WHAT IS DEPRESSION?
Everyone occasionally feels blue or sad, but these feelings are
usually fleeting and pass within a couple of days. When a woman
has a depressive disorder, it interferes with daily life and normal
functioning, and causes pain for both the woman with the disorder
and those who care about her. Depression is a common but serious
illness, and most who have it need treatment to get better.
Depression affects both men and women, but more women than
men are likely to be diagnosed with depression in any given year.
Efforts to explain this difference are ongoing, as researchers explore
certain factors (biological, social, etc.) that are unique to women.
Many women with a depressive illness never seek treatment. But
the vast majority, even those with the most severe depression, can
get better with treatment.
Are you a woman that feels like you might be experiencing a mid-life
crisis? Have your typical monthly issues become a typical and
out of whack? Hormones and depression are so very closely
related, and they are two ticking time bombs. If not stopped,
they will cause a massive explosion in your emotions, mind,
and even your body. Some people become very ill or even
seriously diseased, and don't know why .
Depression may occur at
any age during a woman's life with certain events like puberty,
pregnancy, perimenopause, trauma, substance abuse and quality of
relationships increasing the risk, according to the leading authorities
on the etiologies and treatments for depression.
Furthermore, depression can occur among women from all
educational, economic and racial and ethnic groups and it consequences can include an increased risk of suicide, morbidity
from medical illness and risk for poor self-care and reduced
adherence to medical regimes. World Health Organization Report
examining "The Global Burden of Disease" found that "depression
presents the greatest disease burden for women when compared
with other diseases."
Some of the findings that examine the possible culprits of
depression are:
Genetic Factors: Based on data that major depression clusters in
families, having a first-degree relative with depression (parent,
sibling) is a risk factor for depression.
Sex Hormones: The link between increased rates of depression
and puberty, mood and the menstrual cycle as well as mood and
pregnancy suggests a role of gonadal hormones in depression.Specifically, changes in gonadal hormones, disturbances in the
hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis and attendant effects on
neuromodulators (e.g. serotonin) may all be key mechanisms in the
initiation of depression. For example, pregnancy and delivery
produce dramatic changes in estrogen and progesterone levels, as
well as changes in the HPG axis, that may underlie postpartum
depression.
Life Stress and Trauma: Case-control and community-based
studies have shown that more than 80 percent of major depression
cases were preceded by a serious adverse life event. Traumatic
events, such as childhood sexual abuse, adult sexual assault, male
partner violence and physical illness also can lead to depression.
Initial research has suggested that early trauma has a greater
impact on risk for depression than later occurring trauma. Research
has also indicated that women may be more likely than men to
experience depression in response to a stressful event.
Interpersonal Relationships and Cognitive Styles: One cognitive
style more common in women than men that increases the risk for
depression is ruminative thinking - repetitively and passively
focusing on symptoms of distress and their possible causes and
consequences. Ruminative thinking is also associated with longer
and more severe episodes of depression.
Possible signs and symptoms are as follows:
Irritability
Apathy
Abnormal Sleep Patterns
Fatigue
Indecisiveness
Suicidal Thoughts
When treating hormonal depression , it is also important to go
beyond normal testing and basic research. You must make
sure you address every possibility. Don't get so busy that you
forget to take care of yourself. If you are constantly helping
others to the point of self-destruction, then you are
neglecting yourself. You must assess and respond to all of the
following areas:
Physical
Spiritual
Emotional.
Of course there are lots of medication for depression especially the use of antidepressants,But i suggest you try out some other natural treatment because of antidepressants side effect which includes headaches,nausea, loss of appetite, low sex active and so on. Here are some
Helpful tip to get over depression
* watching your diet and avoid certain food that you may have noticed to wreak havoc on your body.
*exercising your body is a very effective way to shake off fatigue both physically and in the mind.it raises endorphins, which are natural pain endorphins.and can heal your hormonal inbalance.
*eat chocolates:hormones can play a part in your depression,
and if your body has the proper balance of these hormones,
you will not have problems in different areas that they have
control over. Estrogen hormone boosts serotonin, just like chocolate does. That is why chocolate can lift depression off of you. It also helps to promote sound sleep. It also raises endorphins just like exercise does, which are natural pain relievers.
*Talking to a counselor or a therapist:Is a better and easy way to get things off your mind.You do not have to go through your dark times alone,get good people to share your burdens with, share experiences that could help you get through life easily. Cortisol is the stress hormone. If you allow yourself to have too much stress by not getting things off of your mind , then your body will automatically release more cortisol,which will cause unwanted weight gain.
Always remember that every area
of our bodies is interconnected, and you must pay attention to
every area in order to be complete.
I hope you love this kindly share to help other women get over depression.