Feelings of sadness are normal. Everyone experiences a blue mood once in a while. But when feelings of sadness become your only feelings, and when a blue mood turns into a persistent black cloud, you may be suffering from depression.
Depression is a mental disorder. Depression can overwhelm your mind, your thoughts and your body. It affects your personality, your interaction with others, and your beliefs as well. When in depression it is just about impossible to feel hopeful about anything, including ever feeling happy again.
Normal feelings of sadness and that feeling of feeling “blue” and the feelings of depression are very similar. How to tell the difference? Basically it is about time and intensity. The emotions associated with depression will not only be more intense, they are also longer lasting. With depression there is often difficulty to function on a day to day basis.
The threshold for diagnosing depression in terms of time seems to be about two weeks. Being sad and withdrawn for a short period of time is a normal human reaction to significant negative events. However, if your personality and interaction with others fails to return to normal after about two weeks time, then you may have entered a major depressive episode. Depression can last for weeks, months or even years–without treatment.
How is depression treated? The good news is that depression is very treatable. Combining therapy with medication is usually quite effective. Investigating some of the newer “Energy Therapies” such as Emotional Freedom Techniques or Tapas Acupressure Technique can bring some impressive results and can be done in conjunction with traditional methods.
No one is immune to the effects of depression. It is not an indication of weakness or failure. If you suspect that you or someone you know may be suffering from depression, it’s important to get professional advice as soon as possible.
Katarina also writer about recreation and swimming pools. Read her articles about Above Ground Pool Liners and Pool Liner Repair on our site dedicated to the above ground pool owner.
