While 21 million adults in the United States, which represents more than 8% of the population, have had at least one depressive episode, there’s still a fair amount of misunderstanding when it comes to this mood disorder.
The highly skilled mental health team here at Prime Psychiatry believes that education is very important when it comes to mental health. In fact, we feel that the more you know about conditions like depression, the better equipped you are to overcome them.
With that in mind, we decided to cut through some of the misinformation about depression and present what people should understand about the condition.
Beyond the sadness
All too often, people think that depression just means being sad. While sadness and hopelessness are some of the key characteristics of depression, they are far from the only ones.
Depression can affect people in different, and some of the more common symptoms include:
- Fatigue or loss of energy
- Feelings of guilt
- Loss of interest in activities you once enjoyed
- Withdrawal and isolation
- Changes in eating or sleep habits
- Headaches
- Body aches
As you can see by this list, depression can affect your physical health as well as your mental health.
Before we move on, we want to get back to the sadness symptom for a moment. Simply feeling sad happens to most of us at some point in our lives, and it’s perfectly normal. The sadness that comes with depression is anything but normal, as it’s pervasive and impossible to shake, no matter how hard you try.
Depression comes in many forms
Another point we’d like to make about depression is that it can come in several different forms. Major depressive disorder is the most common and describes a condition in which you exhibit depressive symptoms for two weeks or more.
While this may be the classic example of depression, it can also present itself as:
- Postpartum depression
- Seasonal affective disorder (SAD)
- Persistent depressive disorder
- Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD)
- Bipolar disorder
Some of these forms of depression may be temporary or cyclical, such as postpartum depression, SAD, or PMDD. In other cases, you may experience depressive symptoms that aren’t terribly strong, but they persist as an ever-present background.
So-called temporary forms of depression can also turn into larger major depressive episodes, especially if left untreated.
Our point here is that depression doesn’t fit into a neat, clearly defined box.
Depression is treatable
If there’s one point that we’d like everyone to understand, it’s that depression is treatable. Today, we have more tools than ever before, including fairly new therapies like Spravato® and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). (TMS isn’t necessarily new, but its applications in the mental health field are gaining more traction thanks to the increasing successes.)
There are also antidepressant medications and counseling options that can help greatly with depression.
The bottom line is that while depression may feel hopeless, there are solutions that can help you break free.
If you have more questions about depression, or you’d like to come see us for an evaluation or to discuss your treatment options, please contact our office in Frisco, Texas, to schedule an appointment.