Depression
LIVE IT UP eNews! July, 2006
Hi there!
Winter has zoomed into sunny Qld which causes me to want to curl up in bed with a good book, a cup of hot chocolate, and my sweetie pie! Life is about making choices and decisions, and I am thoroughly enjoying time taken for me. It’s guilt-free and delicious. Menopause the Musical is soon to close, and if you haven’t seen it yet, it’s absolutely hilarious. You can take a man to it, because as Dennis will tell you, he loved it! Enjoy love and life, and love yourself first.
Warm regards Narelle
About DEPRESSION
Depression is a whole basket of symptoms, some that seem unrelated, and I think of it like different coloured balls that together form a picture of depression. The following symptoms must be read in conjunction with other symptoms and are not stand alone factors. For a depressive disorder, there is usually a combination of symptoms and other factors will include the severity of the symptoms and the period of time in which you have experienced the symptoms.
Depression symptoms may include:
- Feeling sad
- Crying episodes or inability to cry even though you want to
- Feelings of hopelessness or helplessness
- Difficulty concentrating
- Difficulty making decisions
- Loss of pleasure or interest where it was formerly experienced
- Weight loss
- Loss of appetite
- Weight gain
- Frustrated easily
- Loss of sex drive
- Increased anger
- Irritability
- Sleep problems
- Memory problems
- Thoughts of suicide
- Withdrawal from others
- Work difficulties
- Social difficulties
- Low energy / fatigue
- Feeling guilty
- Feeling worthless
- Cannot see a future for yourself
Depression in the workplace
Depression affects many people in the workforce and may impact on performance in the workplace, if you are depressed.
Depression may be situational. That is to say that a situation may be causing depression, and that when you remove yourself from the situation, the depression will naturally ease and you will feel happy and healthy again.
However, if the situation does not change, or you do not learn how to cope with the situation and you cannot remove yourself from it, then you run the risk of clinical depression.
In the meantime, you can do the following:
1. Exercise
2. Eat properly – 5 small meals a day containing high protein foods
3. Laugh often and in big doses – watch some funny movies
4. Tell yourself you love yourself and you love being you!
5. Make an appointment! Research shows that people actually improve in the time between making an appointment and attending their first appointment. (It’s called ‘making a decision’.)
6. It is absolutely essential to be properly assessed, so that treatment can begin as soon as possible.
