Depression - What Is Depression?

What Is Depression?

We all go through periods of unhappiness or sadness in life. Such emotions are a natural reaction to adverse circumstances or events, and usually pass fairly quickly. Depression, on the other hand, involves more persistent feelings of dejection - perhaps even despair. In its worst form, depression affects every aspect of a person's life and may even make him unable to live in a normal way. With a mild depression, a person can live more or less normally, but he or she feels miserable and may not enjoy life very much. Curiously, there are many people who live much of their lives in a state of mild depression and accept this as normal, even to the point of believing that everyone else feels the same way: in fact they simply do not realize that they are depressed. Other people are ashamed to admit that they suffer from depression because they consider it to be a sign of 'weakness'. And many people do not believe they are depressed because they think depression only refers to a serious mental illness. Another group of people are never diagnosed as 'depressed' because physical and emotional problems such as mild but persistent tension and irritability mask the depression itself.

At this point it is appropriate to emphasize two facts. Firstly, depression is extremely common: some estimates suggest that at any one time in Britain alone there are about one million adults between the ages of 20 and 60 suffering from some degree of depression. Secondly, depression can strike at anyone, no matter how clever, happy or normal they may appear to be. It is true that slightly more women than men experience depression, but no-one can be sure they are safe from the problem.

There are three main types of depression:

1. Manic-depressive illness
2. Depressive illness, or endogenous depression
3. Reactive depression

Although manic-depressive illness does not really have a place in a 'self-help' website, a description of the condition is given: anyone who thinks they may be experiencing it should see a doctor.

MANIC-DEPRESSIVE ILLNESS

Typically, periods of 'highs' alternate with 'lows'. During the high or manic phase a person will be frantically active and take on more and more work, which he completes easily, often working 20 hours a day. This apparently boundless energy is matched by an apparent lack of a need to sleep, and over-activity of the intellect as the sufferer dreams up all kinds of new ideas and schemes, most of which are quite impractical. Nevertheless, he declares his intention of seeing them through regardless of criticism. Social pastimes increase dramatically. To take only one example, wild parties at which no-one can get a word in edgeways because of the sufferer's endless chatter are common. Other behaviors such as indiscriminate sexual promiscuity or the senseless spending of money may be more harmful, but the person concerned does not see himself as ill and in need of treatment.

In the depressive phase, matters are quite different. The sufferer seems incapable of even the simplest action - his job, driving his car, any social contact. (This, as we shall see, mirrors the symptoms of depressive illness.) Not all manic-depressives actually show such extreme fluctuations of mood, and sometimes one part of the cycle is much more obvious than the other. Fortunately, the condition responds well to treatment.

Not everyone who experiences dramatic swings of mood is manic-depressive. Far from it. They may just be showing the natural variability of human emotions.

DEPRESSIVE ILLNESS AND REACTIVE DEPRESSION

These two forms of depression have distinctly different causes and cures, even though they may at times appear superficially similar. Depressive illness has a physical basis: it is caused by
changes in the chemistry of the brain. (This imbalance can usually be restored to normality with anti-depressant drugs.) Reactive depression, on the other hand, is an extreme emotional response to stressful circumstances or events. In general, reactive depressions do not respond to drugs but can be alleviated by tranquillizers, hypnotherapy, counseling and other forms of psychotherapy. The exception to these broad outlines is that reactive depressions sometimes seem to worsen and take on the characteristics of depressive illness. Below are two lists of the symptoms of these two forms of depression (most people show only some of these symptoms).

A person experiencing depressive illness may:

feel exhausted and have very little energy, even for the smallest task
lose interest in his or her work and have great difficulty in running his or her life as before
feel totally despairing and believe the future is hopeless
fall asleep easily but wake very early in the morning, at three or four o'clock
feel terribly depressed in the morning but improve as the day wears on
feel that his or her emotions are completely uncontrollable
attempt to explain the depression by referring - wrongly - to overwork', 'stress' or some similar problem
be unable to identify any event which might have caused the depression
show a marked slowing up of thought and activity
experience a loss of appetite, weight and sex drive to a greater or lesser extent
be highly agitated, restless and anxious
have extreme guilt about some trivial event perhaps long since past, and relate it to the depression
experience hallucinations or delusions

Whereas a person experiencing reactive depression may:

say that he or she feels moody, sad, depressed or unhappy
have trouble falling asleep but wake at the normal time, although feeling tired and depressed

experience a swing in the depth of the depression, usually finding that it's worse in the evening or when alone

feel worse as the day progresses
be anxious and irritable with associated fears and phobias have various personality problems such as a lack of confidence, poor self-esteem, feelings of inferiority or inadequacy
be less able to think clearly, concentrate, remember things
experience little or no loss of sex drive (although male impotency as a result of associated personality problems is not uncommon)
experience little or no loss of appetite or weight (although anxiety may lead to an increase in eating as a source of self comfort)

Although you might conclude from these lists of symptoms that the two conditions are clearly defined, there has for many years been a great deal of dispute whether they are or not. Perhaps the best way of avoiding this controversy is to take the view:

"...it is not possible to say that the simple reactive depression will be necessarily mild, or the endogenous [i.e., depressive illness] be severe, for they do not follow so simple a pattern ... The mild reactive depressions are [often] placed at one extreme and the severe psychotic depressions at the other end of the spectrum, with moderate and mixed depressions in the middle. This is a convenient way of looking at the problem, but it is in fact an oversimplification. There are indeed relatively benign cases of endogenous depression that would have to be placed at the mild end of the spectrum, which is not, therefore, entirely made up of reactive cases . . . The main thing is to recognize the patient is depressed, and if simple listening and advice about obvious problems does not help, then the patient should be referred to a doctor competent to make an accurate diagnosis and give the proper treatment. (Watts, 1971).

Of course, anyone who thinks he or she has a depressive illness should see a doctor, for, as should now be clear, depressive illness is a medical problem not suited to self-help treatments. However, it may be helpful to discuss certain aspects of the condition in more detail.

Go here for more about DEPRESSIVE ILLNESS

[ Depressive Illness ] [ Reactive Depression ] [ Causes of Depression ] [ Effects of Depression ] [ Sexual Problems and Depression ] [ Self-hypnosis for Depression ]

End Your Depression!

What Is Depression?

What Is Depression?