Depression – Its Nature, Types, Causes, Related Ailments And Vulnerable Groups

by

Depression – Its Nature, Types, Causes, Related Ailments And Vulnerable Groups

Some say that depression to mental health roughly equates the common cold to the physical body.

So, it’s really pretty normal to feel down from time to time. But there are different degrees of depression.


Degrees and Types of Depression

It is estimated that about 2 to 4 percent of the population suffer from major depression or major depressive disorder. This form of depression is severe enough to affect one’s everyday “normal” life. It is crippling to a certain extent, and a person is unable to function as he or she normally does. He or she feels disconnected from everyone and everything and experiences a deep sense of loneliness.

Another 2 to 4 percent of the population is estimated to suffer from a milder form of depression – sometimes referred to as dysthymic disorder or dysthymia. Such a depressive condition is usually enough to lower one’s happiness levels, affect one’s confidence, and often hangs like a chronic dark cloud over one’s head.

Then there are those in the population who are hit by brief episodes of depression, in response to life circumstances which may have a depressive effect. The official terms for such situations could be adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood or adjustment disorder with depressed mood.

Yet more members of the population suffer from recurrent but brief episodes of depression, with no obvious causes and possibly last less than two weeks each time.

Bipolar disorder is a condition characterized by recurrent bouts of major depression and its direct opposite, mania, whereby one could be beset by hyperactivity, euphoria, recklessness, irritability and impulsiveness – hence the term “bipolar”. Bipolar disorder, also referred to as manic depression, has two types – Type 1 and Type 2, the details of which will not be delved into here.


Potential Causes of Depression

Sometimes, the onset of depression or depressive states are connected to specific situations or periods in life – premenstrual, postpartum or postnatal, menopause or peri-menopause, seasonal affective disorders such as summer mania or winter depression.

And there could be physical causes such as hypothyroidism or chemical intoxication at play, too, although physical ailments are often contributing factors rather than direct causes of depression, per se.


Related Conditions and Issues

It is also highly frequent that a person who is feeling depressive also concurrently suffers from anther physical or mental ailment, be it a chronic and debilitating bout of arthritis, some sort of anxiety disorder, or even a problem with substance abuse. Often, the conditions feed one another and result in a mutually aggravating vicious cycle. It is rare to find depression as a standalone condition.


At-Risk Groups of Persons

Among adults, the age-groups most vulnerable to depression are the young, the middle-aged, as well as those who are very old. The chances of a woman being hit by clinical depression in her lifetime is about 20 to 25 percent, while men experience a much lower probability of 8 to 12 percent.


Main Resource

Baumel, Syd. Dealing With Depression Naturally. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2000. Print.

Follow this site

Where To Buy
Quality Dietary Supplements, Herbs, Natural Remedies
and Other Natural Products at Affordable Prices

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>