What is depression?
People have various ideas and myths about depression. Depression is a mental health condition and has a lot to do with ones mood. According to WHO, “Depression is a common mental disorder, characterized by persistent sadness and a loss of interest in activities that you normally enjoy, accompanied by an inability to carry out daily activities, for at least two weeks”.
This condition is eating deeper and deeper into our society. Over 300 million people are victims of this condition (WHO, 2018).
Signs of depression
The following questions will help to clarify if one is depressed or not
Are you tired of life?
Do you want to give up?
Do you feel uninterested in things happening around you, lonely, sad, hopeless.
Are you just angry about life generally and you are in need of a “peaceful place”?
Have you heard of depression? Okay, before you give up, let’s roll along as I dish out a few things.
Answering yes to these questions occurring over a period of 2 weeks could be a pointer to depression.
Sometimes these individuals are not interested in their work, social activities. They begin to distance themselves from friends and relatives. In severe cases, some would have to quit their job and other domestic activities.
There are also times when they experience manic episode alternating with depressive symptoms, i.e sometimes they feel the need to talk more, they develop increased activity and easily get irritated while other times the reverse is the case with normal mood in between.
Furthermore on Depression
Before one can be helped, the cause has to be known which varies among individuals.
The good news for people with this condition is that there is hope. The sad thing is, some people don’t even know that they are depressed. Some know but believe it cannot happen to them.
Depression is not a “weak” person’s disease and can happen to anyone, both young, old, it has no respect for status or race.
What could be the cause of depression?
- Depression could occur as a result of genetic predisposition i.e it could run in the family
- Medical illnesses
- Substance abuse like smoking all kinds of stuff
- Grieving over someone or something
- Change in the levels of hormones, stress, etc.
Before you give up, it is important to locate what may be causing you to have this feeling. This will then help you move forward.
I have heard people telling those depressed that everything will be okay, be positive. While all this is true, there are things you have to do before you give up because you have the power to change things you don’t like around you.
Handling depression
First and foremost, locate that thing causing your depression.
Are you addicted to smoking and this is making your life miserable?
Does anybody in your family have the symptoms of depression or any mental disorder?
Do you notice that it was after something happened in your life or during a particular period in your life that this happened?
You are advised to be an investigator at this point in your life. Stay calm and try to reflect back at past events and occurrences that could have led to this. Once you finally get a hold of it, then you can move on to the next level, but if you haven’t don’t be discouraged, you are not alone.
Speak out
Before you give up, there are some things you should note. It has been noticed that most people who are depressed feel they are the only ones in the world. They feel all alone regardless of fame, wealth, etc.
This is not good, once you feel this way, you would want to be on your own and once this happened, all sorts of evil thought will begin to run through your mind e.g thinking of ones-self as being worthless and not useful, being a burden to loved ones and other people, false thought keep coming.
Well before you give up, snap out of that and come back to the reality of life. You have the power to channel your life into every good direction you want it to be.
I know depression has a stigma attached to it, find someone you can trust, a psychologist, a doctor, a friend or family member that you can open up to, it is important that you trust this person.
Once you are able to take this step, then you are doing really good. Speaking out is one way you gain command over your weakness.
Check your environment
Sometimes, the environment could contribute to the way people feel.
Are people around you depressed?
Do you feel scared of going to your house?
Do you have things distracting you from being all alone or are you the only person in the house with nothing to do?
You need positive people around you during this period, people that will make you laugh and see life in a different way.
If there is something good that takes your mind off the happenings around the world, this is the best time to engage in it. This includes your hobbies, finding something new that you would like to expand on. For example, having a business idea, learning new things like a new language, instrument. You can travel to an entirely new location and enjoy the beauty of life, visit orphanages, homeless people.
Adding value to other people’s lives makes you feel good about yourself. This helps in removing some of the negative thoughts you have. In this case, the law of sowing and reaping applies, you can’t sow positively into someone’s life and reap negativity.
Visiting hospitals and seeing people battling to survive, people who wouldn’t mind giving all they have to stay alive for a few days will make you thank God for your life. Where there is life, there is hope. Just do something positive before you decide to give up and see what good it does to you.
See your Doctor
Less I forget, it is important to see a Medical Doctor not only for counseling but also to evaluate you and know if you would need to take some medications.
I have seen many people doing just fine after taking these treatments especially if they adhere to the advice given to them. Finding someone in a similar situation to you, being able to talk things over with them is helpful. This makes you feel better and lets you know that you are not alone. You can also join support groups.
That you see someone smiling, feeling good or making people laugh does not rule out the diagnosis of depression, That someone frowns or wants to be alone does not necessarily mean the person is depressed.
Yes, there are some signs one notices around someone going into depression especially if they were once close but be careful not to misdiagnose this condition.
People in this kind of situation will try as much as possible to cover up because they don’t want people seeing them as being depressed.
Summary of this is, show love to people around you because you don’t know whose life you will be saving. Avoid hurtful comments and if you happen to be in this situation, don’t be ashamed to speak to a trusted friend. You would be surprised to know the number of people going through a similar situation as you are.
Click here to access to testimonies of those who were once victims. To also access the post on tackling depression the Christian way, check here.
Finally, enjoy life while you can and stay blessed. If you love to chat you can follow me on Tumblr.
Cheers.
Oluchi.
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