WHAT IS MAJOR DEPRESSION?
So you, or someone you know has been given the diagnosis of major depression. What does that mean? Is that term being used in the same way that people on the street use it when they say that they are “depressed?” Quite often, this is not the case. It is not just about having a bad day or two, although, if you just look at one moment in time, the feeling may be similar. Major depression is a much more serious problem that can severely affect people’s lives. It can be so severe that they cannot go to work, or even do simple activities, like getting dressed or showering.
Depression is extremely common; about 1 out of 5 people develops major depression at some point in their lives. It can affect anybody; rich or poor, young or old, men or women. It can even affect people whose lives are going quite well. The cost to society is staggering. Estimates place it at $210 billion a year in the USA.
What we, in the mental health field call major depression is something that goes on for 2 weeks in a row at least; often longer. It’s there most of the day, most days with little or no relief. It comes along with changes in sleep, appetite, energy, interest in pleasurable activities, motivation, socialization, memory, concentration and libido (sex drive). People often lose the ability to enjoy themselves or get excited about things. In order to be officially diagnosed you don’t have to have all of these characteristics, but usually most of them are present, and again, it goes on for long periods of time.
Depressed people often feel like life isn’t worth living, or wish they were dead, or even have thoughts about killing themselves. Obviously, this makes major depression not just something problematic, but something potentially very dangerous.
People with depression will often find that their friends and relatives do not understand why they are like this. They will often try to cheer the depressed person up, or explain to him or her that they have so much to be thankful for. It may look to others that it’s just a matter of will power or choosing to feel differently. Friends will often make helpful suggestions that often start with “why don’t you just…” Unfortunately, these are well-meaning but ineffective measures, and often only succeed in making the depressed person feel more alone and misunderstood. Of course they don’t want to feel depressed; no one would want to feel that way! But it’s not as simple as just trying harder. If it was that simple, they would have done it already.
I will talk about why this is so, in future posts.