Tired of feeling tired? Is being run down running you in the ground? your fatigue could be depression.
Before talking about how depression affects your life, you first need to understand what depression is. Many of us have times when we feel sad, especially after traumatic events like the loss of a job, relationship, or a death in the family. It is natural to feel sad for a time, but if it lasts more than 2 weeks and interferes with your activities of daily living, it could be depression.
True depression is when these feelings won’t go away, or start for no reason. They permeate through your life, causing other mental and physical problems, such as the inability to concentrate, changes in eating habits, and physical pain, chronic fatigue, and more.
Depressed individuals often have difficulty completing their normal tasks throughout the day. They find it difficult to get out of bed in the morning, let alone cook, clean, or even go to work. Even if they do go through the motions, they probably won’t be doing these tasks as well as they normally would. This means other people, whether its coworkers, family members, or even kids, have to pick up the slack, and this can cause more stress and conflict. .
When one member of a family is depressed, it can often cause depression in other family members. Loved ones can feel guilty, like they did something wrong that caused this or that they should be able to say or do something to fix it. While many people know better, they still have a deep-seated feeling that they are the cause. With the additional stress of having to care for their loved one, this can often lead to them becoming depressed themselves.
In other cases, even happy events can cause depression, such as the birth of a new baby. The hormone changes can lead to what is termed postpartum depression, which can become dangerous if left untreated. Up to 1 in 6 women will experience postpartum depression.
If your depression is affecting your health and your work, you will eventually begin to feel the financial burden. Depression may cause you to miss days from work or even lose your job. Plus often spouses miss work because they are needed to stay home and care for you or the children because you can’t cope. In addition to the lack of income, there may be medical bills and other related expenses to pay that will increase the financial burden. This worry over finances can in turn further the depression, creating an endless cycle of misery. Depression is now the #2 cause of disability in the world after vision and hearing problems. Life is too short to allow yourself to be crippled by depression.
The good news is that depression is treatable in a range of ways, including natural ones. The sooner you see someone about it, the less the negative impact will be on you and your family. If you recognize symptoms early, you can nip the problem in the bud before it becomes a real issue. There are now a variety of naturl treatments and therapies with few risks of side effects. If they don’t work, there are also many new medications that can help.
Depression affects every aspect of our lives. If you’re feeling fatigued all the time no matter how much resting and sleep you have, it could be depression.
FURTHER READING
How to Treat Depression and Anxiety with Natural Remedies
How to Deal with Postpartum Depression
