Depression - What Are the Signs?

Depression can consists of mood swings, being down in the dumps, sadness, not so much of the feelings of happiness, and feeling miserable. The actual clinical meaning behind depression is a type of disorder within the mood of a person, where the feelings of loss, sadness, frustrations and anger have an impact on your everyday life for a long time.

The causes and risks of depression can sometime run in families. It could be inherited in their genes or by associating it with behavior or even both. Genes could be what causes and develops the depression, but it is likely someone with an unhappy or stressful event in their life which can usually start off a depressive episode.

The form of depression may be caused with the use of alcohol, or drugs, events that have happened in the childhood, such as abuse or a form of neglect, disappointment from home, or work, or even school. It can be due to many negative feelings about themselves, not being able to problem solve, not being able to sleep and being isolated in society.

There are test and diagnostics that can determine if you have depression, as their are guidelines to follow. In the interview, a scale may be used to look at the patients mental state and see what the actual depressive symptoms are off if there are any. These test include a Geriatric Depression scale and many others. These type of test will occur at a hospital, with a social worker, psychologist or a psychiatrist.

There are treatment options available for someone who has been depressed for a while, which they can try to help themselves with at home. The self- care steps to take are, trying to get the right amount of sleep, having a good diet, having regular exercise, and many others. If you are experiencing depression in the winter months try a form of light therapy. A form of herbal remedy can help reduce the symptoms but only if they are moderate. However, you should still consult a doctor if you have any of depression symptoms. If you do have any depression symptoms whether it will be moderate or a severe depression, the best effective method would be both counseling and a form of medication.

Prevention can also slow the rate of depression if you are starting to experience some symptoms. Having a good healthy habits can stop the chances of depression happening again. These type of habits would include the type of food you eat, adjusting your sleep habits, learning skills to know how to relax and not drinking to much alcohol. If you feel like you are being isolated socially, try getting involved in group activities.

Depression can come in a range of forms, and can be extreme or moderate. Symptoms can include a change in mood or being down all the time. If you do experience a form of depression or you think you have depression it is best to go seek some counseling as it will help you to move forward. As they do have test that will determine what kind of depression you have, so treatment can be undertaken.