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Clinical Depression
Depression does not mean feeling sad and miserable for a day or two before feeling better. In true depression, symptoms last for several weeks or months, or even years if left untreated. Depression, also referred to as clinical depression, is not a weakness as some people perceive it to be. It is a medical illness affecting the mind and body. It affects your thinking and behavior. If you are depressed, you find it difficult to perform your usual activities. You suddenly do not want to go out, get dressed and socialize with friends. You lose interest in a lot of things which you were engrossed to before.
It’s either you over eat or you lose appetite. Either you oversleep or stay awake the whole night. You feel empty. You feel excessive guilt. You feel life is not worth living for. You don't feel like your usual self anymore. You feel life is not worth living for. Worse, you might even contemplate on ending your own life. Depression knows no age, no race, no gender, and no religion. It can hit people of all ages, genders, cultures, and religions. In the United States alone, over 17 million American men and women were reported to be suffering from depression each year according to the American Psychiatric Association. However, clinical depression can be treated. People who seek medical help often get better within several months.
There are different types of clinical depression. The three most common types are major depression, dysthymia, and bipolar disorder. Major depression involves a combination of the most common symptoms that interfere with the person’s ability to do his usual activities like work, sleep, eat and socialize. Major depression episodes can occur more than once or twice a year. Dysthymia refers to a less severe type of depression. It is also referred to as chronic depression. Those who suffer from dysthymia can still function well but seem constantly unhappy or miserable. Bipolar disorder also known as manic depression is characterized by severe mood changes. A person suffering from bipolar depression experiences periods of depression alternate with periods of elation and increased activity.
Depression and feeling of sadness and stress are not the same. It is normal for us to feel sad and depressed as a reaction to unpleasant events in our lives. We also feel stressed out because of too much pressure in our work or family life. We lose appetite and we cannot sleep. We also don’t feel the need to socialize. But once we confide these feelings to a friend or loved one, we start to feel better again. Depression is a lot different. It can last for several weeks, months or even years when you don’t seek treatment. Elizabeth Wurtzel in her book Prozac Nation: Young and Depressed in America delivered this quote that sums up what depression is.
Depression is in an altogether different zone because it involved a complete absence: absence of affect, absence of feeling, absence of response, absence of interest. The pain you feel in the course of a major clinical depression is an attempt on nature's part (nature, after all, abhors a vacuum) to fill up the empty space. But for all intents and purposes, the deeply depressed are just the walking, waking dead.”
