Everyone has had experiences of being sad sometimes in life. These are common feelings that are part of life. However, not everyone who is sad can be diagnosed with depression and need to receive counselling.
Depression is a serious mental illness. People with depression feel the sad and gloomy feeling much more intensely and for longer periods of time.
Here are a few Signs of Depression:
- Feeling downhearted or sad for over 2 weeks at one time
- Irregular sleep patterns or insomnia
- Poor appetite or overeating
- Continued feeling of hopelessness
- Being easily irritable and easily angered
- Increase in alcohol consumption
- Lack of enjoyment in things that you used to enjoy
- Not able be enthusiastic or looking forward to doing things
- Not being able to wind down or stop negative thoughts
- Not feeling like looking after yourself, like showering on a regular basis, and other types of personal hygiene (e.g. shaving, shaping your eyebrows, basically anything you used to do in the past)
- Doing things that you know can harm you or have long term negative consequences for your health and wellbeing
Treating depression
Psychiatrists and psychologist at Takes Care Specialist Centre can assist with treating depression and providing you the tools to manage your emotions.
Please call Takes Care Specialist Centre on 07 3870 9388 to make a booking or make further queries.
In addition to seeking medical assistance, there are also several possible options that can assist with managing your symptoms. A few of them are listed below.
5 tips to assist with living with depression
- Improving your eating habits : The link between diet and mental health has been shown by many researchers. In fact, many studies have shown that improving nutrition can be an effective tool in treatment of depression. You can research and learn about brain essential nutrients. However, before making any changes to your diet or take vitamin supplements, make sure to consult your GP first.
- Include physical activities in your daily routine : There are many studies that have shown regular daily exercise is effective in reducing symptoms of depression.
- Build a support network : Surrounding yourself by people that care about you, provides the much-needed emotional support and give you that extra protection against possible dealing with people, who may not be as supportive.
- Reduce your stress : When you are under stress, your adrenal glands produce stress related hormones like cortisol. The long-term effects of these hormones apart from their negatives influence on the physical body, they can also cause depression. The more you learn about techniques to reduce your stress, the more you will reduce the risk of being depressed.
- Improve your sleep hygiene : There are many studies that have shown sleep and mood are related, with a high percentage of people with a depressive order experiencing sleep disturbances. By improving your sleep hygiene, you could improve the quality and quantity of your sleep. Examples of activities that could improve sleep hygiene include engaging relaxing activities and avoiding coffee in the evenings, turning off electronics 1 hr before sleeping and avoiding working in bed.