Your teenager is quieter than usual, maybe quicker to snap at you or his sister. Your friend has lost her job and is finding it increasingly hard to get up in the morning. Lately even you have been feeling a sort of persistent sadness; everything seems gray and a little bit pointless–your job, your relationship with your spouse, the gardening you once enjoyed. What’s going on?
Everyone goes through periods of sadness or melancholy from time to time. It’s like coming down with a cold or the flu – the body sometimes needs to slow down a little and process various toxins it has accumulated. The same is true of the mind and emotions. Our mental health ebbs and flows, and this is normal and probably necessary for our overall health.
When Sadness is Not Normal
The problem arises when the cold or flu turns into long-term illness, or when the sadness turns into long-term listlessness that interferes with our ability to maintain our normal routine. Persistent feelings of sadness that last at least two weeks, along with other symptoms like fatigue, changes in appetite, or loss of interest in hobbies/activities, may be diagnosed as major depressive disorder, or clinical depression.
About 7% of adults and 4.4% of children in the U.S. suffer from depression in a given year, although numbers are likely higher since many people don’t seek treatment for depression. Women or people assigned female at birth are more prone to depression than men or people assigned male at birth, and certain health conditions like multiple sclerosis or chronic pain can make people more likely to develop depression.
How do you know if you or a loved one’s sadness or moodiness is a sign of depression? You can find depression self-assessments online, like this one from Mental Health America. But generally, if the sadness persists, seek a consultation with a therapist or doctor. You don’t have to suffer.
We should note that if you or a loved one begins to express any suicidal thoughts or ideas, seek help immediately. Signs of suicidal ideation include talking about wanting to die or about how much of a burden you are on others, as well as expressing intense feelings of guilt or shame. Risky behaviors, extreme mood swings, or withdrawal from friends and family can also be signs that a person is detaching from life.
There’s More Than One Kind of Depression
While major depressive disorder can become quite obvious to an observer, other types of depression are subtler. Maybe you’ve been reading this blog and deciding that even though you’ve been sad or had low energy and motivation for a long time, you must not be depressed–after all, you can still manage your responsibilities and at least pretend to be happy when around other people. Maybe you feel discouraged to think that you’re not “depressed enough” to get help. You’d love to feel better, you can’t seem to get there on your own, but you also don’t seem to have a serious enough problem to warrant compassionate care and treatment.
Even though you may not have clinical depression, you may be struggling with another type of depression. For example, persistent depressive disorder has milder symptoms than major depressive disorder but is long-term, lasting two years or more. Or, you may suffer from atypical depression, in which sometimes your mood seems to bounce back in response to positive events, but you find that you sleep and eat more than usual and are extra-sensitive to criticism.
Getting Treatment for Depression
The point remains: it’s hard to diagnose yourself, but if you can tell that something feels “off,” it’s worth your time to speak with a professional who can help determine what’s causing your symptoms. Depression may be treated with antidepressants, but medication is most effective when used in conjunction with therapy. If you’re resisting seeking treatment because you don’t want to take medication, you can still seek out a therapist. Therapy alone may ease your symptoms, or your therapist may ease your worries about medication and help you weigh its advantages and disadvantages.
If your teenager is struggling with depression (or with unusual moodiness, irritability, tiredness, or withdrawal), it can interfere with their schoolwork, their friendships, and their motivation. A doctor or therapist may prescribe antidepressants and individual and/or family therapy as well.
And if the sadness or empty feelings you or a loved one is struggling with become overwhelming, more intensive treatment may provide just the relief and support you need. Eagle View Behavioral Health offers inpatient, intensive outpatient, and partial hospitalization programs that can help adults and adolescents who are struggling with depression.
Under our care, you’ll meet others who are experiencing similar struggles; sharing your stories helps you feel less alone and also provides new insights into coping strategies. Individual therapy will help you uncover causes of your depression as well as how to shift your thinking patterns and sustain mental health long-term.
If you or a loved one is ready to feel better and move forward, our facility in Bettendorf, Iowa, can help.
