Depression

Depression is a "whole-body" illness, involving your body, mood, and thoughts. It affects the way you eat and sleep, the way you feel about yourself, and the way you think about things. It is not the same as a passing blue mood. It is not a sign of personal weakness or a condition that can be willed or wished away. People with a depressive illness cannot merely "pull themselves together" and get better. Without treatment, symptoms can last for weeks, months, or years. Appropriate treatment, however, can help most people who suffer from depression.

Below are very common questions people ask themselves when they experience depression.

• What’s wrong with me?
• What’s causing me to feel this way?
• Am I a failure for feeling this way?
• Am I depressed because of a personal weakness?
• Do I have some kind of chemical imbalance?
• Is there something in my childhood or past that’s making me feel this way?
• How can I overcome this?
• Should I take medication?
• Do other people feel this way?
• Will I ever be able to feel ‘normal’?

Case Study

Jim finished graduate school several years ago, got married and moved across the country to start a new job. In many ways, Jim had reached what he’d been working for most of his life. It was a very exciting time with many possibilities. However, shortly after he moved, he began to notice a certain sadness creeping over him. He had always enjoyed the outdoors, music, and being with friends, but now these activities held little interest for him. After feeling this way for a couple of weeks, he had trouble sleeping and as a result had difficulty concentrating at work and at home. This led to feelings of guilt about not being more productive and a general feeling of hopelessness that things could ever improve.

Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder causes dramatic mood swings from overly "high" and/or irritable to sad and hopeless, and then back again, often with periods of normal mood in between. Severe changes in energy and behavior go along with these changes in mood. The periods of highs and lows are called episodes of mania and depression.

Treatment

The goal of cognitive behavior therapy is to help the patient effect a change in their state of mind by teaching them how to look at life from a positive perspective and how to reward themselves for experiencing pleasure and accomplishment. Cognitive behavior therapy helps depressed people gain new insight, feel better, and improve their mood.