Female Depression
April 10, 2009 by Geraldine
Filed under Depression Symptoms
If you make a comparisson with men it seems that women are found to be rather more prone to depression. Why this should be is difficult to know but it seems likely that the different appraoch a wife and mother has to life makes her worry more and the social pressures on a woman undergoes throughout her lifetime just build up stress. The better you understand the causes and symptoms of female pattern of depression the better you will be able to take precautions against this health condition.
Depression is a state of mind and it can often be cured completely using medicines together with counseling. If you can identify the issues own up to it’s existance and then get the right treatment at the right time it can often be overcome. Hiding the condition from yourself and others by withdrawing from the company of others may allow it to develop to more serious problems in future. Understanding the causes and symptoms of female depression is reassuring because you can then deal with it with the assistance of your qualified doctor.
Many of us believe depression is something to feel guilty about and is best kept secret. This is just plain wrong. If you allow it to continue without making others aware of the state of your mind it will just grow and start affecting every other aspect of your life. If you feel tired, you are less interested in the normal activities of life and just feel down and unhappy for a long time, you really should consult a doctor to check for the possibility of being affected by depression. It will be helpful to have an idea about the common symptoms of female depression and give yourself a self assessment of your mental health but that is no substitute for seeing your doctor and discussing how you feel and asking for advice.
A woman who is affected by depression will often show most of the symptoms of major depression. Symptoms such as feelings of guilt, hopelessness, lack of self respect, feelings of worthlessness are fairly common. There may also be sleep disorders, suicidal thoughts, loss of appetite, eating disorders, weight loss, problems in concentrating on anything at all and a general tiredness and lack of energy.
The signs and symptoms shown by both male and female depression patients mostly similar. However, when you compare women to men they tend to show certain symptoms of depression more frequently than the men do.
Women who are suffering from depression are often found to experience the symptoms of atypical depression. These might be eating more, sleeping more and gaining more weight. A woman who notices these symptoms in her daily life should consult a doctor to rule out the possibilities of depression and to discus a more healthy lifestyle.
Studies conducted in this area do suggest that women belonging to lower socio-economic status are more prone to depression than others. This may suggest that the more stress a women suffers, the greater the liklihood of her being affected by depression. Some additional risk factors that may help cause depression in women include problems in marriage, single parenthood and any past sexual and physical abuse.
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Signs And Symptoms Of Male Depression
March 4, 2009 by Geraldine
Filed under Depression Symptoms, Featured
Men affected by depression normally tend to hide the symptoms of depression fearing adverse social response. Most of the men who experience the symptoms of depression pretend to be normal to show others that he is fit and perfectly alright. This is more true when it comes to a middle aged person. A man who undergoes his menopause tends to be more irritable and less tolerant then other men suffering from depression. It makes the diagnosis of male depression more complicated than that of female depression.
The classical signs of depression may not be expressed by a male patient. He will try to mask all his problems by staying actively involved in work and by making a deliberate attempt to act normal around others and not showing the problems he experiences due to the health condition called depression. The most common signs of male depression include anger, irritability and risk taking. They may also show the symptoms of physical problems such as constant head ache and stomach problems.
The treatment that such a person gets for the pain he suffers will not be effective on him. If the doctor fails to identify the real problem, he may continue treating the patient using different medications. If a male do not respond to the normal treatments for the symptoms of physical ailments, the doctors should suspect the presence of depression in such patients.
Most of the men affected by depression tend to take unnecessary risk in their life by involving themselves in dangerous sports, compulsive gambling and risky driving to get away from the reality. Men affected by depression may also become short tempered and angry. He may get upset easily by criticisms and may react to such situations violently.
Men suffering from depression may also start feeling worthless. He may become restless and start developing a feeling of worthlessness. Most of the men who suffer from this health condition experience problems with sleeping and eating. While some tend to eat and sleep less, some others show an unhealthy craving for food and sleep.
Fatigue is a common symptom of depression experienced by both men and women. A depressed male may start developing a feeling that he is unable to perform the tasks he used to perform easily before he became depression patient.
A depressed man may tend to abuse drugs by using alcohol or other drugs to feel better. Lack of concentration in work and other day to day activities make most of the depressed men inactive and less interested in the normal activities of day to day life. If the problems get aggravated, he may start thinking of ending the life and start talking about suicide.
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Causes and Symptoms of depression
March 4, 2009 by Geraldine
Filed under Depression Symptoms
Depression is a common health condition that affects the day to day activities of a person. A patient affected by depression may start developing a feeling that he has no energy to do the things that he is supposed to do in his daily life. Some others may feel irritated without any apparent reason. The symptoms of depression vary from person to person. A person who feels dull and down for more than two weeks require special attention as it can be a symptom of depression.
The common symptoms of depression include constant feeling of sadness, lack of interest in the pleasure of day to day activities, loss of energy, change in the appetite, restlessness or slowing down, inability to concentrate, thoughts of suicide and feelings of worthlessness. A patient of depression may start to develop disinterest in sex. Most of the times these patients make it habit a to complain about physical problems such as back pains and head ache. They may become irritable without a valid cause at any point of time.
The symptoms of depression may vary in people according to the age group in which they belong. The symptoms shown by a 25 year old depression patient may not be the same of the symptoms expressed by a person in his seventies.
Like many other mental problems, depression can also be caused by biochemical, genes or environmental factors. Studies conducted in this field establish a direct relation between the changes in the brain and depression. Physical changes in the brain are found to be a cause that leads to this mental state. Neurotransmitters, the chemical that makes mood variation in a person also can cause depression in a person. One can also blame hormonal imbalance for creating this unexplainable mood variations in individuals.
Depression can be hereditary. A person with a family history of depression has a greater chance of being affected by these problems than others. The environment in which a person lives also has a role to play in developing the feeling of depression in individuals. The situations in the life, the surroundings, the people with whom the patients mingles every day etc are very important when it comes to depression. The environmental factors that lead a person to depression include loss of loved ones and financial troubles. Any person who is not bold enough to meet the challenging situations of life may fall into the hands of depression. It all depends on the courage and will power of the person.
Knowing Clinical Depression
March 4, 2009 by Geraldine
Filed under Depression Symptoms, Featured
The term clinical depression is also known as major depressive disorder and this is a health condition where the patient is less interested in his daily life than should be considered normal. Some other likely indications of this mental disorder include changeable, extreme moods and an almost complete loss of self respect. The person experiencing this condition might also lose interest in doing any activities that he previously seemed to find enjoyable and fun.
Major depression is a condition which will also affect normal life for the members of their family.