Feeling Depressed?

If you here the word depression right now you’d probably think about the economy and be thankful that we didn’t dive down to the point where we would be repeating the 1930’s. That was the Great Depression and your history lesson for the day.

However, when I say depression I’m talking about the medical condition, or clinical depression. The condition that affects more people than you might think. A condition that just seems to be getting worse as time goes on, not better.

Depression can be triggered by a large number of things. A passing of a family member may be very traumatic and cause you to become depressed. Psychological factors and chemical imbalances in the brain can also cause a person to become depressed. A lot of people do feel sad after a relative passes away, but for the “normal” person the depressed feeling only last for a brief period of time. However, someone who is depressed may experience very severe symptoms that last for a longer period of time.

Some of these symptoms are: sleeping more or less than normal, eating more or less than normal, having difficult concentrating/making decisions, loss of interest in activities, feeling worthless, helpless, or hopeless, decreased sex drive, avoiding people, strong feelings of sadness or grief, feeling unreasonably guilty, loss of energy, chronic fatigue, thoughts of death or suicide.

There is some responsibility that must be taken by close family members. If you think someone is depressed try to get them some help, they may need antidepressant medications. Also be patient with that person and try to comfort them. When you’re feeling depressed you will need all the support of your close friends and family. This may help prevent serious long-term depression, and the repetition of depression.