How to deal with Depression? Causes, Sign & Management

How to deal with Depression? Causes, Sign & Management

This article will help you to understand about depression, cause, how to diagnose and common signs and how to deal and control the feelings of depresses. 

What is Depression? 

Depression is also called “Common Cold of Psychiatric Illness” or Mood Disorder, or Bipolar Disorder. Depression is the most common mental-health condition and leading cause of disability over the period of life, where people continuously thinking or experiencing a feeling or a set of feelings (better to say negative feelings) and trap within those. For an example, if someone has a disease then all kinds of negative felling and thought related to that disease, causes painful feelings and that is called depression. 

Depression is much more serious than cold, though, because it affect just about every part of your life, from your mind to body and mood to the way you see the world. 

How Depression Come?  

It can come suddenly, apparently for no reason or as the result of a stressful or life-altering event. It can also grow slowly over months and years, gradually draining away happiness and hope. 

“The depression illness creates the same kinds of painful feelings that you did experience after death in the family, a failed romance, a lost job, a serious illness or any other life crises that leave you feelings sad, lonely, or ‘down’ for a period of time,” explained Jonathan Alpert, M.D., P.hD., assistant profession of psychology at Harvard Clinical and Research Program at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

The difference is that while generally you recover the most stressful events like death or other serious loss within a period of months, depression often refuses to go away on its own? Instead it persists, getting in the way of your job or relationship with family and friends, and basically prevents you from getting on with your life. 

How to Diagnose Depression ? 

The condition of depression requires medical diagnosis and does not require any lab test or imaging. Depression affects different people in different ways but there are some common signs. 

Common Sign of Depression: 

Depression can be in many forms, here are some common symptoms of depression 

(1) Constant sadness 
(2) Loss of self-confidence
(3) feeling of hopelessness or helplessness
(4) numbness (lack of feelings or emotions)
(5) Lethargy or Increased lack of energy or drive
(6) Insomnia (loss of sleep) or interrupted sleep or problem in getting up in the morning
(7) persistent headaches
(8) stomachaches
(9) backaches, or muscle or joint pain
(10) Problem remembering things or concentrating
(11) loss in interest in pleasure activities
(12) including hobbies, sports, and sex
(13) Increased isolation from friends and family members
(14) Eating disturbances (weight gain or weight loss)
(15) Panic attack
(16) Overwhelming feelings of guilt or fear
(17) Frequent crying and shouting
(18) Increased arguments with friends, family members or coworkers
(19) loss of interest in saving money or controlling how much you spend
(20) Dangerous or compulsive risk taking, and thoughts of your own death or suicide. 

The symptoms of major depression are often remitting and relapsing. This means the symptoms come and go; they may improve or go away and then return at some later time. 

The important thing to remember is that mood disorders are treatable and that you can learn to manage your own. 

1. Meditation: Meditation is one way which you can practice for 20 – 30 min every day. This technique can boost your strength to control your negative thought and depression. You can read our previous articles “Meditation: One Pause to Heal Many Suffering” and “Meditation: When and How to Meditate for Beginners”. 

2. Physical Exercise: As the physical exercise is good for your body and overall health likewise it is good for your brain, in particular that exercise can alleviate depression. Regular physical exercise may be helpful alone or when used in addition to standard antidepressant treatment. This is called an augmentation strategy. Exercise is a part of a Relapse Preventation plan therefore, before beginning an exercise program, discuss your plan with your physician. 

3. Yoga: Yoga is a powerful technique. It gives us an active role in healing. Yoga slow down mental chatter through breath work, it helps facilitate self-acceptance. In other words, through practicing yoga, we become quieter, more grounded and reduce your depression. There are specific Yoga posture are describes in literatures, such as Urdhva Hastasana in Tadasana, Adho Mukha Vrikshasana, Adho Mukha Shvanasana, Viparita Dandasana, Sarvangasana variation, and Setubandha Sarvangasana etc. You can practice under supervision of your yoga instructor. 

4. Relax and Enjoy Life: Try to being surrounded by your favorite friends, colleagues or family members. Try to change your surrounding environment, and activities that make you energetic, while avoiding habits and trap that bring you down. 

5. Recognize Trigger feeling of Your Depression and Plan New Responses: The more you know about depression, the clearer it becomes. Depression has not one cause but many. Try to find out the main triggering feeling for your depressive moods and episodes. Once you recognize those, feelings. Try to plan new responses for those feelings so that you can avoid trapping on them. 

6. Focus on What You Appreciate About Yourself: Two themes predominate in depression: feeling inadequate and feeling worthless. And two major sign of depression –lethargy and the inability to feel rewarded-make those belief seems true, although they may far from truth. Therefore, appreciate about yourself (such as Kindness, Courage, Being considerate of others, Gentleness, Good cook, Intelligence, Work and relation ethics, and Generous), positive aspects of experiences you are already having and stimulate your mental and physical energy. 

7. Focus on – Balancing your life, try to end your isolation, increase your flexibility, Mobilize your energy, Prevent destructive behavior, Broaden your perspective and learn to live fully. 

8. Diet, Herbs and Supplements: Now a day’s a numbers of herbs, vitamins, and other supplements are “breakthrough” treatments for depression. You can consult with natural health provider or psychologist to help you determine if there is a supplement that can work for you. Let meet also learn about the surprisingly strong link between your food and your mood. For an example if you eat fruits to keep control your emotions the use it. 

9. Treatment for Depression: You can seek medical professional help to overcome from your depression. There are some common treatments available that professionals used to treat depression, such as (a) Psychotherapy, (b) Cognitive Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (c) Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) for depression, (d) Psychodynamic Therapy, (e) Relapse Prevention, (f) Mindful awareness, (g) Mindful acceptance etc. In addition to psychotherapy, medication is very common treatment for depression. But that you can expect if you consult with your physician or psychiatrist about taking medication. 

10. Alternative Options: You can also consider consulting with the holistic healers such as music therapists, acupuncturists, intuitive healers, and other alternative health practitioners are uniquely trained to help bring relief for your headaches, heartaches and depression. 

Book References: 

1. Depression: A guide for the newly diagnosed, Lee H. Coleman, Ph.D. ABPP, New Harbinger Publications, Inc. 2012, ISBN: 978-1-60882-196-9 

2. The Doctor of Home Remedies for Depression, Edited by Mary S. Kittel, Prevention Health Book, 2001, ISBN: 1-57954-232-8 

3. Managing your Depression, What you can do to feel better, Susan J. Noonan, M.D., M.P.H., A Johns Hopkins Press Health Book, 2013, ISBN 13: 978-1-4214-0947-4 

4. The 10 Best-Ever Depression Management Techniques, W. W. Norton & Company, 2010, ISBN: 978-0-393-70629-1 

5. Mental Depression A Silent Killer, Sibnath Dev, Anjana Bhattacharyjee, Concept Publishing Company, 2009, ISBN-13: 978-81-8069-576-6 

6. Shadows in the Sun: Healing from Depression and Finding the Light Within, Gayathri Ramprasad, Hazelden.org, 2014, ISBN: 978-1-61649-475-9 

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