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Depression is a ten letter word that is given different interpretations by different people. The purpose of this article therefore is to write from the perspective of fact, information and clarity.

First, what is depression?
Depression can be described as a whole body and mind illness that involves your moods, your thoughts, your feeling and general disposition. This means that depression affects the way you eat, sleep, feel, and relate to people. A person can be said to be depressed if he or she exhibits the symptoms below.

What are the symptoms of depression?

The symptoms of depression include the following:
Changes in your thought process forgetfulness, short term loss of memory, inability to co-ordinate your thought properly, pessimism, feelings of guilt, poor self esteem and self-destructive thoughts.

Changes in feelings:
You feel sad for no reason at all. You display extreme hot temper and irritability. You seem to lose interest in the things you used to enjoy before. You also feel tired and exhibit feelings of hopelessness and helplessness.

Changes in physical wellbeing:
These can include lack of sleep, oversleeping, restlessness and chronic fatigue.

If you exhibit all or most of these symptoms for a period of weeks or months, then you can be said to be suffering from depression.

Types of depression:
Basically, we can group depression into two broad types. These are manic depression and clinical depression.

Manic depression:
This is also known as bipolar disorder. It is a serious form of depression characterized by extreme and sudden mood swings. The patient alternates between highs and lows. On moment, he is delirious with joy and the next, he sinks into a deep sadness. Manic depression is a dangerous form of depression and can lead to suicide if it is not treated.

Clinical depression:
This is a medical term used to refer to a persistent and severe form of depression. The symptoms of clinical depression include the following: difficulty in concentrating, chronic fatigue, feelings of excessive guilt, thought of death and lack of sleep.

Depression treatment:
As we can clearly see, depression is a serious mental illness. Therefore, the treatment should be consistent and in accordance with the particular type of depression identified. Depression can be treated with a combination of medication, psychotherapy and psychoanalysis.

Depression Medication:
The following drugs can be used to treat depression Prozac, Luvox, Paxil, Zoloft, Anafranil, Wellbutrin, Effexor and Serzone.

Others forms of treatment for depression include Lithium which is a mood stabilizer. It is used for treating manic depression. Apart from Lithium, antidepressant medication and anti-psychotic medications are also useful in treating depression. In some cases, electro-convulsive therapy is also highly effective when depression medication is not effective.

Warning:
Please note that these are very powerful drugs and should only be used on the recommendation of, and under the strict supervision of a qualified medical expert. On no account should an individual who feels depressed experiment with the drugs and treatments listed above.

Conclusion:
From the foregoing, it is clear that depression is a serious illness. Consequently afflicted people will do well to seek and receive appropriate medical and psychiatric treatment. It is also very important that friends and relations of depressed people show them love and understanding as they battle with this serious illness.

Final word:
Depression is an illness and like any other illness, it can be treated and cured if the right steps are taken.

Learn more about this author, Emmanuel Osondu.
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