Depression - What Is It?

• Depression is common. At times, we all feel depressed to a lesser or greater extent.  It’s a mental health issue for all of us, but we’re not weird or crazy if we’re depressed.
• Depression is individual to everyone—each person’s depression is caused by a number of biopsychosocial (biological, psychological and social) factors in a person’s life.
• Depression is a continuum, from mild to severe.  Clinical (severe) depression is not a separate disease and is not cured like a physical disease.
• Although triggering adverse events may be "physical", the condition itself is biopsychosocial, that is, specific to each individual person.
• Symptoms include the following:
  • Feelings of worthlessness,
  • Inability to be creative,
  • Sad mood or lack of pleasure most of the day every day,
  • Fatigue nearly every day,
  • Excessive weight loss or gain,
  • Excessive sleepiness or insomnia.
• Depression is self-limiting and can be devastating.  In many cases, it will go away by itself eventually, but causes great pain and harm and is a very real condition.  Depression can return, if thought and behavior patterns are not changed.
• Each individual can take control and master depressive episodes by learning coping skills and modifying unrealistic thought patterns.
• Depressed individuals feel they are not in control of their emotions and their lives.  At best, drug treatment, even if it were effective, masks the causes, and at worst, increases or adds to the depression.  Far from taking control of his/her own life, the depressed individual now gives up control of his/her “cure” to the medication.
• Most depressed individuals want to be able to control their own lives, feel good about themselves, create and accomplish.  Being able to control their own mental health is empowering.  They do not want to be dependent on a pill—especially ones with little proven effectiveness and severe side effects.  This causes a problem for the drug companies because many people stop taking their pills; because of this the drug companies have instituted antidepressant "retention" programs to keep patients on these drugs.
• Many depressed people in our society have been convinced by propaganda that there is a magic pill, somewhere, that will make it all better.  They think, since their doctors change the antidepressant, vary the doses, or add other medications, that the doctors know what they’re doing.  Not only do the depressed not find that panacea, they don’t find the solution to the causes of their depression.  In fact, they’re not even on the right track since changed thoughts and behavior is the solution.