What Causes Psychological Depression?

Psychological Depression

What Causes Psychological Depression?

This is one of the most common and most serious mental health problems facing people today.

Psychological depression can interfere with a person’s ability to function effectively throughout the day or even to have the motivation to get out of bed in the morning and it is very common.

The causes of depression are complex, but we are able to treat it much more effectively because we have a better understanding of the causes.

To fight depression, you must understand what it is, how it affects you, and what causes it.

Depression is a treatable illness, but there are many people with a depressive illness that do not seek treatment. Even in people whose depression is extremely severe can be helped.

Symptoms of depression must be present nearly every day, all day, for 2 weeks. The following symptoms are:

Persistent depressed mood, including feelings of emptiness or sadness, loss of interest or pleasure in activities.

Feelings of hopelessness or pessimism, feelings of guilt, worthlessness and helplessness.

Insomnia, early morning awakening or oversleeping.

Change in eating (either loss or increased appetite)

Decreased energy, fatigue or feeling slowed down, restlessness and irritability.

Difficulty concentrating, remembering or making decisions.

Thoughts of suicide or death.

Persistent physical symptoms, such as headaches, digestive disorders or chronic pain.

The most important thing anyone can do for the depressed person is to help him or her get an appropriate diagnosis and treatment. The depressed mood must persist for greater than two weeks in order to warrant this diagnosis.

The first step to getting appropriate treatment for depression is a physical examination by a qualified physician. Without proper treatment, the symptoms can last for weeks, months, or years.

Appropriate treatment can help most people who suffer from depression. If a diagnosis of depression is made, treatment with medication and/or psychotherapy will help the depressed person return to a happier, more fulfilling life.

Most people tend to do better with a combined treatment: medication to gain relatively quick symptom relief and psychotherapy to learn more effective ways to deal with life’s problems, including depression.

Psychological depression is not something you can just turn on or off. It is a serious medical condition that affects the brain’s chemistry. With the appropriate medical treatment, the vast majority of people who are treated can live depression free lives.

Is it Weird in Here or is it Just Me? A Real-time and First-hand Account of Depression for Families, Friends and Carers
by: Rod Whyte
publisher: Headliners, published: 2010-04-16
ASIN: B003HS4UDA
sales rank: 26801

‘Is it weird in here or is it just me?’ is a book will give you more of an insight into depression than any other you’ll ever read on the illness. If you are caring for someone with depression or you’re a parent and would like to arm yourself with accurate knowledge of its symptoms, then this book lets you experience the illness from a remarkably honest perspective. For some reason (perhaps known only to God), the author was given an opportunity to write extensively about his depression while he was hospitalised and while he was actually experiencing the blitzkrieg of symptoms that depression presents.

This book is unique because most of it is written in real time, which means that in every way, it’s a realistic and practical guide for any person or parent who is caring for someone with depression, explaining what’s actually happening within the sufferer’s mind at the time of experiencing the symptoms of the illness.

Further, it provides you, the carer, with a great slab of sensible and realistic on-the-spot advice on how to best offer support for the person you’re caring for – whatever the symptom. Finally and most importantly, this book is written for the person you’re caring for, because through you, it will help validate their own experiences and reassure them that what they’re experiencing isn’t abnormal or crazy (at least in the sense of what depression is) – it’s actually the depression that’s made their life so unpredictable and almost all of the time, so desolate and so very desperate.

The author’s knowledge of psychology and treatment options for mental illness is extensive, however his own hospitalisation with depression has been the ultimate experience that has enabled him to provide such an intensely personal and highly informative guide.

As you’ll read, Rod’s life is an open book – in fact, it IS this book – and through it you’ll find all of the answers to the questions you seek on depression.

Thanks to his efforts, depression is no longer the secret it once was.

Undoing Depression: What Therapy Doesn’t Teach You and Medication Can’t Give You
by: Richard O’Connor
publisher: Little, Brown and Company, published: 2010-01-07
ASIN: 0316043419
EAN: 9780316043410
sales rank: 15472
price: $4.97 (new), $3.49 (used)

Like heart disease, says psychotherapist Richard O’Connor, depression is fueled by complex and interrelated factors: genetic, biochemical, environmental. In this refreshingly sensible book, O’Connor focuses on an additional factor often overlooked: our own habits. Unwittingly we get good at depression. We learn how to hide it, how to work around it. We may even achieve great things, but with constant struggle rather than satisfaction. Relying on these methods to make it through each day, we deprive ourselves of true recovery, of deep joy and healthy emotion.

UNDOING DEPRESSION teaches us how to replace depressive patterns with a new and more effective set of skills. We already know how to “do” depression-and we can learn how to undo it. With a truly holistic approach that synthesizes the best of the many schools of thought about this painful disease, O’Connor offers new hope-and new life-for sufferers of depression.

The Cognitive Behavioral Workbook for Depression: A Step-by-step Program (Workbook)
by: William J. Knaus EdD
publisher: New Harbinger Publications, published: 2006-11-01
ASIN: 1572244739
EAN: 9781572244733
sales rank: 6614
price: $15.44 (new), $10.80 (used)

Powerful Tools for Overcoming Depression

Do you think that you could lessen or overcome your feelings of depression if only you had the right tools? Are you ready to help yourself stop feeling depressed? If so, then you’ve found a powerful resource. The Cognitive Behavioral Workbook for Depression is a complete, comprehensive, step-by-step approach you can use, on your own or working with a therapist, to manage and conquer depression.

Using techniques from cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT), you’ll develop a plan for breaking your cycle of depression. You’ll learn to recognize and dispute the irrational thoughts and depressive beliefs that keep you feeling down. You’ll also discover ways to guard against emotions that often occur with depression, like anxiety and anger. As you proceed through the book’s chapters and exercises, you’ll build stronger defenses against depression, which will help you maintain your progress.

The powerful tools in this book will help you:

Develop a personalized plan for change
Assess your depression and learn how best to overcome it
Defeat depressive thought and beliefs
Overcome thoughts of helplessness, worthlessness, and self-blaming
Avoid perfectionism and frustration
Manage stress and depressive sensations
Use special cognitive and behavioral techniques for positive change

Signs, Symptoms, and Treatment of Depression
Video from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) about the causes, symptoms, and treatments of depression. We accept comments in the spirit of our comment policy: www.nimh.nih.gov NIMH Privacy Policy: www.nimh.nih.gov
What is Chronic Depression? (Mental Health Guru)
If you feel gloomy, worn out or disconnected nearly every day for two years or more, you may be suffering from Chronic Depression. Learn more at: mental.healthguru.com