Depression can drain your energy, leaving you feeling empty and fatigued. This can make it difficult to muster the strength or desire to seek treatment. However, there are small steps you can take to help you feel more in control and improve your overall sense of well-being. Depression is very common. It affects millions of people, including some in your life. You may not realize some people face similar challenges, emotions, and obstacles. If you have experienced depression at any point in your life, you may already far from being healed and may need necessary medical or psychological treatment. Depression is a serious, pervasive and chronic condition. Being depressed or experiencing a constant depression is often a slow and lingering process. It shapes your whole life. It prevents you from engaging in social activities and keeps you from enjoying family and social life. It can lead to suicide or even worse, to death. Depression is a serious condition that causes physical, emotional, and behavioural changes in an individual.

Everyone who is suffering from depression will experience some or all of these symptoms. In a highly sensitive person, treatment that involves desensitization is the last thing to be considered. However, academic studies have shown that over 40% of the population of all adults in the U.S. suffer from a persistent forms of depression. Research has shown that many of the symptoms of depression can be helped by reducing or changing the circumstances that lead to the episode, or by providing social support such as family, friends, or a therapist. This can be very hard for a person who has daily routines and a certain amount of independence. In fact, a large portion of a social group’s members, including many housewives, stay at home mothers, and teenage parents, generally do not have sufficient experience to provide direct support. Many people who are suffering depression have been shy or scared of interacting with others, often turning down new people or new situations by staying pre-occupied. This can become a pattern that has a detrimental effect, especially at work. Digestion and concentration, even daily habit are affected. Sleep and appetite fall, food affects mood, and the ability to focus on the simplist daily task is decreased.

Sufferers of depression experience secondary problems where work is lost, feelings of guilt over unresolved conflicts are felt, and relationships are more difficult. As much as depression is associated with family and social relationships, it can also affect work. People struggle to meet the targets they need to in order to keep their jobs and work relationships with coworkers tend to be affected. People with a primary illness, for example Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), become especially sensitive. They often resent and lose interest in the people and activities in their lives; this can lead to poor job performance.

Depression can change how much sleep a person needs. A person who takes medicine for high blood pressure often has depression. Their medication has depressed the adrenal glands, which in turn causes the hormone to fall. This can lead to depression, anxiety, and a rose-colored lens approach to life, often seeing only what is wrong.

It is important to know how to handle depression. Only behaviors can change your emotions and feelings. In addition to having the best intentions to help you, people can provide a lot of emotional and energetic resources to help you adapt to life’s stresses. A wide variety of treatments are available for treating depression. They do not all work well all of the time, because each person is different, and we each have our own home base in which we most efficiently respond to different stimuli. What works for one person may not be effective for someone else. But here are some of the things that work well in general. They are as follows:

a) Be with friends and family and have them understand you.

b) Stay away from drugs and alcoholism.

c) Try to stay active with something you enjoy.

d) Turn your negative emotions, or your complaints, into positive ones.

e) Too much or too little frustration and irritation are fine.

f) Get plenty of rest and eat on a regular schedule.

g) About the food, look around and make sure it is healthy and affordable.

h) Take vitamins and supplements recommended by your medical expert.

A doctor can determine other treatments that will help your depression. A trained therapist can also assist in finding natural habits and techniques that will keep you emotionally stable. Tips to help you manage your symptoms of depression and anxiety, are all of the following:

o Keep a positive attitude and look for the good in everything.

o Take time to read, try to relax, watch something worthwhile, and laugh.

o Watch your dreams and appreciate the beauty you see in them.

o Avoid negative thoughts and memories of any kind.

o Keep a regular schedule.

o Learn to relax and get enough exercise.

o Stay away from toxic people and environments.

o Take care of your body and mind with balanced foods and healthy exercises.

o Don’t overwork yourself with hazardous activities.

o Even if you have a positive plan, do something extra to keep yourself motivated.

These are only tips to help you if you are suffering depression. Depression is different for every person who suffers from it, and one treatment or way, as I mentioned before, may work for one and not the other. Its important to get the right kind of help and a doctor and therapist will definitely know the right kinds of treatment for your condition. Thoughts of self harm and suicide must always be taken seriously, and if that is you, please stop, think and talk about it and get the specialist help you need. I am no therapist but I have had experience of depression first hand with my husband who went through a difficult part of his life with this condition. It took me a while to fully understand and accept why he was suffering, but it enabled me to change my perspective of the situation and see it from his own viewpoint. And it was from there that I was able to provide him the support he needed from me. I found that all I needed to do was just be there and listen.