Your place is a mess; laundry and dishes are piled up, mail is unopened, etc. (Assuming you usually stay on top of these things). You’ve been making excuses to friends why you can’t get together with them, or you’re telling them you’re “just too tired.” You’ve really let yourself go – you’re wearing clothes that [...]
“It was not really alarming at first, since the change was subtle, but I did notice that my surroundings took on a different tone at certain times: the shadows of nightfall seemed more somber, my mornings were less buoyant, walks in the woods became less zestful, and there was a moment during my working hours [...]
“Depression is a disorder of mood, so mysteriously painful and elusive in the way it becomes known to the self…as to verge close to being beyond description.” William Styron, Darkness Visible I was reminded recently, when I told the members of my forum for people with depression that we were moving back to a previous [...]
Part 2 of 5 =========== **Causes** (cont.) – What initiates the alteration in brain chemistry? – Is a tendency to depression inherited? **Treatment** – What sorts of psychotherapy are effective for depression? **Medication** – Do certain drugs work best with certain depressive illnesses? What are the guidelines for choosing a drug? – How do you [...]
Everyone occasionally feels blue or sad, but these feelings are usually fleeting and pass within a couple of days. When a person has a depressive disorder, it interferes with daily life, normal functioning,
and causes pain for both the person with the disorder and those who care about him or her. Depression is a common but serious illness, and most who experience it need treatment to get better.
Major Depressive Disorder, Single Episode A. Presence of a single Major Depressive Episode. B. The Major Depressive Episode is not better accounted for by Schizoaffective Disorder and is not superimposed on Schizophrenia, Schizophreniform Disorder, Delusional Disorder, or Psychotic Disorder Not Otherwise Specified. C. There has never been a Manic Episode, a Mixed Episode, or a [...]
“People who don’t know [what depression is], who say it’s self-indulgence, sound callous, but it’s not callousness born of indifference; I think it’s callousness born of ignorance. That kind of ignorance we’ve got to get rid of, and little by little I suppose, we will. You say to them, ‘It’s a pity you don’t know. [...]
“I am the most miserable man living. If what I feel were equally distributed to the whole human family, there would not be a cheerful face on earth. Whether I shall ever be better I cannot tell; I awfully forbode I shall not. To remain as I am is impossible. I must die or be [...]
Most people know the risk factors for illnesses such as heart disease or high blood pressure, but not many people realize that clinical depression has risk factors associated with it also. Having these risk factors doesn’t mean you will suffer from depression, only that you may be predisposed to it. Below, in no particular order, [...]
