What is Depression?
Depression is a treatable medical condition, just like diabetes or hypertension. Depression is a mood disorder that affects how a person feels, thinks, and handles daily activities, and can have an impact on work, school, home, and social life. There are many different types of depression, and depression and its associated symptoms often overlap with other mental health or mood disorders.
Depression causes persistent feelings of sadness, loss of interest, fatigue, and sometimes irritability or anger. People with depression are not simply experiencing a bout of the "the blues" and will not just "snap out of it." Depression may require long-term treatment with medication or psychotherapy, or both. Depression can be episodic, can have seasonal elements, can be related to pregnancy, or can be chronic and long-lasting with no apparent cause.
Symptoms of Depression
- Feeling sad, hopeless, tearful, irritable, or pessimistic
- Losing interest or pleasure in activities you once enjoyed
- Eating much less or much more than usual
- Notable loss or gain in weight unrelated to dieting
- Sleeping too little or too much
- Feeling tired or having little energy
- Feeling bad about yourself, or that you are a failure or have let down yourself or your family
- Trouble concentrating
- Forgetfulness
- Difficulty making minor decisions
- Moving or speaking slowly, or the opposite, being fidgeting or restless
- Thoughts that you would be better off dead or of hurting yourself
- If you recently had a baby, feeling angry or distant from your baby, or that you don't want to or can't care for your baby
You may experience some of these symptoms intermittently throughout your life. Every human does at some point! But if you find that these symptoms are persistent or continually recur with no apparent trigger, or if they are affecting your day to day life, it's probably time to speak to a doctor about your symptoms.
Risk Factors for Depression
If you or a loved one has any of the below risk factors, they might be at higher risk for depression. It's important to have open conversations about mood and to follow up with a doctor or healthcare provider for help.
- Family history of depression
- History of violence, neglect, abuse, or poverty
- Pregnancy (perinatal or postpartum depression)
- Isolation from friends and family
- Having another chronic or debilitating disease
- Age (older adults are at increased risk of depression)
Management of Depression
Depression often takes a long time to resolve, but it can be helped with medication or psychotherapy. Medication addresses the chemical or hormonal imbalances that contribute to depression, and therapy helps patients develop coping mechanisms that are healthy and contribute to better and more stable overall moods.
It's important not to self-medicate with alcohol or other substances, as these can contribute to worsening depression over time and cause other health complications. It's very common for people to turn to alcohol to help with short-term symptoms, but chronic alcohol use actually worsens depression. Alcohol use as a response to depression symptoms occurs in both men and women, but is more common in men.
Community Resources
As always, we recommend reaching out to your family doctor for help with managing your depression. Depending on your needs, you may need to see a specialist, but a referral from your family doctor is the best way to start that journey (and your insurance company might just require it!). At Interior Community Health Center, we also offer counseling services.
If you need immediate assistance for a mental health crisis, we recommend dialing 988 on your phone to reach the mental health crisis line. They have trained crisis counselors who are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for anyone of any age, including for non-English speakers or those who are deaf or hard of hearing. This service has no cost to you.
If cost is a barrier to access regular healthcare, don’t forget, private insurance is federally required to cover mental health treatment. Medicare and Alaska Medicaid also covers these services. And last but not least, Community Health Centers (like us at ICHC!) offer sliding fee discounts based on your income, whether or not you have insurance, so you can find health care that you can afford. Call us at 907-455-4567, option 1, to schedule an appointment today.
