Depression is an emotional disorder that is characterized by a very low mood for a long period of time and by the loss of interest to perform different activities in our day to day life.
This lack of activities is often frustrating and desperate for the person suffering from depression, who ends up blaming and beating himself, so it is often accompanied by high levels of anxiety.
In the most serious and worrying cases, people lose the will to live and self-harming thoughts appear.
Differences between depression and sadness
As in any other disorder, the more time passes, the more difficult it is to recover. However, there are times when it is complex to detect in ourselves if what we are feeling is simply sadness or if we are entering a depressive dynamic that can make us suffer a lot.
Sadness is completely normal and human, but like any other emotion, it does not remain persistent over time for weeks. On the contrary, if we notice that sadness makes us abandon rewarding activities, stop taking care of ourselves, miss work or lose contact with our loved ones, it is advisable to seek professional help. The clearest warning sign is the appearance of suicidal thoughts.
Are some people more prone to depression than others?
The educational models we have are undoubtedly a very important factor when it comes to relating to our emotions and thoughts. For example, if when we are small our attachment figures teach us (explicitly or implicitly) that when we are sad we should stop doing things and let others take care of us, it is easier for us to develop some type of depression when we grow up.
The number of variables throughout our life history that can lead to the onset of depression is enormous and very complex. However, there are some known short-term risk factors that help to develop depression:
- Occurrence of some chronic physical or mental illness.
- Suffering a disabling accident (breaking a leg, for example).
- Significant life changes (a major loss, a difficult relationship).
- High levels of stress.
- Medication.
- Low socioeconomic status.
- Sleep problems.
How can depression be treated?
People who come to psychologists often have a relatively long course of depression and have lost touch with many of the rewarding activities they used to do.
The first step is to establish precisely what those activities were and why they were rewarding, paying special attention to their personal values, i.e. those life goals that people value, regardless of how they feel emotionally.
Once we are clear about the steps we want to take, the ideal is to start little by little to carry them out. The patient can be helped with different tools, such as breathing techniques to better manage anxiety or exercises to take distance from unpleasant thoughts and emotions that may arise.
Once the depressive episode is overcome, a follow-up is carried out to consolidate what has been learned and avoid possible relapses in the future.
How to act when someone close to you has depression?
When a loved one has depression, it can be very painful and desperate. Seeing how their mood gradually worsens without being able to do anything about it generates a lot of frustration.
The most important thing is to be patient and not to judge, since no one falls into depression of their own free will or because they are “weak”. It is advisable to encourage the person to become active little by little, even if it means simply starting to carry out a basic self-care routine: getting out of bed, taking a shower, changing clothes or eating well.
Although we should avoid forcing the person, it is not good to fall into the role of “caretaker” and “caregiver”, as we will be reinforcing the idea that the person is incapable of doing things because of his or her sadness.
As we have just discussed, the emotional impact of having a loved one who is going through depression is very high, and supporting them adequately can be very complicated, so the ideal is to seek the help of a specialist.