Depression

Depression

Feelings of sadness can be normal, appropriate and even necessary during life's setbacks or losses. Or you may feel blue or unhappy for short periods of time without reason or warning, which also is normal and ordinary. But if such feelings persist or impair your daily life, you may have a depressive disorder. Severity, duration and the presence of other symptoms are factors that distinguish ordinary sadness from a depressive disorder.

Depression can happen to anyone of any age, race, class or gender. It afflicts almost 19 million Americans each year, and up to one in five American women will suffer from clinical depression at some point in her life. Women are two to three times more likely than men to suffer from depression. Many women first experience symptoms of depression during their 20s and 30s. Once you experience depression, there's a 50 percent chance you'll be depressed again at some point in your life.

A complex combination of physiological, social, environmental, cultural, hormonal, biological and psychological factors may contribute to the reasons why women experience depression at a higher rate than men.

Depression affects both mind and body. If you are depressed, you feel a sense of helplessness, hopelessness or despair. You lose interest in your favorite activities, may experience changes in appetite, weight and sleep patterns, have difficulty concentrating and may be preoccupied with death or suicide.

Additionally, depression often occurs in conjunction with certain chronic illnesses, like diabetes, and after a heart attack or stroke. Research sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) suggests that depression may even be a major risk factor for osteoporosis. It also can develop as a result of conditions that cause unrelieved pain. Left untreated, depression contributes to increased complications, prolonged recovery time and a greater chance of death.

The good news is that depression is a treatable illness. Yet according to a major study published in 2003 in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), only about one in five women with depression ever receive adequate treatment.

One reason that treatment for depression is inadequate is that many people do not know or are confused about where to seek mental health treatment. Another reason is that many individuals do not perceive depression as a real medical condition that should or can be treated. Also, there is still a social stigma attached to mental illnesses like depression. These perceptions are wrong. Depression is a potentially life-threatening disorder and anyone suffering from its debilitating symptoms deserves to have it treated.