Overcoming Depression and Embracing Life's Joys

Depression is not a personality trait or "spoiledness".

Depression symptoms appear over time. The symptoms usually appear with moodiness and sleep disturbances and, over time, negatively affect the person's life. When depression treatment is applied by a specialist to a person with depression symptoms, the person changes positively within the first month.

What are the types of depression?

Depression types, also known as depression types, are classified within themselves.

Major depression is the most severe form of depression. People feel intensely sad, unhappy, and worthless. For someone to be diagnosed with major depression, at least five of the symptoms must be present and have lasted longer than two weeks. There are subtypes of major depression.

• Postpartum depression,
• Seasonal affective disorder,
• Atypical depressive disorder,
• Depressive disorder with catatonic features,
• Depressive disorder with psychotic features,
• Depressive disorder with melancholic features.

Dysthymic disorder (permanent depression): Although dysthymic disorder occurs with fewer symptoms than major depression, it is a type of depression that affects people's lives more negatively because it lasts for at least two years.

What are the symptoms of depression?

Many symptoms can be observed in the depression process, which can occur once or more in a lifetime.

Depression symptoms include:

• Constantly feeling sad or in a depressed mood
• Lack of interest in or pleasure in activities once enjoyed
• Weight loss or weight gain unrelated to diet
• Sleeping too much or having trouble sleeping
• Energy loss
• Feelings of pessimism or helplessness
• Unhappiness
• Inability to sit still, increase in purposeless physical activity such as shaking hands, or slow movements or speech
• Feeling of worthlessness
• Don't feel guilty about almost anything
• Difficulty thinking, concentrating, and making decisions
• Recurrent thoughts of death or suicide
• Loss of sexual desire
• Decreased self-esteem
• No future prospects
• To be depressed, at least five of the above symptoms must be present for a period of at least two weeks.

Many individuals with depression may experience many of these symptoms. Depression symptoms can cause the patient to constantly create new problems and can visibly affect the patient's daily life.

How does the depressed person feel?

The course and severity of depression symptoms vary greatly from person to person. A depressed individual may feel sad and hopeless and lose interest in things they used to enjoy.

Depressed people feel a lot of tiredness, helplessness, and sadness. In addition, the person's work life, social life, and family life are also affected. Although depressed individuals feel lonely all the time, they perceive everything negatively and look at events negatively. Constantly blames himself for what happened in the past. There is pessimism and hopelessness about the future. In addition, people are often unaware that they are depressed.

How is depression treated?

Depression is a psychological disorder that should be diagnosed and treated by a professional. The individual who thinks he is depressed should definitely seek help from a specialist.

Drug therapy or psychotherapy are methods actively used in the treatment of depression. These two methods can be applied separately or together.

The treatment process for depression,

• Personal preference
• Medical history
• It varies depending on the severity of the depression.
• The drug is also used as part of the treatment. The drugs that the patient should use during the treatment of depression must be determined under the control of the doctor. The real effect of the drugs can be seen in 3–6 weeks. For this reason, the person may think that the drugs have no effect.

The psychotherapy method is used in the treatment of depression. Cognitive behavioral therapy, in particular, is a very effective psychotherapy method for the treatment of depression. The psychotherapist examines the factors that cause depression and tries to improve by focusing on these factors, changing the patient's mindset, and placing more positive thoughts.

In the treatment of depression, a healthy diet, sleep pattern, and lifestyle are also very important. It is not possible to treat depression without regulating physical activities in the body.

Meditation and yoga can be effective in the treatment of depression by helping to balance emotions, think more positively, and find inner peace.