Depression, also known as major depressive disorder, is a mood disorder that makes you feel constant sadness or lack of interest in life.
Most people feel sad or depressed at times. It’s a normal reaction to loss or life’s challenges. But when intense sadness — including feeling helpless, hopeless, and worthless — lasts for many days to weeks and keeps you from living your life, it may be something more than sadness. You could have clinical depression, a treatable medical condition.
Is Depression Curable?
There’s no cure for depression. Your symptoms may go away over time, but the condition won’t.
But with care and treatment, you can reach remission and enjoy a long, healthy life.
Depression Symptoms
According to the DSM-5, a manual doctors use to diagnose mental disorders, you have depression when you have five or more of these symptoms for at least 2 weeks:
- Your mood is depressed for most of the day, especially in the morning.
- You feel tired or have a lack of energy almost every day.
- You feel worthless or guilty almost every day.
- You feel hopeless or pessimistic.
- You have a hard time focusing, remembering details, and making decisions.
- You can’t sleep, or you sleep too much, almost every day.
- You have almost no interest or pleasure in many activities nearly every day.
- You think often about death or suicide (not just a fear of death).
- You feel restless or slowed down.
- You’ve lost or gained weight.
You may also:
- Feel cranky and restless
- Lose pleasure in life
- Overeat or stop feeling hungry
- Have aches, pains, headaches, cramps, or digestive problems that don’t go away or get better with treatment
- Have sad, anxious, or “empty” feelings
While these symptoms are common, not everyone with depression will have the same ones. How severe they are, how often they happen, and how long they last can vary.
Your symptoms may also happen in patterns. For example, depression may come with a change in seasons (a condition formerly called seasonal affective disorder).
It’s not uncommon for people with depression to have physical signs of the condition. They may include joint pain, back pain, digestive problems, sleep trouble, and appetite changes. You might have slowed speech and movements, too. The reason is that brain chemicals linked to depression, specifically serotonin and norepinephrine, play a role in both mood and pain.
Depression Causes
Doctors haven’t pinpointed exact causes for depression. They think it may be a combination of things, including:
- Brain structure. People with depression seem to have physical differences in their brains from people who don’t have depression.
- Brain chemistry. Chemicals in your brain called neurotransmitters play a part in your mood. When you have depression, it could be because these chemicals aren’t working the way they should.
- Hormones. Your hormone levels change because of pregnancy, postpartum issues, thyroid problems, menopause, or other reasons. That can set off depression symptoms.
- Genetics. Researchers haven’t yet found the genes that might be responsible for depression, but you’re more likely to have depression if someone you’re related to has it.
Types of Depression
There are a few types of depressive disorders that doctors can diagnose, including:
- Unipolar major depression
- Persistent depressive disorder, also called dysthymia, when depression lasts for at least 2 years
- Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder, when children and teens get very cranky, angry, and often have intense outbursts that are more severe than a child’s typical reaction
- Premenstrual dysphoric disorder, when a woman has severe mood problems before her period, more intense than typical premenstrual syndrome (PMS)
- Substance-induced mood disorder (SIMD), when symptoms happen while you’re taking a drug or drinking alcohol or after you stop
- Depressive disorder due to another medical condition
- Other depressive disorders, such as minor depression
Depression Treatment
If you or someone you know has symptoms of the condition, talk to your doctor. They can evaluate you and offer you treatment or refer you to a mental health professional.
The type of treatment your doctor recommends will depend on your symptoms and how severe they are.
Credit: webmd
