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November 23, 2009

What About Depression?

Written by Alexandra Carlo, Staff Psychologist

Feeling blue, sad, or down is something all experience at one time or another. It is normal to feel sad when a relationship ends, a good friend moves away, or someone we care about dies. The stress of a heavy study load, financial difficulties or unemployment also affects our mood. Gloomy feelings are not uncommon and they tend to usually pass. People are still able to experience happy times when they are with friends or family. Sometimes the sad feelings do not go away and people stop enjoying things that used to be fun. There are times when sadness gives way to depression. Depression can affect anyone at anytime. Depression can develop due to stress, family background, and other circumstances.

How would you know if you were depressed or not?

If you’ve been experiencing 5 or more of the following symptoms for two weeks or more, you might be depressed and talking with someone who can help is strongly recommended:

• Feeling very sad most everyday all day.
• Stopped enjoying things that used to be fun.
• Finding it hard to get motivated and to feel interested in things.
• Wanting to avoid friends and everyday activities.
• Difficulty concentrating.
• Difficulty making decisions.
• Diminished interest in eating, or overeating. Losing weight, without dieting, or gaining weight.
• Finding it difficult to fall asleep, waking repeatedly during the night, or waking too early and not being able to get back to sleep even though you are tired. Alternatively, wanting to sleep all the time but not feeling rested even after a long sleep.
• Thinking about or planning suicide.
• Having unpleasant negative thoughts about yourself most of the time. Also, feeling hopeless about your future.
• Feeling that you have no energy or are fatigued all the time.
  

If you think that you might be depressed there are some things you need to know. Depression is more common than most people think and one or two in every seven people will experience an episode of depression at some stage in their lives. Depression can be treated. It is important to treat it to some extent like any other illness and seek help. Options for dealing with depression include:

Talking with a Psychologist or Counselor.

A psychologist can:

• Help you learn skills for solving problems
• Help you learn planning ahead and deal with everyday life.
• Help you learn how to improve your interactions with others.
• Help you see the positive side of yourself and increase your self-esteem.
• Help you learn how to challenge negative thoughts about the circumstances and the people that surround you.
• Assist your relationships with others.

Talking to a psychiatrist.

A psychiatrist can:

• Help you determine if an antidepressant medicine is appropriate for your situation.

Often counseling, healthy lifestyle changes (e.g. reducing stress, cutting down on alcohol), and compliance with medication are all necessary for treating a depression. If you have more questions please visit http://health.geneseo.edu or call Counseling Services at 245-5716 to set up a time to speak with one of the staff psychologists.

References

• About Depression: Personal Counseling Program - Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, NY 11210
• Am I depressed – or do I just have the blues? - Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand