Depression is a disease that many suffer. If you are depressed, you feel depressed and often become anxious without any obvious cause. A fatigue is common, as well as problems with sleep and decreased appetite. How depression is experienced varies enormously from person to person. Depression can also be an early sign of other illness. Consult your GP if you think you are suffering from depression.
Depression differ from occasional sadness (“a bit down” or “depressed”). Being temporarily depressed is common, it is a natural and often understandable reaction in different situations. It is only when depression is becoming deeper and more persistent, and occur daily for at least two weeks, as there may be a depression.
A depression can come without any obvious cause. But it can also be triggered by various external events, such as prolonged physical pain, family problems, grief or other stresses. Both biological factors and traumatic experiences earlier in life can increase vulnerability and increased risk of depression in adulthood.
A depression can also be an early sign of a physical illness such as dementia, cardiovascular disease or lack of thyroid hormone.
Depression can lead to disability and do it, for example, becomes difficult to cope with a job.
Around ten percent of the population is estimated to have had a depression in the past year. Women are more affected than men. If you have had a depression, the risk of recurrence is about 50 percent.
Depression Symptoms
If you have a depression, it is common for you:
Feel depressed. Nothing feels particularly meaningful or fun anymore. Sometimes you feel hopeless and that you will never be able to be happy again.
Difficult to take up and deal with things.
Impaired memory and difficulty concentrating.
Get restless.
Feel anxious and irritable.
Feel worthless and have severe feeling of guilt.
Decreased appetite and can possibly lose weight.
Very tired, even though you are sleeping.
Have sleeping problems, for example, that you wake up early with anxiety and worry.
You can also have physical signs of anxiety and depressive disorders, for example:
Shortness of breath.
Palpitations.
Muscle pain.
A severe depression can lead to recurrent thoughts about having an incurable disease or are about to suffer an economic crisis. These tanks are almost always exaggerated, sometimes even completely erroneous. It is difficult and sometimes nearly impossible for the depressed person to understand this, even though family and friends often declare the contrary.
That often think about death and have thoughts of suicide are part of the disease at a deeper depression. In more severe cases may lead to suicide attempts and suicide.
In bipolar disorder occurring depressive episodes, interspersed with periods of elevated mood. Bipolar disorder is also known as manic depression.
