What is Depression?

Defining Depression And Finding Its Cause

This past few years we've read about celebrities who took their own lives because they suffered from severe depression. Depression is a real condition that if go untreated can lead to fatal consequences. What exactly is depression and how can depression be overcome? This article will try to answer these questions and perhaps can help you or someone you know who suffers from depression.

Actor/comedien Robin Williams, Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington, Korean singer Kim Jonghyun, fashion designer Kate Spade and X-Factor contestant Simone Battle are just five of the many celebrities who had committed suicide due to depression. You would think that with fame and money and lots of fans, these celebrities didn't have anything to drive them to depression and ultimately suicide. Depression inflicts everyone whether you have fame and money or whether you're a destitute, lonely and homeless person. What exactly is depression?

Defining depression

All of us have moments when we feel frustrated and depressed for example when people break promises to us or when we fail our school exam. But for those who suffered from depression, these feelings are much more severe. It is so severe that they feel that life isn't worth living and the only way out is to kill themselves.

To truly understand what depression is, answer the following questions. If you answer Yes to at least five of the following questions and had been feeling this way for the past two weeks, you may be suffering from depression and it's best that you seek medical advice as soon as possible.

1.   Do you feel unhappy most of the time?
2.   Do you have no interest in life and can't enjoy doing anything?
3.   Do you find it hard to make decisions?
4.   Do you find that you can't cope with things you're used to?
5.   Do you feel utterly tired, restless and/or agitated?
6.   Do you have poor appetite?
7.   Do you take 1 to 2 hours to go to sleep and wake up earlier than usual?
8.   Do you have little interest in sex?
9.   Do you have little self-confidence?
10. Do you feel useless and hopeless?
11. Do you avoid other people?
12. Do you feel irritable?
13. Do you feel worse in the morning?
14. Do you feel like committing suicide?

Please understand that we do feel some of the above some of the time and that doesn't mean we're suffering from depression. These are normal feelings but for those suffering from depression, they feel this way all the time to the point that they don't see life worth living. That is when they might contemplate suicide so as to end their sufferings.

What lead to depression

Many reasons can cause depression but mostly it's triggered by a stressful situation like the loss of employment, examination failure, financial crisis and others. According to many scientific researches, women are more likely than men to suffer from depression and that there are changes in the brain cells of depressed people. Three important neutrotransmitters in the brain are in short supply for people who suffer from depression. These are dopamine, serotonin and noradrenaline. As a result, there's miscommunication between brain cells that lead to depression. If you feel you're suffering from depression, your doctor can help to recommend medication that is suitable.

Conclusion

Depression is a real condition and can be cured with proper medication and therapy. If you think you or anyone you know is suffering from depression, get help quickly before it's too late.