Sadness or feeling ‘down’ is a perfectly natural reaction to life’s challenges, disappointments, and misfortunes. Depression, however, is different – involving a more pervasive, unrelenting feeling of emotional distress. While depression is typically accompanied by feelings of persistent sadness, the over-arching experience of some may be that of feeling empty, apathetic, listless, or even angry. Depression is a serious mental health condition that can be greatly alleviated, once addressed.
Common signs of depression include: unrelenting sadness, difficulty focusing, trouble with memory, feeling worthless, feeling hopeless, loss of interest in one’s daily life—including hobbies and friends, sleep disturbance (including trouble falling asleep, waking up too early, or oversleeping), feeling fatigued during the day, changes in eating habits (eating more or less than usual), feeling agitated or irritable, and feeling empty or apathetic.
The best treatment for depression involves a combination of medication and therapy. If the depression turns out to be solely a chemical depression, working with a medical doctor or psychiatrist to get the proper medication and dosage should resolve it. If, as in many cases, situational issues in life have contributed to the depression, therapy is a vital part of the treatment--serving to identify, address, and resolve those issues towards the goal of reducing symptoms and perhaps eventually eliminating the need for medication.