Depression

What is Depression?

Depression is a mood disorder that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest. Depression causes a state of excessive sadness that interferes with our normal functioning. This disorder can be of a mild form (dysthymia) or can be a major one (major depressive disorder). The big difference between the two forms is that the major depressive disorder often requires urgent treatment or hospitalisation (i.e., often requires the intervention of a mental health practitioner).

Everyone, irrespective of cultural, religious, political, gender, or educational differences, has all been down at a point in life. On some days, we have all felt like life is not worth living anymore, or we have felt like a situation cannot get any better. If you feel any of these to the extent that it affects your daily functioning, then you may be on the path of developing depressive disorders.

How do you know if you have a depressive disorder?

• You often feel excessively sad

• You have been eating too little or too much in recent days

• You have been sleeping too little or too much in recent days

• You feel guilt about past events

• You feel shameful about past events

• You are feeling hopeless about the future.

• You think that life is not worth living or that nothing good can come out of life

• You have lost concentration in daily tasks

• You do not feel motivated to carry out daily tasks

• You are thinking, planning or have attempted to end your own life

• You may often report a slowing down of physical movements and inhibition of thought processes.

Treatment for Depressive Disorder

No two people experience depression in the same way; therefore, depressive disorder cannot always be treated in the same way for different individuals.

The treatments of depressive disorder are as follows:

Use of medications like antidepressants (such as citalopram, fluoxetine, sertraline, escitalopram, paroxetine, etc.).

Psychotherapy (e.g., cognitive-behavioural therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, compassion-focused therapy, etc.)

Lifestyle modification (e.g., exercise, nutrition, sleep, reduction of stress, etc.)

Mental health practitioners often suggest that the best treatment for depressive disorder is a combination of all the above, because the use of medication alone is often insufficient.

Some health practitioners even advise that psychotherapy and lifestyle modification are much more effective than medication in preventing a relapse.