Definition of Depression:
“Feeling Sad and knowing the feeling isn’t entirely rooted in reality.” My personal definition of depression.
Depression is very common and can strike anyone at any time. In fact, up to 10% of the population are suffering from depression at any given moment. It can be difficult to see how to be happy when you have the symptoms of depression, and we often ask questions like ‘Am I depressed?’ and ‘will positive thinking help’?
So what is the definition of depression?
Dictionary.com defines it as: “a condition of general emotional dejection and withdrawal; sadness greater and more prolonged than that warranted by any objective reason.”
It is important to remember: depression is not a sign of weakness. Everyone’s definition of depression can vary, and it really depends on how you feel and what help you think you need to come out of it.
Although family and friends think they are being helpful and assertive, expecting you to ‘snap out of it’ is not helpful. Unfortunately, there are no definitive outward symptoms of depression but there are a number of consistent indicators that may indicate a problem more serious than simply feeling ‘a bit down’.
Signs Of Depression:
- Losing interest in normal activities, hobbies and everyday life.
- Feeling tired all of the time and having no energy.
- Losing interest in sex.
- Difficulty sleeping.
- Difficulty waking combined with feeling as if you can’t face the world.
- Extremes of appetite – either no interest in food or comfort eating.
- Feeling irritable, restless, tense and anxious.
- Finding it difficult to concentrate and harder than usual to make decisions.
- Feeling useless and inadequate.
- Feeling anti-social and uncommunicative.
- Losing self-confidence.
- Feeling hopeless.
It is often impossible to identify a specific cause of depression, which can be distressing for those who need to understand their situation before they can contemplate ’fixing’ it. However, if you or someone you know is showing the signs of depression, a number of factors can contribute:
- Genetics (a parent or grandparent who suffered).
- Stress or anxiety (the end of a relationship or a job loss).
- Traumatic events.
- Early life experience.
- Poor diet and lifestyle.
- Physical illness.
So you’d like to know how to cope with depression? Talking to somebody about your problems can help greatly as it is far better to talk about your problem than bottle it up. Cognitive therapies are, as a rule, effective treatments for mild depression and NLP and Hypnosis can help to you beat the symptoms and regain control of your life. Asking how to beat depression is a bigger question. With the right help and positive thinking it’s possible in almost every case to create a definition of depression, isolate what’s causing it and find a positive resolution.