Friday, October 13, 2006

Are you Depressed?

What is Depression?
Many people feel like they have no energy and can't concentrate. Others feel irritable all the time for no apparent reason. The symptoms vary from person to person, but if you feel "down" for more than two weeks, and these feelings are interfering with your daily life, you may be clinically depressed.

Symptoms
The symptoms that help a doctor identify depression include:

  • constant feelings of sadness, irritability, or tension
  • decreased interest or pleasure in usual activities or hobbies
  • loss of energy, feeling tired despite lack of activity
  • a change in appetite, with significant weight loss or weight gain
  • a change in sleeping patterns, such as difficulty sleeping, early morning awakening, or sleeping too much
  • restlessness or feeling slowed down
  • decreased ability to make decisions or concentrate
  • feelings of worthlessness, hopelessness, or guilt
  • thoughts of suicide or death

What Happens in the Brain When Someone Is Depressed?
Depression involves the brain's delicate chemistry - specifically, it involves chemicals called neurotransmitters. These chemicals assist in transmitting messages between nerve cells in the brain.

Certain neurotransmitters regulate mood. When they are not available in sufficient quantities, the result can be depression.

The brain's response to stressful events, such as any of those described above, may alter the balance of neurotransmitters and result in depression.

Sometimes, a person may experience depression without any particular sad or stressful event that they can point to. People who have a genetic predisposition to depression may be more prone to the imbalance of neurotransmitter activity that is part of depression.

Medications that are used to treat depression work by helping to restore the proper balance of neurotransmitters.

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