Millions of people suffer from a depressive illness. They thought that depression is just a normal occurrence in their lives, which will go away after a short while. They just haven’t realized how serious depression can be.

Did you know that words related to depression have been searched over 993,000 times on the Internet for May 2005 alone? Much attention has been centered to this international health problem as the rigorous challenges of modern times continue to devastate those who cannot cope with it. Extreme depression can ultimately lead to suicide.

No one is safe from being affected by depression because it affects everyone. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a male or female, rich or poor, educated or uneducated. Once a person starts becoming depressed, he or she usually behaves in a manner that intensifies the illness.

HOW DOES DEPRESSION AFFECT A PERSON’S BEHAVIOR?Depressed people have some or more of the following characteristics:  

• They lose interest in their love life, career, hobbies, friends, and family. 
• They experience loneliness, feel hopeless, gloom, and indifference to their surroundings. It is a feeling of extreme despair.
    
• They seek to hide or protect themselves from problems and even from life itself. Thoughts of leaving home, running away or avoidance of others is a common response. They feel life is not worth living and worthless. Suicidal thoughts can run through their minds.  
• There is a tendency to hide from the company of others because of an unexplained fear of being rejected. Their tendency to withdraw consequently brings on some rejection by other people. They cancel scheduled activities or meetings, become uninterested to return phone calls, and seek ways to avoid talking with or seeing others.
    
• They are overly sensitive to what others say and do. They may misinterpret actions and suggestions in a negative way and become irritable because of those mistaken assumptions. They complain and may cry a lot.
    
• They have a general loss of self-esteem. They feel more and more negative about life’s events, and they even question their own personal worth. Their self–confidence level is extremely low.
    
• They experience negative changes in physical activities such as appetite, sleeping and sex. Some lose interest in sexual activities altogether. Some lose interest in eating while others gouge themselves with all the stuff they can eat. Some sleep constantly while others cannot fall asleep easily, or they awaken in the middle of the night and cannot fall back to sleep again.
    
• There is usually an underlying feeling of guilt. They often feel overly responsible for other people’s feelings.
    
• Depression often makes the person dependent upon other people. This further aggravates a feeling of dependency, which makes them even more upset.
    
• They have difficulty expressing and handling their feelings. Anger is especially difficult for them to control. Because of a sense of worthlessness and lack of knowledge in dealing with their situation, they get more enraged in themselves. This can be directed outward at others.

Above ninety-five percent of even the most depressed individuals can be cured if the condition is identified at the early stages. It is important to know and take action when the early warning signs of depression are showing.   

Dealing with depression requires an understanding that this is a common and treatable illness.

Anti-depressive medication can be an important source of help, but it has been shown that a placebo pill can be just as effective for some. Oddly, some studies have shown that 30%-40% of depressed people improved when given a sugar pill for their depression, while about 50%-65% improved on an anti-depressant.

You must not overlook the effectiveness of psychological treatment. Many extensive studies and investigations conclude that psychological treatment, such as improving social skills, increasing enjoyable activities, and correcting negative thoughts, can produce better long-term outcomes than drugs. So, don’t think that psychology is just a cheap, second-rate source of help for depression; intent research states that psychotherapy is the best treatment you can find but, like drugs, psychotherapy doesn’t work for everybody.

Depressed people are often deprived individuals, steadily seeking some accomplishments to make them feel good. They may be strongly dependent on others for back-up and support. The depressed person especially needs others to feel positive about himself/ herself.

It is very important parents give much support and attention to their children who struggle with depression. Otherwise, their kids will feel alone and vulnerable, and lack of attention can trigger the onset of depression. Parents have the main responsibility to ensure their children grow up feeling happy, secured, and loved. When this occurs, there is more probability that depression has been prevented right from the very start.

Although therapy is often a good method for treating depression, find a life coach to help the depressed person find ways to get motivated and inspired to take action steps to move through depression. Life coaching helps depressed people set goals and find strategies that work for the depressed person. Try taking the coachability assessment to see if life coaching is right for you. Sign up for a free newsletter on motivation, inspiration and strategies for improving your life at mylife-coach.net.

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