Depression; Understanding, Recognizing, and Treating the Invisible Struggle

Within the last 4 years, I have heard a lot of people falling into depression in my country. People fall into depression in Nigeria on a daily basis, especially with the increase economic hardship coupled with lots of other circumstances around them, and it is not only in Nigeria that people are depressed, in the United States, 1 in 5 adult persons suffer from depression at some points in the life. Behind the smiles in so many photos are depressed people and women tend to be depressed more than men, and it should be stated that in its severe form it can lead to preventable death.

It's crucial to recognize that depression extends beyond a mere chemical imbalance in the brain that can be remedied with a pill. However, the good news is that depression is treatable. Before delving into evidence-based treatments, it's essential to understand what clinical depression entails.

flickr

While it is normal to feel down at some point in time, it can become a thing of concern when it becomes more intense and starts to affect the ability to do the things that you should do. When this happens, the person is gradually falling into clinical depression. While we think of depression as a psychological or mental illness which it is, depressed people feel the symptom both in the mind, and in the body. The symptoms include changes in sleep which could be sleeping too much or too less, losing interest in things that one cared about before, feeling guilty, extreme exhaustion both mentally and physically, lack of concentration, changes in appetite which could be either eating too much or eating less, changes in psychomotor functions such as either being agitated or moving slowly, and having thoughts of suicide.

Depression's impact extends to both physical and mental realms, often starting with a waning interest in once-enjoyable activities and progressing to profound feelings of sadness, hopelessness, or despair. It's crucial to note that experiencing one or more of these symptoms early on doesn't necessarily indicate depression but signifies a struggle that, left unaddressed, could escalate into depression.

needpix

If you think you are depressed, or you are having symptoms of depression, I will advise that you book an appointment to see the doctor. When you get to the hospital, the doctors first task is to rule out other reasons for you having that symptoms. He wants to be sure if this could be other medical conditions related to depression but not depression. Underlying Conditions such as low thyroid disease, lyme disease, autoimmune disease such as Lupus, or even substance abuse.

When the doctor sees that this is checked, the next step is to identify if the symptom has some kind of trigger. Triggers could be breakups, loss of a close person, postpartum depression, seasonal effective disorder, and so on. When this is identified, the next thing would be to check the severity of the depression so as to identify if it is an emergency case or something that can be treated on appointment. To get this, the doctor would be asking a whole lot of question, and questionnaire could be given so as identify what they want to do.

It is after these that the doctor can begin to talk about treatment options, and there are three main groups of treatment options which include Therapy, life style modification, and medication. When discussing therapy, the most established type of therapy is cognitive behavioral therapy and this therapy tackles the inaccurate negative thoughts about self, surrounding, and future. This therapy is to check if the thoughts are accurate and help to begin question ones belief. Studies have shown that Cognitive behavioral therapy is as effective as antidepressant medications and it is said to be very effective when one takes antidepressant while undergoing CBT. While CBT is the best therapy, doctors can still recommend other types of therapy depending on the situation.

Lifestyle modification is another way to improve depressive symptoms, and this lifestyle modifications include nutrition, exercise, sleep, timing one self, and supports. Since people can have different appetite when depressed, the aim is to get back to a balanced way of eating, and the most efficient diet that is recommended is the mediterranean diet since it improves the gut, and there have been research that looks at the relationship between the gut and the brain and how improved guts reduce depression.

Medication is another way to treat depression. Antidepressant actually works but not for everyone as it might require a combination of 2 or more types of treatment option. The use of antidepressant and its effect is usually gradual, so should it be when one is about to stop using it. The drug should be slowly weaned off during the process of stopping.

Depression is a multifaceted challenge that demands comprehensive and personalized approaches for effective treatment. By understanding the various treatment options available, individuals can embark on a path toward recovery with the support and guidance of healthcare professionals.

---

---

Reference

---

---

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/depression
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/major-depression
https://www.psychdb.com/mood/1-depression/home#major-depressive-disorder-mdd
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41380-022-01479-w
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/depression
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3181767/
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/8933
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(20)30036-5/fulltext
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7001356/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2933381/