Depression
Depression is a word that is used to describe feeling sad, experiencing low mood but it is also a mental health diagnosis. Unlike the common experience of periodic or situational sadness, the diagnosis of depression means something completely different.
Almost everyone will experience an emotional reaction to major disappointments, life transitions, stress, or loss but usually a depressed mood can lift fairly quickly. When the mood persists it can become a significant mental health problem and may then be considered “clinical” or “major depressive disorder”.
Clinical depression is considered to be a ‘mood disorder’ and essentially means that a person’s emotional state is profoundly and persistently low and that they cannot independently raise their mood. Depression is most common in people between the ages of 15 and 45. People living with depression can lose the ability to anticipate happiness or pleasure. This is one of the reasons that people with depression will stop doing things they enjoy.
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Clinical depression impacts the way people think, feel (emotionally and physically), and what they do (or don’t do). When these symptoms persist, they can lead to more distress and affect a person's work, relationships, and overall functioning. Listed below are the symptoms of depression…
• Feeling sad, empty or hopeless most of the day, nearly every day
• A decrease or loss of interest or pleasure in activities
• Changes to appetite (increase/decrease) and weight (gain/loss)
• Difficulties with sleep - oversleeping or insomnia
• Decrease in energy, fatigue
• Thinking and movement slows down (noticeable to others)
• Feelings of worthlessness, excessive/inappropriate guilt
• Trouble thinking, concentrating, or making decisions
• Thoughts of death and suicidal thinking
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Like all mental health disorders there is no simple explanation that can explain the exact cause. Generally speaking, research suggests that a combination of biological, psychological, and social factors influence the likelihood of depression occurring. The risk of depression is common in individuals living with other mental health disorders, addiction and chronic physical pain or illness.
Symptoms of depression will often contribute to patterns or thinking or behaving that worsens the depression for the individual. For example, someone living with depression may have a decrease in their energy levels and a loss of interest in the activities they normally enjoy, so they stop doing things that are good for them like working out or going to see friends after work because they are tired and not interested, over time they become isolated and inactive which will make the depression worst, this is an example of how the symptoms of depression worsen depression over time.
How is depression treated?
The most common evidenced based treatments for depression are Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and antidepressant medications. Deciding whether or not to start medications can be a very difficult decision and one that must be made with the support of a doctor. Sometimes when the depression symptoms are severe they can interfere with one’s ability to engage in psychotherapy and in those cases it may be necessary to begin medication to be able to participate in therapy.
CBT for depression is one of the most strongly supported evidenced based interventions in psychotherapy. The research shows that CBT can be a viable alternative to medication in the treatment of depression and that CBT combined with medications is significantly more effective than medications alone. The evidence also suggests that ‘depression relapse rates’ are significantly lower for individuals treated with CBT in comparison to the patients treated with medications alone.
Managing Depression
In addition to the more traditional treatment methods, the importance of the care and attention of the physical body cannot be understated. Some examples of other important depression management strategies include…
Moving the body through exercise
Eating well and creating balance in the diet
Managing sleep habits
Taking in fresh air and natural sunlight
Intentional self-care practices
Maintenance Therapy for Depression
For those with a history of major depression, maintenance therapy of Mindfulness based CBT.
