Is It Depression, Just Anxiety, a "Bad Mood" or the "Baby Blues"?

Have you been feeling down, depressed or hopeless. Even without bein called depression, feelings of sadness, anger, loneliness, or unhappiness can make life miserable.

Anxiety and a "bad mood" tend to just be from a 'single' event, either worried about the event or the outcome of the event, suffering from a "bad day", the events at work or the traffic on the way home.

The "baby blues" come from having a baby and are, in part, the feelings of being overwhelmed with the responsibilites of motherhood.

If the feelings you have are in fact depression the symptoms include having two or more of the following: changes in your sleeping pattern, including fatigue, changes in your appetite, which then equates to gaining or lossing weight, loss of interest in your ordinary activities, feelings of hopelessness, believing that life has no merit or even that there is no reason to live.

One of the best forms of treatment for all of these forms of depression are simple lifestyle changes, such as regular exercise, relaxation, ensuring sufficient and regular sleep, etc are often sufficient to treat depression if it is diagnosed early and when the depression is mild. Even a 20 to 30 minutes of walking per day can help.

However, the lack of motivation, which is a symptom of depression, can keep the depressive from exercising. Exercise can certainly help and for a "bad mood", anxiety or even the "baby blues", but a depressed person may need more help.

Some people do recover from depression using antidepressent medications alone and while there is not any evidence that any medication is better than another; the side effects of the medications do differ, so you diffently need to speak with your doctor. These medications are designed to help relieve the symptoms of depression by restoring the brain's chemical balance.

For the older persons, physical illnesses, arthritis. etc., and disabilities and being confined to a wheelchair can mask the symptoms of depression (it is often confused with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia), or be the reason for the depression.

For an alternative treatment, it has been shown that the nutritional supplement SAMe improved or even entirely relieved the symptoms in many of patients suffering from depression. Fifty percent of patients in a recent study had significant improvement in their symptoms and fourty-three percent had complete recovery from their depression at the end of the study.

Feeling

Prescription of tricyclic antidepressants like Amoxapine is common because it helps people beat the feeling of fatigue, feeling of hopelessness, guilt, helplessness, inability to feel pleasure or physical pain, unintended weight loss, etc. Feeling restless or irritable. Feeling sad, hopeless, and overwhelmed.

Changing the Feeling of being Overwhelmed or Unable to Cope People with depression talk about feeling overwhelmed or unable to cope with what has happened in their life. Sometimes there may be a physical reason for feeling one of these moods. Referring to this short time of feeling down as depression is not accurate and it is important to distinguish between occasional low moods and depression.

In addition, instead of being focused on a negative feeling or event, the person will be involved with another activity. a person feels so miserable that they decide they can’t take feeling this badly for another minute. Choose to ‘get over it’ rather than feeling stranded in hopelessness and uselessness.

I commented that while he might be depressed, it might also be that he was simply feeling appropriate sadness over some disappointing losses. The blues are simply a temporary feeling of sadness. It is a feeling of extreme despair.

• There is usually an underlying feeling of guilt. If you are feeling blue most of the time you may have a type of depression. It is normal for people to have these feeling sometimes, but some people cannot just snap out of it and this is the difference between what is normal and major depression.

Just sort of feeling blue, kinda out of it, gets confused with being depressed. True clinical depression is not just feeling blue or sad. A feeling of constant helplessness.

It’s more than just feeling "down in the dumps" or "blue" for a few days. We all have days when we are down, worn out and just not feeling all that happy. With that said, here are a few tips to help you feel better when you are feeling down in the dumps.

You'll be even more likely to overcome any feeling of depression if you were too busy to notice it.

Symptoms

However, the difference between PPD and other forms of depression is that those who are suffering from PPD will typically begin having symptoms a month after they have given birth. The symptoms of clinical depression affect everyone who suffers from it in different ways. But you should always consult your doctor or therapist if you are feeling depressed or exhibit the symptoms of depression.

Major depression also known as Clinical Depression or Unipolar Depression is considered the most serious type of depression in terms of symptoms and severity. People who suffer atypical depression exhibit all the normal symptoms of depression but they also react to external positive experiences in a positive way. People who suffer from atypical depression also exhibit other symptoms that aren't normally associated with "normal" depression including:.

Major mood swings from extreme happiness to extreme irritability (or vice versa) are the most common symptoms of this manic depression. If any of the signs and symptoms occur for longer than a week's period, consulting a doctor is recommended. The most common depression symptoms are as follows:.

The symptoms to look for include: sadness, irritability, no interest in hobbies and activities which once were loved, hopelessness, problems sleeping, fatigue, thoughts of suicide or death, feelings of guilt and significant weight change. If you find that these symptoms persist for more than a few weeks you should discuss it with your doctor. A diagnosis of major depressive disorder is made if a person has 5 or more of these symptoms and impairment in usual functioning nearly every day during the same two-week period.

Some people have a chronic but less severe form of depression, called dysthymic disorder, which is diagnosed when depressed mood persists for at least 2 years (1 year in children) and is accompanied by at least 2 other symptoms of depression. You should get evaluated by a professional if you've had five or more of the following symptoms for more than two weeks or if any of these symptoms cause such a big change that you can't keep up your usual routine. This includes symptoms of sadness and a loss of interest in activity.

Therapy is often prescribed with drug treatments to help a person come to terms with issues, symptoms and techniques for dealing with depression. Such symptoms are not the result of a chronic psychotic disorder, substance abuse, a general medical condition, or bereavement.

Feeling

Before an emotional response can be experienced what you are feeling or what is happening to you (Burns, David, pg. Usually caused by unpleasant experiences, such as taunting by peers, which gradually lowers the feeling of self worth. If so, your doctor is an objective person to talk with about how you’re feeling and whether you’re suffering from depression.

A paradoxical situation developed for me: I found it difficult to stay anxious and depressed when I was observing myself feeling anxious and depressed. "One major reason for depression is the feeling of guilt in having to choose between family and work", points out Podesta. It’s very hard for people to understand how you’re feeling if they haven’t been there.

No more feeling unable to cope. The stress of being in the hospital, the fear of another heart attack, time away from work can all contribute to feeling depressed, helpless, down and despondent. Moreover, women, people who have been depressed before, and people who feel alone and without social or emotional support are at a higher risk for feeling depressed after a heart attack.

First, we get the person feeling better, then if the patient chooses, we slowly wean them off their prescription drugs. Unable to work, she’s now feeling helpless and hopeless. Maria has been feeling depressed for at least two and a half years.

When a patient like Nancy is on the manic side, there is a persistent feeling of euphoria or irritability associated with lack of need for sleep, excessive energy, agitation, fast and loud speech, increase in goal-directed activities such as spending sprees and establishing businesses with no appropriate plan, and hypersexuality. In addition, patients experience a feeling of hopelessness, worthlessness, and helplessness. These are typical thoughts of people who are depressed and show a change in thinking, feeling and acting.

On the other hand, feeling constantly tired, he may sleep more than usual. Teenagers do not commonly display gloom, self-depreciation, or talk about feeling hopeless like adults do. It will give you the feeling that you are wanted.

In fact, you guarantee the feeling of helplessness. Some telltale signs of being depressed is thinking you're too much responsibility to your friends and loved ones or feeling that you are inadequate. , "I am feeling depressed because of my job--spouse--life--" or whatever seemingly reasonable explanation is available.

Thankfully the feeling passed by midday and I was back to my normal self.