Have you ever felt down or low?
This is a common human experience that we all may go through from time to time.
But if you are experiencing chronic feelings of sadness, with concurrent loss of pleasure in activities, sleep issues, eating disturbances, thoughts of death, tiredness, slow thinking, or feelings of guilt, you may have a depressive disorder.
You’re not alone. Around 280 million people experience depression in any given year, which is approximately 3.8% of the worldwide population.
If you experience depression, you can experience one of the 11 different types of depression listed below.
Each of them differs in the symptoms they display, their exact duration, and their causes.
If you are experiencing the symptoms of depression, you can see a Canadian depression therapist for support.
How Does Sadness Differ from Depression?
Sadness, also known as “feeling blue” or “feeling low,” is a transient emotion or feeling that we all experience as humans.
It occurs as a result of loss, disappointment, or other difficult situations.
In the case of sadness, these feelings go away after a short period, it doesn’t impact your day-to-day life, and you can function as you usually do.
What Is Depression?
Depression, also known as clinical depression or major depressive disorder, is a mental illness that occurs when these feelings of sadness occur consistently and the person is unable to cope with daily activities.
These feelings can come out of the blue or have a negative event that triggers them.
It affects your mood, thoughts, and the way you understand and relate to yourself and others.
Along with chronic feelings of sadness, you may also experience thoughts of suicide, feelings of worthlessness, and sleep and eating issues.
Most people also lose interest in the things that they once enjoyed, among other symptoms.
To be diagnosed with clinical depression, you need to have been showing symptoms of depression for at least 2 weeks and it needs to have a marked impact on your functioning.
These symptoms don’t usually go away on there own and require support.
This support can come in the form of individual therapy, family therapy, or couples therapy, depending on your needs.
What is the Prevalence of Depression?
Depression is one of the most common mental health disorders. As previously mentioned, about 3.8% of the population worldwide has depression.
The prevalence will vary depending on your country of origin.
Statistics Canada's 2012 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) on mental health suggests that the following are true regarding depression in Canada:
5.4% of the Canadian population aged 15 and older has experienced depression in the last year.
12.6% of Canadian adults met the criteria for depression during their lifetime.
This means that about 2.2 million adult Canadians are diagnosed with depression in a given year.
Studies have also consistently documented that females are more likely to be diagnosed with depression than males. The ratio of female-to-male depression is roughly 2:1.
But just because women are more likely to be diagnosed doesn’t necessarily mean they experience depression more than men.
There could be a variety of other explanations for this, including the fact that males may be more likely to hide depressive symptoms as opposed to females.
What Does Depression Feel Like?
The symptoms you will experience if you have depression will differ from person to person based on the type of depression.
When most people refer to depression, they are referring to major depressive disorder, so we will focus on what this feels like here.
The main symptoms of depression are a loss of pleasure in activities you once felt pleasurable or chronic feelings of sadness.
Other common symptoms for those experiencing major depressive disorders include:
Weight loss or weight gain
Sleeping too much or too little
Fatigue or loss of energy
Slowed movements or speaking too slowly so that people can’t understand you
Feelings of worthlessness or excessive guilt
Concentration issues or trouble with thinking and decision-making
Thoughts of death or that you would be better off dead
What symptoms you experience and the severity of the symptoms will vary from person to person.
But to be diagnosed with depression, you need to have experienced 5 of the 9 symptoms above and one of them needs to be a loss of pleasure in everyday activities or low mood.
These symptoms also need to create a marked impairment in your everyday functioning.
Types of Depression
There are eleven different types of depression we will be discussing today, which include:
Major depressive disorder
Persistent depressive disorder
Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder (DMDD)
Bipolar disorder
Seasonal affective disorder
Psychotic depression
Prenatal depression
Postpartum depression
Premenstrual dysphoric disorder
Situational depression
Atypical depression
All of these differ in the symptoms that are predominantly displayed by a person with the condition and the causes of them.
Major Depressive Disorder
This is the main type of depression that is most common. It is often referred to by doctors as clinical depression.
This type of depression occurs when you feel depressed for at least two weeks, and these depressive symptoms interfere with your everyday life.
Along with these depressive symptoms, you experience some symptoms listed under “What Does Depression Feel Like?” in this blog.
Persistent Depressive Disorder
This is a form of depression that combines two disorders that were referred to as dysthymia and chronic major depression.
When depression occurs for two or more years, it is referred to as persistent depressive disorder, or PDD.
Along with your low mood, you may experience:
Changes in your appetite
Sleep issues
Lack of energy or fatigue
Low self-esteem
Trouble making decisions
Feeling hopeless
Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
This is a form of depression diagnosed in children aged 6 to 18. Children with this form of depression have frequent bouts of anger and irritability.
These DMDD symptoms interfere with the child’s day-to-day life, and the child must experience these symptoms for at least 12 months to be diagnosed.
If these symptoms are disrupting your teens lives, therapy for teens may be able to provide support.
Bipolar Disorder
Also referred to as manic depression, bipolar disorder involves a mix of periods of extreme lows and periods of extreme highs.
The low phases are known as depressive episodes. The higher phases are termed manic episodes.
Manic episodes typically consist of feelings of extreme elation.
Seasonal Affective Disorder
Also known as SAD, seasonal affective disorder is a form of depression that occurs based on the seasons.
Typically, a person with SAD will experience depressive episodes during one season, and their depressive symptoms will go away during other seasons.
Most people experience SAD during the winter months when we go without sun, but it can also occur during the summer for some people.
Psychotic Depression
This is a unique form of depression where individuals experience the symptoms of depression along with “psychotic” symptoms.
These psychotic symptoms can include:
Hallucinations or seeing things that aren’t there
Delusions or false beliefs
Paranoia, often consisting of fears that others are out to get them
Prenatal and Postpartum Depression
These forms of depression are related to pregnancy or childbirth.
Prenatal depression occurs during pregnancy, while postpartum depression occurs after the birth of your child.
Hormones are related to the onset of prenatal depression. Risks for developing this form of depression include dealing with stressful life events, having other mental health issues, or having an unsupportive partner.
During the weeks and months following the birth of your child, postpartum depression may occur.
This is more than the typical baby blues that occur after the birth of your child.
If these feelings of sadness, anxiety, or hopelessness lasts for longer than two weeks, it could be postpartum depression.
Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD)
When menstruators experience feelings of depression during the week or two leading up to their period, this may be PMDD.
These symptoms produce a marked impairment in your daily life, and you will usually start to feel better a few days after the start of your period.
Situational Depression
When you experience a loss or disappointing situation and feelings of sadness follow, this could be situational depression.
It may also be known as a stress response syndrome, and your feelings will typically reduce over time as your ability to cope with the negative situation improves.
Atypical Depression
This is just another name for a situation where a person has symptoms of depression, but they don’t fit any other category of depressive disorder.
The person experiences depressive symptoms that usually improve when a positive situation occurs.
Resources for Depression
There is no one universal treatment method for depression, and treatment will vary based on your needs. Therapy can take place virtually or in person.
Self-Care Strategies
There are a variety of ways in which you can take care of yourself and improve your symptoms of depression.
Some of these methods include:
Regular exercise
Listening to music
Eating balanced meals
Reaching out to your support network
Doing activities you enjoy
And more
Check out these 160 coping strategies for mental health to learn more ways to cope.
A Supportive Circle
If you or a loved one are experiencing suicidal thoughts or any of the above depressive symptoms, having a supportive circle may be helpful.
Your supportive circle can follow some of these suicide prevention tips to support you in getting help for your depressive disorder.
They can also support you with safety planning to plan for how you can keep safe in moments of crisis. You may also wish to reach out to a depression therapist for support in creating this plan together.
A Depression Therapist
Bee Kind Counselling has a Canadian depression therapist who will support you with your depressive symptoms using a variety of therapy modalities.
These include dialectical behavioral therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, solution-focused brief therapy, mindfulness, and positive psychology.
Regardless of the therapy modality used, the purpose of depression therapy is to provide you with a safe space to discover ways to manage your depressive symptoms.
The therapist may also support you in managing symptoms of other frequently concurrent conditions, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or anxiety.
Book a Free Consultation with Bee Kind Counselling
Are you reading this blog and thinking that you may be experiencing symptoms of depression?
If you want to start your journey in therapy and you feel like Bee Kind Counselling may be a potential fit for you, you can book a free 15-minute consultation with a Canadian depression therapist.
Email admin@beekindcounselling.com, call 519-757-7842 ext. 1, or book through the website.
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