Depression and its effects on daily life

Depression is both a feeling and a disorder. It can disrupt your daily life, if left untreated. But most people take it as feeling of sadness and that it will subside with time. A sad reality about depression is that it requires support and help but only 10% of all depressed people go for treatment.

Some people claim that they came out of depression without any support but you simply can’t wait for your depression to go away on its own. According to World Health Organization (WHO), depression is the second largest reason for disability in the world.

Do you feel depressed?

It starts as a feeling before developing into a disorder. You will feel sad and if the feeling of sadness continues for two weeks, it could be depression. Look for following symptoms to know whether you are depressed.

• Feeling sad or empty for two weeks
• Losing interest in your favorite activities
• Changes in appetite and sleeping pattern
• Social withdrawal
• Unable to concentrate
• Feeling stressed or fatigued
• Remaining in anger or irritability
• Suicidal thoughts

Depression is affecting your life in many ways

It is affecting from your food habit to social behavior and from knowledge to career. Also, depression develops comorbid disorders like alcoholism and drug abuse. It isn’t that depression is affecting only your life but others related to you are also affected by your behavior. Your family, friends, neighbors and co-workers and everyone that is anyway related to you.

Depression can affect your performance in both personal and professional life. Your level of concentration will reduce to the point where your productivity will get affected in a negative way. If left untreated, it could create more problems in your life. It is for this reason that people suffering from depression are advised to look for support and help so that they can save their relationships from souring and boost their productivity.

What to do?

Talk to someone you rely most. It could be a family member or a close friend or you can talk to a doctor or therapist. Or you can discuss your needs with your human resource manager. Also, you have the option to take online help by a psychiatrist. There are licensed psychiatrists that provide help through video conferencing. They are available online and they provide support through online chatting. You can even book an appointment with a psychiatrist through his website. The sooner you get the treatment, the sooner you will get freedom from depression.

Self-treatment

Spending time with pets improve mood. According to a study on pet owners revealed that 74% of those people have good mental health. Also talking about depression helps in overcoming sadness. Writing down your feelings will also help a therapeutic effect on mind.

Therapy and/or medicines are the only cure for depression. But you should keep talking to your friends and family members. Also, keep in mind that you aren’t alone that is depressed. According to NIMH data, approximately 16 million adults in US were suffering from depression in 2012.