Depression: The Silent Killer

Hello everyone, today I would be writing on one issue I consider a major precedence to suicide. DEPRESSION! In our earlier article titled “Suicidal Ideation: The Pathway to Suicide”, it was brought to the fore that depression can lead to suicidal thoughts and if not well tackled well would lead to suicidal attempt. I am sure if I am to take a survey on what many people refer to as depression most would say being sad or low mood which to an extent is true as these are symptoms of a person who is depressed. Scientifically speaking, depression is much more than mere low mood or what we call “mood swings” at a point in time. Therefore, this article would be bringing to our knowledge what really it means to be diagnosed with depression (i.e. as a disorder), the various types of depression, some of the causes and then when and how to get help.

Depression is one of the major psychological problem in our world today. According to the National Institutes of Health, each year more than 16 million adults in the United States experience at least one episode of major depression. What is then the fate of the underdeveloped countries, as various researchers have recorded an increase in depression in sub-Sahara Africa. The likelihood that a person will develop depression at some point in life is also on the increase as prolonged social stress and disruption of social ties (i.e. relationships) are known risk factors for depression. Lose of a loved one, loss of job, frequent change of school for children also increase the chances of depression. Significant adversity early in life, such as parental separation or parental neglect or abuse and even war may create vulnerability to major depression later in life by setting the nervous system to reacting overly to stress.

Depression is characterized by sadness, loss of pleasure or interest in previously pleasurable activities, irritability, fatigue, loss of energy, low self-esteem, sense of worthlessness and hopelessness, guilt, suicidal thoughts, sleep disturbances, significant weight loss or weight gain etc. It is therefore an illness that involves the body, mood, and thoughts. These symptoms (at least five) must be present for at least two weeks. It also must interfere with a person’s daily life and normal functioning causing pain for both the person with the disorder and those who care about him or her. Depression tends to happen in episodes lasting for weeks or months. Although symptoms tend to diminish spontaneously over time, some form of treatment is very important to reduce the likelihood of recurrent episodes.

I would briefly throw a little light on the various forms of depression so we can easily seek for help if we or anyone we know is facing these bout of depression. After all, knowledge they say is Power!

Major depressive disorder (MDD as often called) is manifested in a persistently sad mood accompanied by a number of other symptoms that was highlighted earlier. Only that it takes two weeks of constantly experiencing those symptoms to be diagnosed.  However, the MDD can lead to another type called Dysthymic disorder (also called dysthymia) which involves symptoms of sad or down mood most days for most of the day over a long period of time (two years or longer/ one year for children) but the depressive mood is not disabling, although it impairs functioning to some degree.

Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PDD) which is a kind of depression common to females often manifests in the week before the onset of menses and would usually subsides within days after onset of menstruation and would stop in the week after menstruation. There is also the Major depression with psychotic symptoms, or psychotic depression which occurs when the depressive illness is accompanied by delusions and hallucinations, and accompanied with the depressive themes of personal inadequacy, guilt, nihilism, or death.

Postpartum depression (often called PPD), is a major depression that is diagnosed if a woman develops a depressive episode during pregnancy or within four weeks after delivery. They start to feel sad, guilty, withdrawn from the child, irritable etc. It is estimated that 3 to 6 percent of women experience postpartum depression. I would shed more light on this some other time as it is becoming prevalent in our society today. This could be some of the reasons why more women have been diagnosed with depression.

Another funny but true type of depression is the Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) in which depressive symptoms occurs during a particular time of the year. It has been known that the depression develops during the winter months, when there is limited natural sunlight, and completely remits in the spring and summer months.

However, the sad news is that majority of people who feel depressed never seek proper care or they would wait for many years after experiencing the symptoms before seeking care. Apart from the fact that some do not have the money to seek care or insurance policy, some just feel the symptoms will go away after a while. Most often than not it isn’t so as depression doesn’t just go away on its own accord. However, on some occasions depression passes without any treatment but people are left with scars as a result of the bouts. These scars would range from impaired ways of thinking, view of themselves, social relationship, work and academic functioning, loss of interest and dissatisfaction in sex and intimate relationships.

...to be continued next week

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