We provide compassionate care and effective strategies to help you manage and overcome these difficult emotions. Depression commonly manifests physically, through stomach pains, headaches, disrupted or excessive sleep, and motor control difficulty. While the causes of depression are unknown, a predisposition for it runs in families and it can be triggered by trauma and adverse life circumstances. Depression is diagnosed more frequently in women and tends to display differently in women than in men.
Depression and anxiety often exacerbate each other and people with depression commonly have difficulty concentrating on tasks and conversations. Some people abuse alcohol and drugs or overeat as a way of coping, causing them to develop other medical problems. Depressed people are also at increased risk for self-harm.
Depression is a mental health diagnosis which is characterized by prolonged emotional symptoms including:
- Apathy
- Sadness
- Guilt
- Exhaustion
- Irritability
Diagnosing depression involves a mental health evaluation and possible physical tests such as a physical with your PCP or lab work to help determine whether a person’s symptoms are mental health related or are actually being caused by a different issue. A person must have been experiencing symptoms for at least two weeks to be diagnosed with depression.
Every case is unique and requires individual attention, but there are a number of effective complementary ways of treating depression, including:
- Talk therapy
- Medication
- Adopting a healthier lifestyle