What is Depression?

Let's start with some hopeful news. Depression is treatable. It is one of the areas of mental health about which we know the most, and have made the most progress in providing effective care. So, if you or someone you know is dealing with depression, you can feel reassured that real help is available.

What is depression though? Think about the word: de-press. It is a pressing down. When we talk about a depression in the economy, we are talking about aspects of the economy going down. Depression is like that too. It's not just feeling down. It's when everything really is down.

When I think of depression, a certain word comes to mind: loss. There is a loss in depression. You lose something when you are depressed, and as a result, there is a process of grieving and pain. Depression is a loss of functioning. The functioning goes down and it stays down. You're not where you ought to be in a number of areas.

I would like to make a distinction, and once we make it, some of you can feel free to worry a lot less, and some of you will want to develop a healthy and proactive sense of concern.

The difference between having a bad day, or having a bad season, or if you're going through a loss, or a business failure, or dealing with a struggling relationship, and depression, is that when you're having a bad day, there is an ability to go back to things being good. Your system is responding, you've got the energy to fight it. You think about it and you feel bummed out, but you're fighting through it. There is a forward motion to getting through it. You are going somewhere.

Depression is not like that. Depression goes down, and then it goes nowhere. It lands there. Your system which ought to be able to respond and get you out of these situations is down. It's unplugged.

So that's the distinction: Depression is not a bad day. It's going into a bad state that doesn't move. It needs help and it needs to be treated. It is an illness.

People often do not even realize that they are depressed, so I'd like to share some symptoms of depression, along with a disclaimer. A lot of physical problems can wind up looking like the signs of depression, so it's important to rule out the physical stuff. Visit your physician and ask for a check-up.

Symptoms of depression:

• Anhedonia: The inability to feel pleasure from things that normally bring us pleasure. There's no looking forward. Things that normally would bring you pleasure do not give you that reassuring feeling of enjoyment.
• Your mood seems consistently down when there isn't any apparent reason for this to be the case.
• You have a persistent feeling of hopelessness.
• Your sleep is disturbed. Either you can't fall asleep or you constantly feel sleepy.
• You feel tiredness and a lack of energy.
• Appetite changes, whether it goes up or down.
• Loss of libido/sex drive.
• Difficulty concentrating.
• Negative thinking about yourself
• Negative thinking about the future.

Every area of your life can suffer when you are going through depression. Your relationships, your performance, and how you feel about yourself and your experience of your life. Depression requires treatment, but as we said it is very treatable. So if this describes you, I'd like to encourage you to seek out some help. If you're not sure where to start, Boundaries.Me has a course called How to Find a Therapist, and it can help you get going.

Key Takeaways

-Depression affects every area of your life: the clinical, the relational, and your performance.
-Depression is highly treatable, but because it is an illness, it should be worked on and treated.
-The difference between depression and a bad day, is that you can recover from a bad day. Things will be good again. Depression, left untreated, is not like that.
-Watch for the symptoms of depression (listed above).