Depression The Serial Killer- Causes, Symptoms And Treatment

It can be dubbed the Silent Killer mostly because it hides in the shadows of our mind, undetectable, highly resilient to our thought process and if left untreated could induce serious damage.

Our life nowadays are highly fast paced. Fierce Competition, no room for error or misjudgment, high expectations both in business as well as personal life. The above factors can be justified as Ambition and to a certain level is needed to be successful. However, it also promotes or paves way for Depression.

Depression is a psychological illness which affects the mind, its thinking process and causes the affected person to remain in a state of grief and despair for a long period of time. Symptoms of depression are.

1. Always in a mood of Helplessness, Unworthiness and Despair throughout the day.

2. Lack of energy and uninterested in ones hobbies, personal relationship as well as sex life.

3. Feels guilty of oneself which results in low self esteem, low self confidence.

4. Strong display of emotions such as anger, resentment towards others and easily irritated.

5. Maintains a sedentary life shunning social events and get together.

6. Contemplating Suicide tendency through thought or action.

7. Self satisfaction by Inflecting injuries to oneself.

8. Loss of sleep or over sleeping.

Major Depression

In this form of depression, the patient has a highly pessimistic outlook towards life( the glass is always half empty). Emotions such as anger is displayed constantly through verbal or destructive action. Feels very low self esteem and strongly believes life would always remain cruel to oneself.

Dysthymia

A reduces version in which the person is not affected in his discharge of daily duties. He/She is not aware of the disease itself. However Self satisfaction is not obtained from ones life sometimes even leading to fear of certain occasions.

Phsychotic Depression

Characterized by hallucination, hearing voices, sound and visuals which do not exist. The affected person is unable to distinguish between reality and dream state. The hallucination is usually negative in nature.

Bipolar Disorder

Also known as manic depressive disorder. The person in question goes from being very happy, energetic to completely sad and desperate ( all classical signs of depression) in a short period of time. During the energetic stage person shows trace of rapid speech. low attention to detail or focus, feels destined to grandiose schemes, easily distracted, high sex drive and performing tasks uncommon to them.

The good news is Depression is curable like any other disease. The participation of the affected person is very important. If that is guranteed, the rest is a piece of cake.

The ways to fight Depression

1. We as humans tend to dwell a lot in the past and future. This in my experience brings to us nothing useful, but despair and guilt. Mindful awareness is the key. It tells us to focus on the present situation. Because we have the power to change our present moment. This in turn becomes our past and shapes our future.

2. Do things which are under our control. No need to fret over uncontrollable situation Eg. How will the meeting go tomorrow , will I pass the test. The future will happen no matter what you think. Prepare for it and leave the rest to God.

3. Engage in an activity you are interested in. This takes the burden off your mind, and changes your focus to a more productive task.

4. If you are an introvert, I would advise you to read a lot. Reading brings Maturity, Knowledge and positive outlook towards the world. Motivational articles are a must.

5. No need to listen to others opinion about you. They are just well, opinions and need not reflect you. Hitler was never promoted in the army because seniors believed he lacked leadership quality. Jeffery Archer's claim to be a Best Seller writer was laughed upon by everyone before he published Cain and Abel. The book broke all records. Colonel Sanders had a tough time marketing his recipe and was initially rejected. Now you have KFC outlets all over the world and is still growing. Disney broke out in almost all his business ventures before he came up with the idea of Mickey.

6. It is never too late to reclaim your life. Many were late bloomers in the field of art, science and engineering. Famous painter Grandma Moses started painting at the age of 70, Stan Lee was 43 when he created Spider Man, Famous Chef Julia Child did not learn to cook till the age of 40,and released her masterpiece book when she was nearly 50.

7. Everything in life is bound to change. No need to worry that you will be in the same job throughout life. Promotions appear and so does career change. Same applies to your life.

8. Laugh uses less muscles than a frown. Rent a comedy movie and take a break from life. It provides huge dividends.

9. Note down your thoughts and react to only one that makes sense. Plan your daily life, what you want to accomplish today,and set priority for various tasks. This brings back control of our life and a feeling of accomplishment.

10. Consult a doctor and state your problem. There are various anti depressant drugs available which can work wonders.