
Sadness, losing interest in daily activities, and loss of energy are familiar feelings to most of us. However, if they persist and negatively impact our day-to-day lives, they may cause depression.
Depression is a mental disorder that can affect children, adolescents, and adults. The effects can be recurrent or lifelong and can significantly affect an individual’s ability to perform activities of daily living.
Read on as we discuss all there is to know about depression.
What Is Depression?
Depression is a mental disorder characterized by loss of interest in activities once enjoyed, feelings of worthlessness, or persistent sadness. Depression can be caused by stressful or tragic life events such as bereavement, sudden illness, job loss, marital separation, or personal conflicts with family members.
People suffering from depression need to visit depression treatment centers, where medical professionals can recommend pharmacological or psychological treatments for depression because if left untreated, depression can have long-lasting effects.
What Are the Symptoms of Depression?
In children, common symptoms of depression include refusing to go to school, refusing to eat, clinginess, irritability, and sadness.
In adolescents, symptoms may include skipping school, poor performance, outbursts of anger, feeling worthless, persistent sadness, sleeping too much, overeating, avoidance of social gatherings, and using recreational drugs.
The symptoms of depression are less obvious in adults, but they can include suicidal thoughts, opting to stay home instead of going out to socialize and loss of interest in sex, loss of appetite, and sleep problems not caused by medication or medical conditions.
If you or a loved one is experiencing any of the above symptoms of depression, you need to visit depression treatment centers as soon as possible. Early intervention for depression can prevent relapse and promote remission.
What Are the Impacts of Depression?
Depression can impact all aspects of an individual’s life, including relationships with friends and family, performance at school, ability to participate in social activities, and productivity at work. Even though it is a mental disorder, depression can affect a person’s physical health in different ways, including weight and appetite changes, pains and aches, weakened immune system, and sleep disruption (not enough or too much). Depression treatment centers are instrumental in helping patients navigate their mental health, and hopefully mitigate these impacts,
Can Depression Be Prevented?
There are no known ways through which people can prevent depression; however, strategies that can help include taking steps to control stress, reaching out to friends and family when times get difficult, and visiting depression treatment centers at the earliest sign of depression to prevent depression from worsening.
Do Depression Treatment Centers Treat Depression?
Treatment centers diagnose and treat depression in three ways: support, psychotherapy, and drug treatment. Support can range from educating family members about depression to discussing probable causes and practical solutions. Psychotherapy can include cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) and one-on-one counseling. Drug treatment can involve prescribing different classes of antidepressants to treat mild to severe depression.
Depression Is a Real Mental Disorder
Depression is a mental disorder that can profoundly impact an individual’s health, activities of daily life, quality of life, and daily functioning. Early detection, intervention, and proper treatment can prevent depression from worsening, prevent relapse, and reduce the financial and emotional burden of the disorder.