In honor of Disability Employment Awareness Month, the Office of Special Services (OSS) is working to raise awareness of disabilities by offering daily facts and tips about people with disabilities and living with disability. Please take a minute to read and broaden your understanding.
October is National Depression Education & Awareness Month!
October is National Depression Education and Awareness Month, and it’s the perfect time to shine a light on what has been called “the common cold” of mental illness. Depression affects more than 19 million Americans each year. This figure includes the following types of depression:
- Major depressive disorder (also called major depression or clinical depression)
- Manic depression (called bipolar disorder)
- Dysthymia (a milder, but long-term type of depression)
How Does Depression Affect A Person?
Have you ever heard someone remark casually, “Oh, I’m so depressed….”? They may be referring to something other than depression. Depression is not the same as feeling sad or blue. It is not grief, although someone who is grieving may experience it while they mourn a loss.
Depression is a medical condition that has an impact on a person’s daily life. It interferes with someone’s ability to eat, sleep, work and even concentrate. Depression robs sufferers of their ability to engage in hobbies and activities that they previously enjoyed.
Signs And Symptoms Of Depression
Just about everyone has thought or felt one or more of the following signs and symptoms of depression from time to time. If several of the signs on this list seem familiar to you or about someone you love and are persistent, please seek help from a physician. If you are having thoughts about self-harm, go to your nearest Emergency Room immediately.
- Feeling sad, anxious or “empty”
- Irritability or restlessness
- Hopelessness or pessimism
- Feeling guilty or worthless
- Lack of interest or pleasure in former hobbies or interests
- Fatigue or lack of energy
- Trouble concentrating, remembering or making decisions
- Trouble getting to sleep or staying asleep
- Lack of appetite or overeating
- Headaches, digestive disorders or chronic pain that does not respond to treatment
- Suicidal thoughts
Self-Medicating Depression
Self-medicating is never a good idea to “treat” depression. Some people, in an effort to feel better, turn to drugs or alcohol to deal with their symptoms. This will not help to treat the underlying problem, and usually make it worse.
Treatment Options For Depression
The good news is that depression is treatable. There are several types of antidepressant medications available, though it does take several weeks to determine whether a particular medication is working. Patients who have been prescribed a medication are advised to be patient and to give the medicine some time before concluding that it is not helping before asking to switch to something else.
Talk therapy is also used to treat depression and it can be started immediately upon receiving a diagnosis (as long as a therapist can be found). There are no side effects and individual results will vary.
Many people report getting good results with a combination of medication and seeing a therapist for their depression.
The above information and more can be found at www.marylandrecovery.com.
Want to learn more about depression? Here are 10 basic facts:
- Approximately 20 million people in the U.S. suffer from depression every year. That’s more than twice the population of New York City.
- One in four adults will suffer from an episode of depression before the age of 24.
- Women are twice as likely to suffer from depression as men.
- Symptoms of depression can vary, but typically include feelings of guilt and hopelessness, sleep disturbances, appetite changes, difficulty concentrating, lack of energy and fatigue.
- St. John’s Wort, a flowering plant and medicinal herb, has been shown to help with depression in typical cases.
- More than 350 million people of all ages suffer from depression worldwide. That’s more than the entire population of the United States.
- The World Health Organization predicted depression will become the second biggest medical cause of disability in 15 years, second only to HIV/AIDS.
- Depression often occurs when other psychiatric health problems are present, such as post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety.
- Most prescription antidepressants increase the user’s serotonin, dopamine or norepinephrine levels. Some of the most popular antidepressants are Prozac, Zoloft, Lexapro and Effexor.
- Many famous, creative people suffered from depression, including Robin Williams, Mark Twain, Edgar Allan Poe, Vincent van Gogh, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Jon Hamm.
This list, as well as additional information, can be found at www.ibtimes.com.
