What is depression?
Depression is a mood disorder, also known as clinical depression or major depressive disorder. With depression, you might find you’ve lost interest in many of the activities you used to enjoy. You may experience a persistent, lingering feeling of sadness and hopelessness.
It’s normal for you to experience sadness from time to time, but depression isn’t just a moment of feeling under the weather. In many cases, depression is a mental health disorder that requires long-term treatment.
What are the symptoms of depression?
Some of the symptoms of depression include:
- Feelings of sadness, emptiness, worthlessness, and hopelessness
- Self-blame and a lack of motivation
- Poor sleep quality and sleep disturbances
- Little to no interest in activities you used to enjoy
- Chronic fatigue
- Slowed or impaired memory and focus
- Impatience, agitation, and anxiety
- Decreased appetite, increased cravings, weight gain or weight loss
- Irritability, frustration, and angry outbursts over seemingly small matters
- Suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts
If you have depression, you might also experience unexplained physical problems, such as headaches or back pain.
What causes depression?
As with many mental health and mood disorders, there might be a number of factors that cause depression, such as:
- Certain medications
- Family history
- Past trauma
- Stressful events
- History of mental health conditions
- Drug or alcohol use
- Certain changes in brain chemistry
Stressful life events, such as the death of a loved one or financial issues, can also trigger a depressive episode.
What are the treatments for depression?
After an evaluation, your provider at Kudos Medical recommends various effective treatments for your depression.
Lifestyle changes
Your provider might suggest healthy lifestyle changes, such as stress management tools, frequent exercise, mindfulness, and consuming a healthy diet with sufficient nutrients.
Medications
Your provider may prescribe antidepressants or antianxiety medications to help with depression.
Psychotherapy
With psychotherapy, or talk therapy, your provider helps you learn valuable tools and skills to ease your depression and cope with worsening symptoms. You have time to discuss your fears, questions, concerns, and potential reasons for your depression.
Find out how Kudos Medical can help with depression by calling the office or scheduling an appointment online today.
