Depression

Depression may be described as feeling sad, blue, unhappy, miserable, or down in the dumps. Most of us feel this way at one time or another for short periods. True clinical depression is a mood disorder in which feelings of sadness, loss, anger, or frustration interfere with everyday life for weeks or longer.

The following may play a role in depression:

  • Alcohol or drug abuse
  • Certain medical conditions, including underactive thyroid, cancer, or long-term pain
  • Certain medications such as steroids
  • Sleeping problems
  • Stressful life events, such as:

= Breaking up with a boyfriend or girlfriend
= Failing a class
= Death or illness of someone close to you
= Divorce
= Childhood abuse or neglect
= Job loss
= Social isolation (common in the elderly)

Various aspects of personality and its development appear to be integral to the occurrence and persistence of depression, with negative emotionality as a common precursor. Although depressive episodes are strongly correlated with adverse events, a person’s characteristic style of coping may be correlated with his or her resilience. In addition, low self-esteem and self-defeating or distorted thinking are related to depression.

An examination of depression in women indicates that vulnerability factorsâ such as early maternal loss, lack of a confiding relationship, responsibility for the care of several young children at home, and unemploymenta can interact with life stressors to increase the risk of depression. For older adults, the factors are often health problems, changes in relationships with a spouse or adult children due to the transition to a care-giving or care-needing role, the death of a significant other, or a change in the availability or quality of social relationships with older friends because of their own health-related life changes. Talk about it with friends and loved ones. Wear it on your sleeve. Each day you should chip away at it; wear it down. There’s no quick fix. Get to the root of the problem; focus on it and understand that you need to resolve each issue before you can move on. Check if it’s an old past emotion and if it is really still relevant or applicable in your life today. And that doesn’t mean you have to get rid of whatever makes you feel bad (many times, you simply can’t). You need to learn to accept yourself, your past, your circumstances as they are, without necessarily thinking of them as bad.

Depression is a serious medical illness that involves the brain. It’s more than just a feeling of being “down in the dumps” or “blue” for a few days. If you are one of the more than 20 million people in the United States who have depression, the feelings do not go away. They persist and interfere with your everyday life. Symptoms can include

  • Sadness
  • Loss of interest or pleasure in activities you used to enjoy
  • Change in weight
  • Difficulty sleeping or oversleeping
  • Energy loss
  • Feelings of worthlessness
  • Thoughts of death or suicide

Depression is a disorder of the brain. There are a variety of causes, including genetic, environmental, psychological, and biochemical factors. Depression usually starts between the ages of 15 and 30, and is much more common in women.

Feeling down from time to time is a normal part of life. But when emptiness and despair take hold and won’t go away, it may be depression. The lows of depression make it tough to function and enjoy life like you once did. Just getting through the day can be overwhelming. No matter hopeless you feel, you can get better.

Are you depressed?

  • If you identify with several of the following signs and symptoms, and they just won’t go away, you may be suffering from clinical depression.
  • You can’t sleep or you sleep too much
  • You can’t concentrate or find that previously easy tasks are now difficult
  • You feel hopeless and helpless
  • You can’t control your negative thoughts, no matter how much you try
  • You have lost your appetite or you can’t stop eating
  • You are much more irritable, short-tempered, or aggressive than usual
  • You’re consuming more alcohol than normal or engaging in other reckless behavior
  • You have thoughts that life is not worth living

So NLP helps you identify depression and also how to get rid of this.


 

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