Depression

WHAT IS DEPRESSION?

Depression, also referred to as Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), is a mental health condition that affects a person’s actions, feelings, and thoughts. It impacts approximately 7% of the U.S. population age 18 and older in a given year, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Additionally, nearly 2 million children in the United States have been diagnosed with depression. The symptoms of depression are very difficult to handle and often interfere with one’s ability to perform everyday activities and fully enjoy one’s life. Common depression symptoms include:

  • Aggression
  • Anxiety
  • Irritability
  • Feelings of sadness and/or hopelessness
  • Loss of interest in work, school, and/or other everyday activities
  • Difficulty concentrating
  • Insomnia
  • Restlessness
  • Fatigue
  • Headache
  • Digestive problems
  • Suicidal thoughts

People often think of depression as an adult problem, not something that affects children, but children, especially adolescents may commonly suffer from depression. The condition interferes with their ability to perform well in school and develop and maintain relationships, and can have lasting repercussions, especially if it goes unnoticed. What’s more, in children and adolescents, depression is often accompanied by behavioral problems, substance abuse, and/or other mental disorders. Unfortunately, in children and adolescents, depression can manifest differently than it does in adults, so parents are not always able to recognize the problem.    

There are many factors which can cause a person to struggle with depression, including:

There is a series of questions to analyze a patient’s activity level, sleep pattern, and thoughts; and since depression is sometimes linked to physical health issues, a physical exam and blood tests are part of a depression evaluation. At Prestige Mental Health, obtaining objective and subjective data will enable the clinician and patient to work together to find the appropriate treatment for their depression, providing them with depression relief, and an opportunity to improve their life.

THERAPIES FOR DEPRESSION TREATMENT

Common depression treatments include: