What is it?
There are a few pointers. First, doctors don't consider depression to be 'clinical' - meaning an illness in need of treatment - unless symptoms have lasted for more than two weeks.
This kind of depression is caused by changed brain and body chemistry, which doesn't happen overnight. In fact, depression often comes on so slowly that many men have difficulty noticing the change.
What happens?
Although depression is technically a mental illness, many of the symptoms of depression are actually physical. Depressed people find it difficult to get to sleep, or to feel rested when they wake. Waking through the night, or waking far too early in the morning, is quite a strong sign of depression.
Depressed people have little energy, and they often find it difficult to motivate themselves to do anything. Appetite and interest in food diminishes, and many people lose weight. Aches and pains and a general physical malaise are also very common.
Thinking is affected too. For example, it can be difficult to concentrate, so that it's impossible to follow a TV programme all the way through. Everything seems an effort.
Even short newspaper articles are a struggle, and few depressed people can manage to read novels, even if this is something they used to enjoy. Memory also suffers, so that it's hard (for example) to remember phone numbers, and easy to forget important things at work.
Other, subtler, changes in thinking can be harder to spot. For example, people find that minor setbacks - things they would usually shrug off - seem devastating. Problems in one area generalise, so that they seem to affect every aspect of life.
Severe symptoms
In severe depression, people can feel that they're useless; that their lives are a waste of time; or that they must have been guilty of something terrible. A few people hear voices that aren't really there (hallucinations).
It's very common to feel you can't face the day, to wish you didn't have to wake up in the morning, or even to feel like ending it all. Suicidal thoughts like this are a frightening symptom. Fortunately, most people don't act on them.
Treatment
But there is some good news in all this despondency. Paradoxically, the worse depressive symptoms are, the more likely the sufferer is to get better with treatment. GPs are able to prescribe antidepressants, which aren't addictive, aren't usually sedating, and which begin to work in two to four weeks.
Psychological treatments such as counselling or cognitive behavioural therapy can be very effective, not only in healing depression, but also in preventing the illness from coming back. These 'talking treatments' work well alongside medicine.
Coping with suicidal thoughts
Thinking about suicide is one of the common symptoms of depression. These thoughts are 'the illness speaking': they aren't logical or sensible, and not how you'd usually think.
Thoughts of harming yourself can be hard to get rid of if you're on your own. Try to be with people (even if you're feeling rotten and not saying very much).
Confiding in someone about suicidal thoughts doesn't make it more likely that you'll act on them. If possible, try to let someone know how you feel. "I'm going through a rough patch" can be enough - you don't necessarily need to say more.
Try to distract yourself if the thoughts become too much: go for a walk, listen to music, or watch TV.
Make sure you avoid alcohol or drugs - although they can ease some of the tension, they also make it much more likely that you'll act impulsively, or will not be aware of what you're doing.
Depression News:
Suicide Recommendations Lead To Drop In Suicides Across England And Wales - According to new research published by The Lancet, there has been a substantial decrease in suicide rates among health authorities across England and Wales that adopted a new range of suicide recommendations...
Measures Must Be Taken To Prevent Depression In Adolescents - As one of the most common, unrecognized and untreated health problems among young people, tackling depression is a serious priority for countries worldwide. The psychiatric disorder causes serious social and educational problems for patients, as well as leading to increased risk of suicide and substance abuse...
Depressed Patients Accurately Distinguished From Healthy Controls By Blood Test - The initial assessment of a blood test to help diagnose major depressive disorder indicates it may become a useful clinical tool...
New Study May End 2 Decades Of Suspicion: Does Borna Disease Virus Cause Mental Illness? - Over the past 30 years, numerous studies have linked Borna disease virus (BDV) with mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, anxiety disorder and dementia. Genetic fragments and antibodies to this RNA virus, which causes behavior disorders in a range of mammals and birds, have been found to be prevalent in psychiatric patients, but study results have been inconsistent...
A Parent's Nurturing Results In Larger Hippocampus In Children - A recent study by child psychiatrists and neuroscientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition, states that children whose mothers showed them love and affection from the very beginning have brains with a larger hippocampus, which is a key part of the brain involved with...
Hope For Those With A Depressive Disposition - Good news for the 13 per cent of the population with depressive personality traits: their negative outlook does not have to be permanent. This has been shown by psychologist Rachel Maddux in new research from Lund University in Sweden. Depression is a serious and sometimes devastating health problem which affects millions of people worldwide...
Military Suicide Rates Rose - According to a study published in the American Journal of Public Health, between 2005 and 2007, suicide rates among individuals serving in U.S. military services increased, particularly among those in the regular Army and National Guard. The study, which included the entire active duty U.S...
How A Parent's Education Can Affect The Mental Health Of Their Offspring - New research sheds light on cycle of low socioeconomic status and depression Could depression in adulthood be tied to a parent's level of education? A new study led by Amélie Quesnel-Vallée, a medical sociologist from McGill University, suggests this is the case...
Family History Of Psychiatric Disorders May Shape Intellectual Interests - A hallmark of the individual is the cultivation of personal interests, but for some people, their intellectual pursuits might actually be genetically predetermined. Survey results published by Princeton University researchers in the journal PLoS ONE suggest that a family history of psychiatric conditions such as autism and depression could influence the subjects a person finds engaging...
Overworking Linked To A 2-Fold Increase In The Likelihood Of Depression - The odds of a major depressive episode are more than double for those working 11 or more hours a day compared to those working seven to eight hours a day, according to a report is published in the Jan. 25 issue of the online journal PLoS ONE...
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