Depression remedies

You’re one of em!

What is Clinical Depression?
When we refer to depression in the following pages, we are talking about “clinical depression.” Clinical depression is a serious medical illness that negatively affects how you feel, the way you think and how you act. Individuals with clinical depression are unable to function as they used to. Often they have lost interest in activities that were once enjoyable to them, and feel sad and hopeless for extended periods of time. Clinical depression is not the same as feeling sad or depressed for a few days and then feeling better. It can affect your body, mood, thoughts, and behavior. It can change your eating habits, how you feel and think, your ability to work and study, and how you interact with people. People who suffer from clinical depression often report that they “don’t feel like themselves anymore.”

Clinical depression is not a sign of personal weakness, or a condition that can be willed away. Clinically depressed people cannot “pull themselves together” and get better. In fact, clinical depression often interferes with a person’s ability or wish to get help. Clinical depression is a serious illness that lasts for weeks, months and sometimes years. It may even influence someone to contemplate or attempt suicide.

People of all ages, genders, ethnicities, cultures, and religions can suffer from clinical depression. Each year it affects over 17 million American men and women (source: American Psychiatric Association). While clinical depression is common, it is frequently unrecognized and untreated.

There are different types and levels of clinical depression. Mental health counselors and psychiatrists are trained to diagnose and treat clinical depression. With the right treatment, most people who seek help get better within several months. Many people begin to feel better in just a few weeks.

Types of Depression:
Clinical depression can come in different forms. It may start suddenly or build up over a period of weeks, months, or years. The following are descriptions of the three most prevalent forms, though for an individual, the number, severity and duration of the symptoms may vary.

* Major Depression: a combination of symptoms (described above) that interfere with one’s ability to work, sleep, eat and enjoy once pleasurable activities. These episodes can occur once, twice or several times in a lifetime.
* Dysthymia: a less intense type of depression that involves long-term, chronic symptoms that are less severe, but keep one from functioning at full ability and from feeling good.
* Bipolar Disorder (also known as manic-depressive illness): periods of depression alternate with periods of elation and increased activity, known as mania. See More about Bipolar Disorder.

Common Symptoms
of Clinical Depression
There are different forms of clinical depression with different combinations of the following symptoms:

Physical:

* Sleep disturbances-insomnia, oversleeping, waking much earlier than usual
* Changes in appetite or eating: much more or much less
* Decreased energy, fatigue
* Headaches, stomachaches, digestive problems or other physical symptoms that are not explained by other physical conditions or do not respond to treatment

Behavioral/Attitude:

* Loss of interest or pleasure in activities that were once enjoyed, such as going out with friends, hobbies, sports, sex, etc.
* Difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions
* Neglecting responsibilities or personal appearance

Emotional:

* Persistent sad or “empty” mood, lasting two or more weeks
* Crying “for no reason”
* Feeling hopeless, helpless, guilty or worthless
* Feeling irritable, agitated or anxious
* Thoughts of death or suicide

Concentration is often impaired
Inability to experience pleasure
Increase in self-critical thoughts with a voice in the back of one’s mind providing a constant barrage of harsh, negative statements
Sleep disturbance or unable to fall back to sleep
Feeling fatigued after 12 hours of sleep
Decrease in appetite or food loses its taste
Feelings of guilt, helplessness and/or hopelessness
Thoughts of suicide
Increased isolation
Missing deadlines or a drop in standards
Change in personality
Increased sexual promiscuity
Increased alcohol/drug use

If someone experiences most of the above symptoms for more than two weeks, there is a good chance they are suffering from a clinical depression.

Clinical depression is where you experience a persistently low mood that affects ALL areas of your life.

You usually find no pleasure in activities you used to enjoy, can be irritable or lethargic, or find yourself preoccupied with thoughts of worthlessness, helplessness or self hatred.

Insomnia (particularly waking early and being unable to get back to sleep-oversleeping is less common but also possible) and lack of appetite are also common symptoms. Other physical symptoms such as headaches and digestive problems can also occur.

The signs and symptoms of clinical depression varies between person to person and not all suffers will have all the symptoms at the same time
Its is also important however to distigish between normal reactive sadness which is expirenced by all and genuine clinical depression which is a much more severe illness and is persistant and can be disabiling.

The signs and symptoms include
* Waking up early, not being able to get to sleep (insomnia) or oversleeping as a means of escape (hyposomnia)
*Reduced appetite or eating more then usual or comfort eating
*Losing weight with out trying or revere putting on weight
*Chronic feelings of emptiness, hopelessness and sadness
*Self medicating e.g taking drugs or alcohol as means of escape
*Self-harming can indicate serious depression
*Lack of interest in activities once enjoyed or a lack of motivation or energy
*Tiredness that is persistant
*Physical aches and pains such as headaches or achy muscles that dont go away
*Withdrawal from social activities seeing friends family etc
*Suicidal ideation or planning suicide or an obsession with death
*Lack of concentration difficulty in making decisions
*Finding simple tasks an effort to do or because of physical slowing of body.
*Lack of self-care or self grooming not changing clothes not washing for days or weeks on end
*Having hallucinations or delusions.
These are all/most of the signs of depression but not everyone will expirence these so i think if you feel you are suffering with this illness you should talk to your doctor and get a further assesment if nessesary.

Hope this helpsx

omg, 15, isn’t that like “teenage years” when nothing is right with the world and everyone gets you down, and you don’t wanna get out of bed, and no-one takes you seriously?

I think if you were really clinically depressed you wouldn’t have even been bothered to ask about it on the internet.

If you are really bad, people around you start mentioning things about you not getting out enough or not dressing properly… you know not washing… or turning into some kind of weird hermit or something.

As far as I know, clinical depression is a proper mental illness, far more than just being a bit fed up or sad or frustrated.

I think you are suffering from being 15, you want to grow up, and you are growing up, but you get treated like a kid, and maybe you want to be a kid, sometimes, but then again you want people to treat you like an adult, because you are growing into an adult.

Your GP will always be there for you. I hope you also have good family and friends that you can talk to if you have any worries, or if you need cheering up.