Depression
What is Depression?
Depression may present in various forms, and symptoms like those listed below.
Mood changes. People often feel sad or numb for most of the time. Anxiety and increased irritability are often present.
Thinking changes can also be seen, such as difficulties concentrating, making decisions or remembering things. Typically, depressed people think in a pessimistic way, seeing themselves as unattractive, inadequate or even as bad, finding their environment unfulfilling and their future as bleak. They often have unhelpful styles of thinking such as imagining all of the worst things that could happen or overly blaming themselves. Thoughts that life is not worth living can occur which normally go away once the depression improves.
Physical changes are common in depression. Sleep can be impaired, appetite and weight loss is common although they can both go up. The persons sex drive and ability to enjoy their usual interests and activities are also commonly reduced. Patients often complain of aches and pains or feeling anxious or wound up.
Behaviour changes also normally occur. Because of the features of loss of the ability to enjoy, anxiety symptoms, and difficulties concentrating, sufferers often become inactive and unwilling to try out the activities that they used to do. They may therefore avoid work and social activities.
Causes
There is no single cause of depression. Several factors can act together to cause it. Depression does appear to run in families and therefore some people are vulnerable to depression throughout their lives because of this. Others are vulnerable because of the surroundings in which they live. Vulnerability to depression also comes from having suffered from disruptive childhood experiences such as abuse, bullying or loss. In addition, depression often comes about as a clear reaction to a major event in their lives, such as a relationship break down, loss of job, or the loss of a loved one.
CBT for Depression
Cognitive or cognitive-behavioural therapy has been shown to be at least as effective as anti-depressant medications, but to be better than medication in the prevention of relapse and recurrence of illness. Some of the common aims in CBT for depression are:
- In depression people stop doing many activities that used to give them a sense of pleasure and meaning. CBT aims to slowly restart these as a way of bringing pleasure back in to the sufferers life.
- Where sufferers avoid social contacts, CBT will also aim slowly to build this up again. Socialising can be very difficult for those with depression because of difficulties concentrating on what is being said and the symptoms of anxiety that often go hand-in-hand with depression.
- The sufferer learns to fight the negative styles of thinking which in so many cases makes their mood even lower.
- Learning to spot the early warning symptoms of depression is important if another episode in the future is to be prevented.
