Depression

What is depression?

Depression is a condition that affects mood but can also affect thinking and how people feel physically. Most people experience low mood at some time but depression is not the same as a brief blue mood. People with depression cannot just "snap out of it" or pull themselves together. However, most people can be treated successfully.

Signs of depression include:

• Feeling gloomy, sad or guilty
• A loss of interest or pleasure in life
• Crying a lot and/or feeling tearful for no clear reason
• Eating more (or less) than usual
• Having problems sleeping
• Feeling short tempered or more irritable
• Having less energy than usual or feeling very tired
• Having poor concentration and/or difficulty making decisions
• Feeling hopeless and/or helpless
• Loss of confidence
• Seeing things very negatively
• Feeling suicidal

What causes depression?

People become depressed for a variety of reasons which may interact with each other. These might include the impact of: childhood experiences, work stress, relationship problems, bereavement, family crisis, changes in our brain or body chemistry, other physical conditions and the effects of traumatic experience

Self Help

The Centre for Clinical Interventions provide free self-help module - Coping with Depression.

The websites MoodGym and Living Life to the Full provide self help modules.

Video World Health Organisation- I had a black dog, his name was depression.

 

More information

For more information about depression, treatment and other things that you can do to help see the resources on the right.