, early-morning wakefulness, or excessive sleeping
• Irritability, restlessness
• Loss of interest in activities or hobbies once pleasurable, including sex
• Overeating or appetite loss
• Persistent aches or pains, headaches, cramps, or digestive problems that do not ease even with treatment
• Persistent sad, anxious, or "empty" feelings
• Thoughts of suicide, suicide attempt             

Causes and risk factors for depression

• Loneliness
• Lack of social support
• Recent stressful life experiences
• Family history of depression
• Marital or relationship problems
• Financial strain
• Early childhood trauma or abuse
• Alcohol or drug abuse
• Unemployment or underemployment
• Health problems or chronic pain

 Types of depression

Depression affects each person in different ways, so symptoms caused by depression vary from person to person. To clarify the type of depression you have, your doctor may add information to your depression diagnosis called a specifier. Specifiers include having depression with specific features, such as:

1. Anxious distress — unusual restlessness or worry about possible events or loss of control
2. Mixed features — simultaneous depression and mania, which includes elevated self-esteem, talking too much, and racing thoughts and ideas
3. Melancholic features — severe depression with a profound lack of response to something that used to bring pleasure, associated with early morning awakening, worsened mood in the morning, significant changes in appetite, and feelings of guilt, agitation or sluggishness
4. Atypical features — ability to be cheered by happy events, increased appetite, little need for sleep, sensitivity to rejection, and a heavy feeling in arms or legs
5. Psychotic features — depression accompanied by delusions or hallucinations, which may involve themes of personal inadequacy or negative themes
6. Catatonia — includes motor activity that involves either uncontrollable and purposeless movement or fixed and inflexible posture
7. Peripartum onset — occurs during pregnancy or in the weeks or months after delivery (postpartum)
8. Seasonal pattern — related to changes in seasons and diminished exposure to sunlight

Depression symptoms in children and teens

Common symptoms of depression in children and teens are similar to those of adults, but there can be some differences.

• In younger children, symptoms of depression may include sadness, irritability, clinginess, worry, aches and pains, refusing to go to school, or being underweight.
• In teens, symptoms may include sadness, irritability, feeling negative and worthless, anger, poor performance or poor attendance at school, feeling misunderstood and extremely sensitive, using drugs or alcohol, eating or sleeping too much, self-harm, loss of interest in normal activities, and avoidance of social interaction.
• Depression may occur with other mental health conditions, such as anxiety, eating disorders, substance abuse or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Depression symptoms in older adults

Depression is not a normal part of growing older and it should never be taken lightly. Unfortunately, depression often goes undiagnosed and untreated in older adults, and they may feel reluctant to seek help. Symptoms of depression may be different or less obvious in older adults, including:Memory difficulties or personality changes,Fatigue, loss of appetite, sleep problems, aches or loss of interest in sex, which are not caused by a medical condition or medication,Often wanting to stay at home, rather than going out to socialize or doing new things.Suicidal thinking or feelings, especially in older men

When to see a doctor

• If you feel depressed, make an appointment to see your doctor as soon as you can. Depression often gets worse if it isn't treated. Untreated depression can lead to other mental and physical health problems or troubles in other areas of your life. Feelings of depression can also lead to suicide.

• If you're reluctant to seek treatment, talk to a friend or loved one, a health care professional, a faith leader, or someone else you trust.

• If you have suicidal thoughts

• If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, get help right away. Here are some steps you can take:

• Reach out to a close friend or loved one.

• Contact a minister, a spiritual leader or someone in your faith community.
• Call a suicide hotline number — in the United States, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-Talk(800-273-8255) to reach a trained counselor. Use that same number and press 1 to reach the Veterans Crisis Line.

• Make an appointment with your doctor, mental health provider or other health care provider.

• When to get emergency help

• If you think you may hurt yourself or attempt suicide, call 911 or your local emergency number immediately.

• If you have a loved one who is in danger of committing suicide or has made a suicide attempt, make sure someone stays with that person. Call 911 or your local emergency number immediately. Or, if you think you can do so safely, take the person to the nearest hospital emergency room.

10 NATURAL TREATMENT OF DEPRESSION

1. Get in a routine. If you’re depressed, you need a routine, says Ian Cook, MD. He's a psychiatrist and director of the Depression Research and Clinic Program at UCLA.Depression can strip away the structure from your life. One day melts into the next. Setting a gentle daily schedule can help you get back on track.

2. Set goals. When you're depressed, you may feel like you can't accomplish anything. That makes you feel worse about yourself. To push back, set daily goals for yourself."Start very small," Cook says. "Make your goal something that you can succeed at, like doing the dishes every other day."As you start to feel better, you can add more challenging daily goals.

3. Exercise. It temporarily boosts feel-good chemicals called endorphins. It may also have long-term benefits for people with depression. Regular exercise seems to encourage the brain to rewire itself in positive ways, Cook says.How much exercise do you need? You don’t need to run marathons to get a benefit. Just walking a few times a week can help.             

 4. Eat healthy. There is no magic diet that fixes depression. It's a good idea to watch what you eat, though. If depression tends to make you overeat, getting in control of your eating will help you feel better.Although nothing is definitive, Cook says there's evidence that foods with omega-3 fatty acids (such as salmon and tuna) and folic acid (such as spinach and avocado) could help ease  depression.

                                               

5. Get enough sleep. Depression can make it hard to get enough shut-eye, and too little sleep can make depression worse.What can you do? Start by making some changes to your lifestyle. Go to bed and get up at the same time every day. Try not to nap. Take all the distractions out of your bedroom -- no computer and no TV. In time, you may find your sleep improves.

6. Take on responsibilities. When you’re depressed, you may want to pull back from life and give up your responsibilities at home and at work. Don't. Staying involved and having daily responsibilities can work as a natural depression treatment. They ground you and give you a sense of accomplishment.If you're not up to full-time school or work, that’s fine. Think about part-time. If that seems like too much, consider volunteer work.

7. Challenge negative thoughts. In your fight against depression, a lot of the work is mental -- changing how you think. When you're depressed, you leap to the worst possible conclusions.

                             

8. Check with your doctor before using supplements. "There's promising evidence for certain supplements for depression," Cook says. Those include fish oil, folic acid, and SAMe. But more research needs to be done before we'll know for sure. Always check with your doctor before starting any supplement, especially if you’re already taking medications.

  

9. Do something new. When you’re depressed, you’re in a rut. Push yourself to do something different. Go to a museum. Pick up a used book and read it on a park bench. Volunteer at a soup kitchen. Take a language class."When we challenge ourselves to do something different, there are chemical changes in the brain," Cook says. "Trying something new alters the levels of [the brain chemical] dopamine, which is associated with pleasure, enjoyment, and learning."

10. Try to have fun. If you’re depressed, make time for things you enjoy. What if nothing seems fun anymore? "That's just a symptom of depression," Cook says. You have to keep trying anyway.

As strange as it might sound, you have to work at having fun. Plan things you used to enjoy, even if they feel like a chore. Keep going to the movies. Keep going out with friends for dinner.

When you're depressed, you can lose the knack for enjoying life, Cook says. You have to relearn how to do it. In time, fun things really will feel fun again.