Depression- a few words come to mind when you hear that. Word’s such as “Sad”, “bored”, and maybe even “angry”. But Depression is more than feeling “blue” time and time again. Depression is a serious condition that affects the mind, body, and spirit of an individual and impacts all aspects of one’s life. Some symptoms are feeling weak, lazy, hopeless and guilty. Along with problems concentrating, eating, sleeping and having energy. The Physical symptoms are irritability, restlessness and weight gain or loss.
There are four known causes of depression: Biological, which has to do with the chemical levels in the brain, Genetically, which is when depression is inherited from a parent, Environment, which has to do with stress, trauma and other aspects, or a Medical Condition such as Parkinson’s disease or Cancer.
Treatment usually begins at the doctor’s office- a full physical examination done by a physician, then a psychological examination done by a physician, a psychiatrist, or a psychologist. Depending on the evaluation results either an anti-depressant such as cymbalta or Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) will be prescribed.
An estimated 17 million American adult’s suffer from clinical depression. There are six known types of this disorder: depression in adolescents, Bipolar depression, depression in the elderly, Dysthymia, Major depression, and postpartum depression.
Seven out of one hundred people suffer from depression after the age of 18 in their life. Suicide