Depression: a more common disorder than we think

Everyone feels blue sometimes, but what happens when a person is constantly feeling sad and blue? When a person suffers from depression, this "constant sorrow" affects all aspects of his/her life. In spite of being a common disorder, depression must be treated.
There are different types of depression which defer in their grade of severity. The most common ones are major depression and dsthymia.
In major depression the person is not able to eat, sleep, work or study normally. It's a disabling depression.
Disthymia may not be disabling but it also interferes with the normal functioning of the person.
Some depressive episodes can be caused by particular stressful situations, for example the loss of a loved one, traumatic situations, bcoming unemployed, etc.
On the other hand, depression may occur as a genetic condition in some families.
Something important about depression is that children, teenagers, adults and older adults can suffer from it.
Some Symptoms of depression are:

• Overeating or appetite loss
• Irritability
• Insomnia or excessive sleeping
• Feelings of pessimism, persistent sad, anxious, "empty" feelings, etc.
• Fatigue, lack of energy
• Thoughts of suicide
• Persistent aches or pains, etc.

All forms of depression are treatable, but the earlier the treatment starts, the more effective it is. The most common treatments are psychotherapy and medication. So, if you know a person who is depressed and you want to help with that, or you think you are depressed, the first thing you have to do is getting a correct diagnosis from a professional in this area.

If you want more info about depression this booklet can be helpful (it's free of course):

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/depression/complete-index.shtml 

Thank you for reading and take care!

Healthy mind, healthy body

The first step to get into a new healthier life is to ask yourself  what are the things that are making you think that you could have a better life.
It's easier to see what other people are doing wrong than what we are doing wrong, that doesn't mean that we can't learn from their mistakes. For example, when I was a child I always saw my father very stressed, he was always "running" and when he was at home and had the opportunity to calm down, relax, and being with me and my mother sharing a nice moment in family, he used to spend all the time on the phone discussing work issues.
Nowadays he is practically the same person, he almost had a heart attack, but he is still the same stressed person. The first thought that comes to my mind when I think about this is "I definitely don't want that for my life" Why? Because I want to LIVE my life, I don't want to spend my time SURVIVING instead of LIVING.
To live your life means to take care of you mental and physical health. Living doesn't mean getting drunk every weekend or consuming drugs to have fun, because if you are doing that, you are not taking care of yourself, you are hurting yourself.

 Coming back to our first question: What are the things that make you feel you could have a better life?
In future posts I'll be writing about different mental and physical illnesses and problems that are common in our society, because first of all we have to know about the problem and then we can think about the solution.

Don't forget to take care!