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 tiredor 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 sleeptoo 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 in Children
Childhood depression is different from the normal “blues” and everyday emotions most kids feel. If your child is sad, it doesn’t necessarily mean they have depression. It’s when the sadness stays day after day that depression may be an issue. Disruptive behavior that interferes with normal social activities, interests, schoolwork, or family life may also be signs of a problem.
Depression in Teens
A lot of teens feel unhappy or moody. When the sadness lasts for more than 2 weeks and a teen has other symptoms of depression, there may be a problem. Watch for withdrawal from friends and family, a drop in their performance at school, or use of alcohol or drugs. Talk to your doctor and find out if your teen may be depressed. There is effective treatment that can help teens move beyond depression as they grow older.
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.
- Your hormone levels change because of pregnancy, postpartum issues, thyroid problems, menopause, or other reasons. That can set off depression symptoms.
- 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.
Source: webmd.com
