October is Depression Awareness Month

First some good news: Mental Health America of Putnam County will be partnering with the Banner Graphic and the Hoosier Topics to increase the knowledge and understanding of mental health issues in Putnam County. We hope these ongoing articles will be interesting and helpful.

October is Depression Awareness Month so we are starting with some information about Depression. Today we will review what mental health professionals mean when they talk about “depression,” some of the possible causes of depression, why it is important to be aware of depression, and what can be done if someone is depressed.

This article will focus on what mental health professionals call Major Depression, but it should be noted there are other types of depression.

Depression: What is it?

Depression means different things to different people.

When asked to define depression most people will use words like: “sad,” “down in the dumps” or “got the blues.” Using these terms, almost everyone has felt “depressed” at some time.

There is, however a big difference between normal “sadness” and clinical depression. It makes sense to start by understanding normal sadness.

Normal sadness is just that — feeling sad or unhappy when bad things happen.

People feel different amounts of sadness for different lengths of time depending on what type of things have happened—a little bit of sadness for small things (your team loses the big game), more for bigger things (not getting a promotion at work), and even more for even bigger things (death of a family member).

But, in normal sadness, there is a clear cause for the sadness, the amount and duration of being sad is limited and within expected limits and the person is able to maintain or resume normal activities fairly quickly.

Clinical depression is more severe, long lasting, and disruptive.

The symptoms of clinical depression are: an unusually sad mood, loss of interest/enjoyment in activities that used to be enjoyed, lack of energy/fatigue, feeling worthless or guilty even though there is no reason to feel guilty, thinking about death or wishing to be dead consistently, problems concentrating or making decisions, disrupted or excessive sleep, physical agitation or lethargy, and changes in eating habits.

At least one of the first two symptoms must be present and a total of at least five of the listed symptoms must also be present. The symptoms must be experienced every day or almost every day for at least two weeks and must be severe enough to disrupt functioning or cause significant distress.

What causes depression?

Clinical depression does not have a single cause.

There may be a “trigger” of an outside social/environment stress as discussed above, or the presence of other medical conditions or substance use but there is no clear answer as to why some people develop an ongoing major depression while others do not.

Current research suggests that biology, genetic factors, and past life experiences may determine when or if someone becomes clinically depressed.

Why do we care?

Some of the reasons to care are obvious from the definition above — we care because we or people we care about are in distress — unable to sleep or concentrate, unhappy and unable to enjoy life, maybe even thinking of suicide. We care because a Major Depression disrupts someone’s ability to work or perform at school, which may lead to loss of employment or academic failure.

Persons with a Major Depressive Disorder are much more at risk for suicide or suicide attempts than the general population.

What to do about it?

The good news is there are many options to help reduce the negative impact of depression.

First, if someone is dealing with a non-clinical depression, then modifications in life style can be very helpful—such simple things as exercising more, eating a healthy diet, decreasing alcohol or other substance use, or developing a better sleep pattern can improve mood.

Second, if someone does have a clinical depression, there are excellent therapies.

Medications to improve mood are available and there are well-established psychotherapy models as well.

Current research shows that a combination of medication and “talk” therapy appears to be most beneficial.

If you are concerned that you or someone you care about is dealing with depression there are several excellent resources to learn more.

The National Institute of Health (NIH) has an excellent website with information and self-administered screening questionnaires as does WebMD, the American Psychological Association and Mental Health America. If you feel you are in need of treatment, your family doctor or a mental health professional can advise you.

For help locating a mental health professional in our area, contact Mental Health America of Putnam County at info@mhaopc.org or 765-653-3310.