Depression is an often-misunderstood mental health condition. There are plenty of misconceptions about how depression manifests, who it can affect, and what kind of impact it can have on people suffering from it.
Fact: Clinical depression is more than just a period of feeling low; it’s a disease of the brain. Experts believe that certain brain chemicals go out of balance when we’re depressed.
However, that doesn’t mean that’s the only cause of depression. Depression can be caused by a lot of factors, such as genetics, stressful life events, trauma, illness, or imbalances caused by certain medications.
Fact: Depression, like grief or any other illness, has stages. These don’t always occur in a particular order and could also be referred to as the phases of depression. These phases include:
These can fluctuate and change over time as circumstances change and as you try to get help and seek treatment. These changes in your depression don’t necessarily mean your depression is going away. However, it also doesn’t necessarily mean what you’re doing to treat and manage your depression isn’t working. Change is inevitable in depression, just like everything else.
Fact: Depression can be disabling – literally. You might be wondering, is depression a disability? The Americans with Disabilities Act categorizes depression as a psychiatric disability. It’s a significant mood disorder that’s well-known for interfering with daily activities, sometimes including your ability to work and support yourself.
Not everyone with depression qualifies for disability benefits, but viewing it as a legitimate health condition can help you understand it and manage it accordingly.
Fact: Treating depression has stages, just like depression itself:
Fact: Sometimes depression is situational and goes away with time and proper treatment (like if you’re in a non-traumatic, stressful stage of life). But sometimes, it’s a lifelong condition. It depends on the person.
For many, there is no cure for depression, but it can become manageable with time and effort. The key is learning to manage your depression so the natural highs and lows don’t take over your life.
Fact: For some people, medication is enough to make their depression manageable. But for a lot of people, the best solution involves a combination of techniques. This often includes non-medical interventions like cultivating and relying on a support system, developing self-awareness and self-knowledge, and finding things that bring them joy. It also often involves therapy to help them notice and address thought patterns and behaviors that can make their depression worse.
Fact: Anxiety disorders and depression can cause similar symptoms, like irritability and nervousness. Both can cause issues with sleeping, eating, and other daily activities. And both can interfere with daily life in a lot of ways.
But they’re two different conditions. Some people have both, which can contribute to the myth that they’re the same thing. But it is possible to have one without the other, and the treatments for anxiety and depression do tend to be different.
Fact: Anyone at any age can develop depression. Depression often appears during adulthood, but millions of children and adolescents suffer from it, too. In 2017, more than three million US adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 had a major depressive episode. Depression symptoms in children and teens should never be ignored.
Fact: Depression, like any disorder or disease, needs proper treatment to reduce harm and avoid complications. Ignoring your depression symptoms won’t help you. In fact, it can make your condition worse.
If left untreated, depression can lead to serious health complications – both physical and mental. This can include sleeping problems, eating disorders, poor nutrition, chronic stress, and suicidal thoughts or actions.
Reaching out to a qualified mental health care professional sooner than later will help you get back to feeling like yourself and will prevent your depression from getting worse in the meantime.
Depression, like many mental health disorders, is often misunderstood. But by understanding the many myths and facts of depression, you can handle your symptoms (or the symptoms of a loved one) with more confidence and grace.