Depression

By: Dr. Tonja H. Krautter ( Little_person View Profile)

Imagine going through your day with a sixty-pound weight on your back. It would make it much harder to get out of bed each morning, get dressed, go to work, and take care of chores around the house—not to mention, bathe, brush your teeth, cook a meal, exercise, and care for loved ones. Now imagine that in addition to having that sixty-pound weight on your back, you cannot concentrate, make decisions, or motivate yourself to even do things that you once found highly interesting and pleasurable. You feel sad most of the time, your eating and sleeping patterns have changed (eating and sleeping much more or much less), and you feel hopeless about your situation. In addition, you feel worthless about yourself and you may even begin to ruminate about death and dying.

These symptoms are typical for individuals who suffer from depression. Symptoms range from mild to severe and can be chronic or episodic. At times, severe symptoms may include psychotic features where the person experiences hallucinations and/or delusions while depressed. Major depression is very common. An estimated nineteen million American adults are affected annually. Women are twice as likely (6.5 percent) as men (3.3 percent) to suffer from this illness. The good news is that depression is treatable. A combination of medication and talk therapy has proven successful for millions of people in treating this problem. If you believe you are suffering from depression, you should talk to your doctor immediately. Research shows that when left untreated, depressed individuals will experience symptoms more frequently and with greater severity.

Unfortunately, Joanne, fell into this category. She began struggling with depression when she was in middle school. However, it was not until she took a psychology class during her fourth year of college that she realized she was clinically depressed. By this time, (over the course of a decade) she had already experienced over five major depressive episodes. Although she was happy to learn she could do something about it, she was frustrated that it had taken so long to discover she had a true problem.

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I have suffered with Depression off and on, most of my life. What I have found out for me, through my research, is when your healthy , meaning your digestion is on key. Which is a lot of wk.! Your hormones are balanced. Which stress, will alter your hormones. Life is great. There was a time, when I thought it was my childhood, or disappointments, in life, but today, for me, it really is all about health. I literally have spent most of my life trying to find the right combinations that work for me. ,I would highly recommend getting your digestion in order and hormones! Both will, without a doubt correct Depression. I can literally go from suicidal depression, put on my Bio Identicals and with in an hr. be normal. I am in the Alternative Industry, and have been for over 20 yrs. only because I have been searching for total recovery from the pits of Hell Depression causes. With all of the depleted , polluted, hormone filled foods, it's a miracle any of us are alive. I hope this helps

(me continued)first episode and just recently lost my second job. My employer at the second job; however, spoke with my husband after the fact and advised him that I was suffering from this illness and knowing this and the fact that I was dealing with an unruly supervisor within the company when I left, said that I was laid off, and I am now getting unemployment, trying to get better. I just wish it would happen soon. I'm sick of dealing with this each and every day and struggling to be "normal" around my family.

In 2007, my depression hit an all time low. Twice during the year, I suffered with this. I think back now to try to pinpoint an event or situation that brought each episode on, but can't. I believe that I've had this from the time I was 5, when my Grandfather started sexually abusing me. It was (and I think, still is) a way for me to escape reality and stresses that look like they are too much for me. Both times in '07, I didn't care about anything: wouldn't leave my bed, bathe, talk to anyone, take care of my kids (thank you God for my husband), didn't care what bills came in and needed to be paid, wouldn't eat, was up all night every night with my mind racing about absolutely nothing), etc. It was hell on Earth. The first episode lasted about 2 mths and I was finally pushed to seek treatment with medication, which then took another 2 wks to kick in. The second episode began in late fall of '07 and I am still currently trying to stabilize. I lost a wonderful job from the

Depression still is not recognized by many doctors as a serious disease. It can be life altering. Some people live (if you can call it that) with it through their entire lifetime without ever being diagnosed. Some children go through many traumatic events that leave the scars of sadness. Then as adults they continue to exist in a world where asking for help has a terrible stigma and they don't want others to know. Sixty pound weight? I think it can be classified as much more serious than that. Darkness, fear mixed with mistrust, anxiety, withdrawing from the outside world because they just don't feel like they fit in any where and over sensitivity to any kind of sad thoughts. I've known people who cry first and then think of a reason why they must be crying. Sometimes a list of reasons will keep them crying. It's blamed on hormones, tragedies and any other changes that can be seen in life. Death is a very real way out for those who don't get help. Thanks 4 writing on it.

Depression is a serious problem that is prevalent throughout the world. Sometimes it is a brief period of time that people are swept up and sometimes it is a lifetime. It is indeed a constant battle that I have faught my whole life. Being able to see the signs when you are sinking is the key. Suicide is NEVER an option. It is a problem that can be fixed. Suicides among teens is increasing and our country needs to demand awareness and prevention in our schools.

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