Crushed, overwhelmed, devastated, torn, these waves of feelings wash over

those who suffer, blinding most if not all vision and hope.

 

There is so much to say about depression that we cannot cover all of the

information concerning the whole subject in depth on our web site.

 

We will try to cover the basic types, causes, affects and methods for recovery,

 also keep our information relatively straight forward because it can get

very deep, there will be some links on this page for related sites that

cover this in depth.

 

Even now in the 21st century depression still has stigma attached to

 it, this brings with t misconceptions and misunderstanding. Although

the general publics attitude is one of burying their head in the sand, we

cannot get away from the fact that people have about a 20% chance of

 suffering with depression in one form or another in our life time. 

It does not mean madness or insanity. 

Some of the common misconceptions about depression.

Only weak people suffer.	It can affect anyone.
Pull your socks up, snap out of it.	You cannot, some form of help is required to make a recovery
Today's life style causes it.	It can cause anxiety and sadness but we should be able to deal with a busy life.
It is caused by an external source.	It can be caused by chemical changes or imbalance in the body.
It can last all of your life.	Only in severe cases, it usually lasts for limited  periods only.
Have a drink, you will feel better.	Alcohol is a natural depressant, after a while it will  make things worse.
Just take some pills. ( See your doctor)	This will help in most cases but may not help long  term with the core problem.
Have a holiday, take a break.	This may help, but a depressed person will have  reduced enjoyment in everything
All anti depressants are addictive.	Most new drugs are not and can easily be slowly reduced and stopped.
Depressed people usually cry wolf.	Suicide can be a very real reality during depression, take this seriously.
Don't talk about suicide.	By talking about it empathetically can reduce the risk by expressing thoughts.

 

 

Depression is very difficult to define, it can be like a moving invisible fog

coming from nowhere, settling on you, then either moving away or staying

for days, months or even  years. Sometimes it is a reaction to a life event

and this is normally easier to treat. The trouble is it just doesn't just settle

on your head it invades your whole body including the way you think,

your mood, bodily functions, perceptions, rationality and so on. The

worst thing to say to a depressed person is pull your socks up, shake your self

off or pull your self together, it just doesn't work and in a lot of cases makes

the sufferer feel a whole lot worse. One of the other horrible effects of

depression is the level of suffering and the symptoms vary considerably

from person to person. A majority of the time a sufferer will not

understand it, unfortunately this makes it very hard for the carers of

affected people to have enough patience and the required coping/helping

skills to ably give the right type of support.

The key word for any carer is patience because what you see and

hear from the sufferer simply will not make much sense much of the time.

 

 Typical Symptoms of Depression 

 

  All of the above symptoms can join together in changing the inner and

outer life of a person suffering with depression, it could be described as a

 nice little snow ball beginning to roll down a hill, but by the time it arrives

at the bottom it is huge and uncontrollable, it also takes a very long time to

melt back into the nice little snow ball you had at the beginning.

 

It is estimated that 5-10% of the population suffers and needs help at any one

time,( That is this minute), this means that in a crowd of 50,000 at a football

match as many as 5000 may be depressed. This is on a growing trend and it

will become the second most common illness after heart problems within

 twenty years. 

• The average age to start suffering is between 20 and 40 years, and 20% of people are between 35 and 44.   

• It doesn't matter if we are male or female, what our back ground is, how much money we have etc, depression shows no respect and doesn't discriminate.

• It costs the UK about £9billion per year in medication and time off work.  

  Women are more at risk than men.

 

In some studies, women with depression out number men 2 to 1, especially at

certain times of their life. The days and weeks following childbirth and

menopause are the main factors. Depression and irritability are common

symptoms of pre-menstrual syndrome and it is said to be precipitate in some

women by oral contraceptives.

 In England alone there are over 1000, new cases per week of post natal

depression and many are still unrecorded or undetected.  

 

Many famous people through out history have suffered.

 

 

Abraham (Genisis15)                            Winston Churchill

Jonah 4                                      Vincent Van Gogh

Job ( book of Job)                            Ludwig van Beethoven

Elijah (1 kings 19)                               Abraham Lincoln

King Saul (1 Samuel 16:14-23)                           Mark Twain

Jeremiah (Book of Jeremiah)                        Oliver Cromwell

 

David( Psalm 6 and many other instances)                Isaac Newton

 

Les Dawson                                         Stephen Fry

 

 

There are many different categories for depression but we will only look at

the 9 major classifications.

 

A major depression is usually recognised as a combination with 5 symptoms

that occur together and last for at least a two week period without any

significant improvement. Below we have listed some the main symptoms

that generally need to present in a two week period.

 

• Loss of interest in everything, even hobbies etc

• Continually sad, anxious, depressed, irritable.

• Pessimistic, no hope, can't be bothered, don't care.

• Feeling worthless, helpless, useless, dead inside, unemotional, guilt.

• Restless, agitated, stressed, not concentrating.

• Loss appetite and loss of weight, conversely over eating and weight gain.

• Loss of memory, unable to make simple decisions, can't think straight.

• Loss of energy, chronic tiredness, over sleeping, under sleeping.

• Markedly lower hygiene standards, shaving, washing etc.

• Constantly thinking of death or suicide.  

•  

This list is just for your information and offered to increase your

understanding, if you are in any doubt about your self or another person

please ask for advice or make an appointment to see your doctor

or a counsellor/therapist.

 

Uni-polar (Monopolar) Depression ( 20% of people )                                                                       

 

Moods that shift from average and normal to that of depression.

(This is by far the most common type of depression).

 

Clinical Depression

 

This is where the sufferer is thought to be too depressed to help him/her

 self and will need some form of assistance.

Clinical depression can be divided into two areas:

 

Reactive Depression

 

This is normally triggered by a stressful situation of traumatic event, i.e. marriage/work difficulties, loss, bereavement etc. It is normally comes

hand in hand with high levels of anxiety and usually only last for short

periods of time.

 

Endogenous/Autonomous/Psychotic/Biological Depression

 

This form of depression generally rises up from within and has no external

reasons, because there are no definite reasons it can be seen as

a biological condition which in it's self can have many factors.

 e.g. neurochemical imbalance)

 

Neurotic Depression

 

This is very similar to Endogenous depression because there are no external

factors to take into account. This however is mostly caused by early

trauma and environmental issues in the unconscious i.e. unresolved childhood

issues or other equally important conflicts. It is sometimes difficult

to separate these two common complaints, endogenous depression is probably

best served once a pattern can be found by anti depressants. Neurotic

depression is best served by counselling/therapy. Unfortunately these

are normally both entwined because of a multiple of social,

cognitive, genetic and chemical influences. A mixture of drugs and

therapy is recommended.

  

Organic based Depression

 

This is caused by illness, such as strokes and cancer or the affect of the drugs

and medication.

 

Chronic Depression

 

The suffering person has been depressed for a period of more than two years.

 

Bipolar Depression( Manic)

 

A large percent of people who suffer with serious depression could

 become manic. This affects equal numbers of men and women. I

t is nearly always caused by a chemical imbalance and is nearly incurable.

This would be diagnosed by a psychiatrist and a counsellors job would be to

 help the sufferer deal with it.

These people would be on medication prescribed by their doctor. It is

 a biological illness and they would suffer a "state of madness" at times.

The mood swings can range from being very high, increased speech/actions,

totally irrational etc to that of being very very low. Periods between

these extremes can be weeks, months or even years, however in either

of these frames of mind the situation could be dangerous.

 

Childhood Depression

 

Coming soon

 

 

  Seasonal Affective Disorder ( SAD)

 

This complaint is caused by a biochemical imbalance. Many people are

affected as winter approaches and carries on through with short

 days with little sunlight. For many it is a serious problem which prevents

them from leading a normal life until March or April arrives with it's longer

days and increased sunshine. People generally suffer cravings for

carbohydrates and sweets, also irritability, avoidance, loss of libido and mood

changes. For serious sufferers medical treatment is essential and for others

with a lesser degree of discomfort other forms of help are available.

 

Counselling

 

Psychotherapy, Cognitive therapy and other counselling will help by using

positive techniques such as, relaxation and acceptance. A lot of depression is

caused by unresolved pain and anger either from the past of in present.

The reasons for

depression will depend on the type of counselling offered.

 

Light Treatment

 

This is now available by purchasing a light box which boosts the levels of light

to that which will help up to 85% of people.

 

Anti Depressants

 

There are many antidepressant drugs available to use, the non-sedative

drugs are more likely to be affective, these are SSRI drugs, such as

Sertrline, Paroxetine and Fluoxetine. ( Consult your doctor at all times

 before using any drugs)

 

 

 

Like falling into a deep pit

The mud slips and slides

So you can’t get a grip.

The sharp stones rip and graze

As you fight against the downward pull

Exhaustion and despair

Seems to be every where.

The fight for life begins to flee.

Finally you hit the bottom

With a hard bone shaking thud.

What’s the use? I’m tired, I’m lonely.

You decide to die in the mud.

 

 

As you lay there sobbing

With nothing at your side, except Despair

A sweet fragrance and gentle voice

Starts to fill the air

Soft comforting hands gently wrap around

Slowly you are lifted from the pit

And set gently on the ground.

You hear a voice “my child I am here, all is well”.

Upon opening your eyes see a light

And realise you are no longer at the gates of hell.