I'm unhappy…
I'm so tired…
I don't feel like doing anything…
I don't even care about my loved ones…
I have no expectations from life…
I can't lift my arms…
I wake up in the morning feeling like I've been beaten…
I don't feel anything…
There is a high probability that someone who says is depressed. Depression, literally meaning depression; It means that the individual is experiencing psychological depression, that is, showing symptoms such as sadness, grief, unhappiness, pessimism, reluctance and stagnation.
Sometimes the word depression is used to describe the feeling of sadness or loss. These feelings can occur in every person from time to time, and in most of them they pass in a few hours or a few days. During such times, people can also carry out their normal activities. The clinical disorder defined as depression is different from the feeling of sadness. Feelings of grief in depression are much more intense and long-lasting. Loss of interest in previously enjoyed activities is common. Even carrying out daily tasks becomes extremely difficult. In important areas of life; It causes disruptions, especially in work, family and social life.
Depression is a mental disorder; it has nothing to do with a person's morality, intelligence or being a good or bad person. All or more of environmental, hereditary, biological, emotional, physiological and cognitive factors play a role in the emergence of depression. Experienced events, personality structure and accompanying changes in the brain together constitute the three main factors believed to cause depression. Many people attribute these changes in the brain to distressing events, negative thinking, alcohol, various drugs and some physical activity, etc. Situations such as this may trigger. In general, its lifetime prevalence is reported to be 10-25% in women and 5-12% in men.
We all have some challenging events, losses and problems in our lives. Sometimes our ability to cope with these problems is sufficient, and sometimes depression may occur after long-term and consecutive challenging life events. Depression is much more intense and long-lasting than sadness. The person has a negative perception and interpretation of himself, his environment and his future. A person can do something he enjoyed before, He no longer enjoys activities that make him happy and has lost interest in them. It manifests itself in the person not caring about anything and not even wanting to see the most valuable people in their life. It becomes extremely difficult for the person to carry out even simple activities such as washing, dressing, and housework. Depression causes disruptions in important areas of life, including work, family and social life. It may gradually become so bad that the person may despair about the future and think that death is the only solution. For this reason, it is a dangerous disease.
When diagnosing depression, the symptoms are severe, long-lasting or frequent.
In addition to the symptoms we have mentioned, other important symptoms of depression are:
• Getting tired easily, decreased energy
• Loss of interest, lack of pleasure
• Stagnation, speaking less, pessimism
• Decrease in self-confidence, indecisiveness
• Regret, feelings of guilt
• Attention and concentration problems
• Irritability, restlessness
• Sleep problems (oversleeping or insomnia)
• Nutritional changes
• Physical complaints
• Decrease in sexual desire p>
To diagnose depression; At least five of these symptoms must be experienced almost every day for 2 weeks. The most important determining factor; It is the person's inability to continue his normal life, that is, long-term loss of function.
So what can a depressed person do?
What I am about to tell you is information that patients with mild depression can apply more easily. Some of our patients say, “I just want to sleep. I don't want to get out of bed. "I don't care about the world." By saying this, they move away from the activities they used to enjoy and become detached from life. First of all, inactivity should be avoided. No depressed patient can rest lying down. Being in bed all the time only increases depression. Thus, the person should move away from unhealthy behaviors that make him unhappy and start to include healthy ones in his life. It would be best to prepare an activity diary for him and choose activities, people and environments that make him happy and feel good. As the saying goes, "Stay away from people who make you unhappy", it's exactly like that.
Thus;
• He begins to see that there is no general helplessness spread throughout life.
• He realizes that he is not in a permanent and continuous despair, but a temporary one.< br /> • He begins to see that it is not a bad situation that only happens to him, but a general situation that can happen to anyone.
Treatment Methods for Depression
Depression treatment is different. It can be applied in different ways. The most commonly used methods are medication and psychotherapy. The most commonly used therapy method in the treatment of depression worldwide is Cognitive Behavioral Psychotherapy (CBT).
As with any disease, there is a possibility of recurrence after depression treatment. However, this varies from person to person. Psychotherapy is always useful, but it may not be enough on its own for some types of depression. As a result of drug treatment, the recurrence rate can reach 80%. The recurrence rate in depressed patients receiving CBT was found to be 25%. In both Cognitive Behavioral Psychotherapy and drug treatments, approximately 60-70% of patients respond to the first treatment given. This rate reaches 90% with the addition of other methods in patients who do not respond to treatment. In mild and moderate depression, Cognitive Behavioral Psychotherapy, applied by competent people, provides success close to the effect of medication. However, when therapy is used alone, it is necessary to meet with the therapist two or three times a week in the first weeks. It is very important that this process is not interrupted and occurs regularly.
***In order for drug treatment to be as effective as Cognitive Behavioral Psychotherapy, it must be used for life.
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