What is Depression

Depressed mood v depression

Everyone goes through tough times and feels down or sad. The term depression is sometimes used to describe the normal sadness or low mood people feel if they've had to cope with a stressful event or problem, such as the death of a loved one or a relationship break-up.

Depression is also the name for an illness that is more severe than normal sadness, it lasts longer than two weeks, and interferes with other parts of your life, such as work, school or relationships.
What causes depression or a depressed mood?

Sometimes depression or a depressed mood may have no apparent cause and sometimes it may be caused by a number of factors (by themselves or in combination), such as:

• Genetics, or a history of depression within your family
• Biochemical - In normal brain function, neurotransmitters (which regulate mood) jump from one nerve cell to the next, with the signal being as strong in the second and subsequent cells as it was in the first. But in people who have depression, the mood regulating neurotransmitters fail to function normally, so that the signal is either depleted or disrupted before passing to the next nerve cell, resulting in a lowering of your mood. In non-melancholic depression, it's likely that the transmission of serotonin (which improve mood) is reduced or less active, whereas in people with melancholic and psychotic depression, the neurotransmitters noradrenaline and dopamine are more likely to have failed or be functioning abnormally.
• A stressful event or chain of events such as a family break-up, abuse, ongoing bullying at school, rape, a death, a relationship break up, family conflict
• Personality style - Certain personality types are more at risk of depression than others. This includes people who tend to be anxious, have low self-esteem, are perfectionists or are shy.
• Having a baby (called post-natal depression)
• Other mental illnesses such as schizophrenia

Symptoms of depression or a depressed mood

People experience depression or a depressed mood in different ways, depending on the type of depression and individual differences. Common symptoms across all types of depression include:

Mood

• feeling sad, moody or crap
• feeling hopeless or helpless
• feeling numb or empty
• feeling anxious
• feeling guilty and blaming yourself
• unable to feel good or enjoy things that you do normally

Thinking

• being overly self-critical
• believing you can't cope and that things are out of your control
• difficulty making decisions and thinking clearly
• poor concentrating and memory
• thinking about suicide or ending your life

Behaviour

• lack of motivation and energy
• crying a lot
• Losing interest in activities you usually enjoy
• Withdrawing from your friends and family or being more dependent on them
• Increased use of alcohol or other drugs
• Losing your temper more than usual

Physical

• Loss of appetite or over-eating
• Changes in sleep patterns - difficulty getting to sleep, waking up in the middle of the night or sleeping for longer
• Headaches or stomach aches
• Feeling physically sick
• Lack of interest in sex

Everyone experiences some of these feelings or behaviours from time to time. However, for people experiencing depression the feelings might be more severe and they do not go away over time. If you are concerned that you are experiencing depression it is a good idea to see your local doctor or a psychologist. They should be able to help you make a diagnosis and provide you with the support for managing your depression.

This information is provided by ReachOut! an initiative of the Inspire Foundation.