Depression: Signs, Symptoms, Causes, Effects and Cure

Let’s try to understand what exactly the Depression: Signs, Symptoms, Causes, Effects and finally, how to cure it?

Depression- A deadly disease

Most of us often tend not to take depression seriously. We often brush it off as a cry for attention. However, the truth is that it’s a much bigger problem which many of our loved ones face today.  

This problem has become so rampant that even many of the renowned personalities of and past have suffered or are suffering from some form of depression in their lifetime.

From fairy tale writers Hans Christian Anderson to Harry Potter, author J.K. Rowling, and many other famous artists such as Van Gogh and Degas, or even the eminent movie star of all time, have battled depression. 

There can be numerous reasons for it. But Excessive anxiety is one of the leading causes of Depression. 

We talk a lot about Depression. But we often tend to overlook it or the factors behind. Depression is rather scary. Any person showing tendencies of it should immediately be given the proper guided care and support. 

What is Anxiety?

Anxiety is the excessive/ strong amount of Fear, Panic, Apprehension or Worry. It interferes with our day-to-day life and activities. This would often end up causing other life-threatening or harmful diseases, such as Depression, Eating Disorders, and Suicidal Tendencies, to name a few.  

It is very important to understand the difference between an Anxiety Attack and a Panic Attack.

While an anxiety attack occurs due to a stressful event and can cause an extreme amount of fear and apprehension, and is usually short-lived, a panic attack can occur out of the blue, mainly without any obvious cause and can be unpredictable. A panic attack does not come in reaction to a stressor. 

Anxiety symptoms 

There are numerous symptoms of Anxiety. Some of the most common are Dizziness, High Palpitation Rate, Loss of Concentration, and Headache. Some other symptoms are Loss or Excess of Sleep, Rise or Fall in appetite, Loss of Energy, and Breathlessness.  

These are the most common symptoms. But depending upon the person experiencing an Anxiety Attack, there can be other symptoms as well.

Am I depressed?

So, how to know you have Depression? This can many times be quite a difficult task. But here are some pointers that can help you out. 

Taking a test or consulting a doctor would be the best solution to know if you’re depressed or not. 

But it is also vital to notice the changes you’ve undergone. There are a few very common signs of depression. These include Eating Disorder (Higher or Lower than usual appetite), Stomach Problems, Fatigue and Loss of Interest/ Concentration in everything.

Excessive consumption of Drugs, Alcohol or cigarettes, Hopelessness and Helplessness, Anger, and Sadness are some other signs of clinical depression.

Other well-known forms of Anxiety and Depression

The most common forms of diseases that fall under this category are Manic Depression and Social Anxiety. But it is very important to understand what these two are. 

Manic depression is also known as Bipolar Disorder. It consists of Extreme Fluctuation of Mood between Normal and Extreme Energetic states. 

People with this may have continuous sleeplessness for several days, and with Psychosis, Hallucinations and other forms of paranoia. 

Social anxiety is a chronic health condition where people experience apprehension or fear while interacting with others. 

This mainly happens due to extreme Self-Consciousness. It is with apprehension of being negatively judged and evaluated by others. This automatically results in avoidance of people, including close relatives and friends. 

Depression and anxiety at work

The occurrence of Depression and Anxiety in workplaces is a common scenario. It is seen in most of the offices today. 

Failure to meet deadlines, Overtime and Excessive workload are some of the factors causing depression and anxiety at work. 

The best way to deal with Stress and Anxiety at your workplace is by practising Time Management, Having Realistic Goals, Seeking Help when needed, communicating well with colleagues, Avoiding Toxic People around you, keeping a Positive and Healthy lifestyle, etc. 

These are some of the ways to help yourself cope with and deal with depression, stress and anxiety at your workplace. 

Can depression and anxiety kill you?

Of course, it cannot directly kill you. But it can certainly lead to other diseases like Cancer or Ebola, which can be life-threatening. Anxiety increases the chances of occurrence of these deadly diseases. It is one of the serious mental diseases that is left unnoticed or unattended by most of us. 

Dealing with depression is quite hard and leaves you in a helpless situation, and you an external help you needed for this. If it isn’t dealt out properly, it can cause the person to have suicidal tendencies, which is quite a serious problem. 

Depression can make people think that ending their life is the only way to end this misery.

Ways to Cure Depression

There are numerous ways you can deal with and cure this disease. In most of these methods to cure it, Self-Will and Effort are of prime importance.

Depression and Anxiety Exercises

These are some of the best ways to cure Depression.

1. Do the things you love the most. Dancing, Singing, cooking your favourite food, etc., are said to have helped people tackle Stress, Anxiety and Depression. 
2. Provide Time and Love to Self. We always tend to forget to take care of ourselves in between all these busy schedules. But it is very essential to provide yourself with some Love, Attention and Care.
3. Try hitting the gym. This may be one of the best ways to channelise your Depression and channelise it into something more productive. 
4. Gain more social relationships. This helps eliminate the feeling of being lonely. But remember to surround yourself with people with positive vibes. 
5. Keep yourself healthy. Instead of munching on the junkies, try taking a well-balanced meal to keep yourself in good shape.

Depression and Anxiety Therapy 

As discussed earlier, Anxiety and Depression are very much curable, provided you adopt the right process and seek the right help. 

There are numerous Depression and Anxiety therapies that you can take help from. There are Therapists, Psychologists and psychiatrists to help and guide you to overcome Depression and Anxiety. 

Depression and Anxiety Healing Therapist

A Depression and Anxiety Healing Therapist uses the route of Healing Therapies. Wherein the patient is made to sit and relax in a comfortable setting and is helped to vent out their feelings to the Therapist. 

In most of these Therapies, Therapists try to use the Power of the Subconscious Mind. They work on the philosophy that the answer to most of our problems is within us. 

They believe that these answers are stored in our Subconscious, which accounts for 90 percent of our Mind. So during the Therapy, they channelise these answers from our Subconscious to the Conscious Mind, so that we become aware of the problem and its solutions ourselves.

No medicines are given or recommended by a Healing Therapist. Since they believe that these medicines can have a lot of Harmful side effects. This belief comes from the fact that most of the medicines given to cure Depression and Anxiety are addictive in nature. 

Thus, let’s not prejudge or be prejudiced about this common mental issue. It is high time we provide them with regard, and let’s have a proper understanding of this and educate ourselves about depression and other mental disorders. 

We owe it to our family, friends and acquaintances to be a supportive and good listener and help them find a way out of the black hole.