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    A Guide to Depression: Signs, Causes and Treatment

    There are days where everyone wakes up and feels less than spectacular. Your outlook on life isn’t particularly positive, and even the tiniest things can make you wonder why you got out of bed in the first place. For most of us, after a day or two, things get back on track and we can carry on with our day to day existence. But imagine if that feeling was worse and lasted for days, weeks or even months, with every little thing annoying you or causing you to feel a range of negative emotions like anxiety, disappointment, sadness, frustration anger and depression. On top of that, these emotions it might end up affecting your physical demeanor too.

    So what are some of the signs that you have depression?

    Signs You Have Depression

    Some of the signs and symptoms for Depression include:

    • Difficulty concentrating, brain fog and remembering details or making decisions
    • Fatigue, lethargic and an overall decrease in your energy levels
    • Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, and/or helplessness
    • Feelings of hopelessness and/or pessimism
    • Insomnia, waking early or excessive sleeping.
    • Not feeling rested after sleep
    • Irritability, restlessness, agitated and angry
    • Lack of interest in your hobbies
    • Overeating or loss of appetite
    • Persistent aches or pains, headaches, cramps, or digestive problems that do not ease even with treatment
    • Persistent sad, anxious, or “empty” feelings
    • Thoughts of suicide, suicide attempts

    These symptoms are part of the daily routine of someone battling with depression.

    Only a few decades ago, people believed that depressed people were “a little blue”, weak or that their condition was all in their head. However, with improved education and research we now understand that it’s a mental condition that can seriously diminish someone’s quality of life.

    Currently in Australia it is estimated that over 5% of the population suffer from depression and while we are now hearing more open discussion it’s still considered a black dog and often goes unspoken.

    Interestingly, as depression is studied more thoroughly by researchers, a growing body of evidence is coming to light that shows that sufferers are also more likely to be diagnosed with a range of severe mental and health issues such as anxiety and schizophrenia. They may also suffer from:

    Causes of Depression

    Doctors and psychologists are now also more determined to diagnose, treat and manage depression earlier to help break a lifelong cycle which may contribute in some ways to these other health issues.

    Depression can have causes ranging from physical to psychological problems resulting from major life events, loss of loved ones and other triggers. Major life events like the death of a loved one, losing their job or abuse and/or bullying can be a major triggering factor in most. For women, a change in hormonal levels as they go through life, including pregnancy, can also increase the risk of developing depression.

    Because the cause can be difficult to pinpoint, doctors and psychologists have become better at looking for specific signs of depression.  As awareness grows, particularly among medical professionals, more people are being spotted and diagnosed earlier which is leading to better treatment.

    Treatment for Depression

    Treatment for depression has also improved significantly over the last two decades as awareness, research and overall acceptance has increased that depression is a more serious medical condition.

    One area of advancement is natural treatments for depression, for far too long we have all been deceived by the drug companies that depression can be only cured through antidepressant medication.

    There is now clear evidence to show this simply isn’t true.

    While anti-depressants still provide many benefits they typically treat the symptoms rather than the cause. There are now natural treatments for depression that work in the unconscious brain which is where the root of ALL emotional and mental problems are found.

    Think of your brain as an iceberg, with only about 20% jutting out from the surface of the water and the remaining 80% is underwater and cannot be seen. While medication typically works on the 20% section of the ‘conscious brain’ it can’t reach the part of your brain that is ‘underwater’ called the unconscious brain.

    There are now proprietary treatments getting world first results by treating the unconscious brain and helping to solve depression rather than simply treating the symptoms.

    For most depression sufferers, a combination of those two types of therapies are usually prescribed and it’s a matter of finding the therapies that work best for you.

    Terri Bowman
    Terri Bowman
    Terri Bowman is the creator and CEO of Brain Wellness™. For almost a decade Terri has been successfully working to help people overcome a myriad of mental illness and emotional problems and her results are an absolute revelation.

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