Depression: Is It Really A Thing? And How To Assist People Suffering From Depression

Depression has been known to affect an individual's performance, stretching even to a person's business decisions and choices. Therefore, if not managed properly it can be, and has proved to be one of the downfalls of many business-men and women.
As will be reflected within this article, with depression, prevention may just be better than 'cure'.

Effects of depression on business

• Poor decision-making
• Lack of interest
• Business suicide

What is depression?

Depression, also known as clinical depression, unipolar depression or major depressive disorder (MDD) is a state of self withdrawal from one's usual being into a state of 'numbness' if I may say.

It is a state of low spirits, sadness, indifference and a lack of enthusiasm even towards those things that might have previously given a drive. Depression is classified as MDD the moment the disorder stretches to beyond two weeks.

Is MDD really a thing?

Depressive disorder is a real thing that affects over 200 million people world wide. That is over 2.5% of the world's population and research reports that it is more prevalent in developed countries than it is underdeveloped and developing countries...

A somewhat worrying statistic because one would have expected depression to be more prevalent in underdeveloped countries because of the lower living standards. Meaning that hopefully as our world grows as improves for every individual the numbers of depression would also diminish. 

However, connecting the dots, this points to a higher probability of continuous increase in the number of people fighting depression as our world is continuously develops.

According to the American Psychiatric Association, females are affected about twice as much as men by depression and the common onset time is between the ages of 20 and 30.

More worrying is that some cases of suicide as a result of depression having been recorded; Particularly to those that have added psychological distress that may be caused by other challenges, situations or complications in life's vicissitudes.

Depression can be caused by a wide range of factors ranging from psychological, emotional, medical environmental, economical, financial... etc. Most common being substance abuse and a genetic inheritance of the disorder in combination with the aforementioned factors.

How can you help someone suffering from depression?

People suffering from depression really require the empathy of those around them because many times depression is often misunderstood and often instead of providing support, people tend to throw phrases like "think positive" and "just snap out of it" at the affected.

Telling someone suffering from depression to think positive or to snap out of it really won't offer much assistance. This is because that is the exact reason why they are in that hole. Because if escaping depression was as swift as a snap of the fingers then they wouldn't have been depressed in the first place and no one would suffer from depression. At the point of depression, victims cannot really see any positive thing to focus their energy on and so telling them to just snap out of it may actually deepen the hole. 

A more helpful approach; instead of telling them to see positive, be the positive thing you want them to see. Support and guide through the positives that are there for the seeing. You have to be the beacon of positivity yourself. Positivity should be tangible, not something you just tell someone to go and do.

One effective way of guidance through the period is through counselling sessions. This is because the counselor just doesn't look at you and say, "think positive and snap out of it." Instead, counselors avail themselves as the support a patient needs and try to walk with them through the journey as if it were their own burden. That way, in that spirit of oneness the helper and the patient can both see the challenges of the problem but most importantly they begin to see the positives and joys of life as guided by the counsellor

Antidepressant medication can also be used as a means to treating depression. However, there are suggestions that medication may only be appropriate for those suffering from clinical depression. According to the UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence the risk-benefit ratio of taking depression medication is poor for someone suffering from mild depression.

One of the best ways of beating depression is prevention.

Depression prevention

Although there really are not 100% guaranteed methods of preventing depression, a positive change in lifestyle is guaranteed to greatly diminish the chances of suffering from depression. Here are some of the ways to prevent depression;

• Talk to someone - do not handle stressful situations all by yourself. The more you do so, the more you find yourself alleviating yourself from your loved one and shutting out those close to you. This may foster loneliness and should the situation worsen, you might suffer from depression and completely shut out any possibility of the much needed help. 
• Don't skip your prescribed medication - if you have suffered from depression before and had some medication prescribed for you; do not take your medication sporadically, rather take it regularly and always check-up with your councilor/doctor.
• Take some time to do something that gives you joy - don't be too busy for your own health. Everyone understands the need for hard work to catter for one as well as family needs. Take some time a while to visit the park, take a holiday, sleep out or endulge in some recreational activities you enjoy. It will help you flush out the stresses of the day to day activities and also helps you stay focused.
• Get a good night's sleep - it goes without saying that a good sleep is beneficial to both your mental and physical health.
• Eat healthy - according to Li F, Liu X, Zhang D (March 2016), a lot of fish within one's diet helps lower the chances of depression considerably.
• Therapy - visiting a psychotherapist should not be an action taken only when you are already a victim, it can also be taken as a preventative measure....and a good one too!