Depression
What You Should Know About It
1. What is depression?
Depression is a serious medical illness that affects ones thoughts, feelings, behavior, mood, and physical health. Depression is a life-long condition in which periods of wellness alternates with reacurrence of illnesses.
2. What can cause depression?
3. What are symptoms of depression?
- You can’t sleep or you sleep too much
- You can’t concentrate or find that previously easy tasks are now difficult
- You feel hopeless and helpless
- You can’t control your negative thoughts, no matter how much you try
- You have lost your appetite or you can’t stop eating
- You are much more irritable, short-tempered, or aggressive than usual
- You’re consuming more alcohol than normal or engaging in other reckless behavior
- You have thoughts that life is not worth living (seek help immediately if this is the case)
4. If you're depressed, you're not alone.
1. Depression affects approximately 14.8 million American adults, or about 6.7 percent of the U.S. population age 18 and older, in a given year.
2. As many as one in 33 children and one in eight adolescents have clinical depression.
Need more information or help involving depression?
You can visit these websites for more information and great tips on how to handle depression:
1. http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=depression
2. http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/depression/basics/symptoms/CON-20032977
3. http://www.helpguide.org/mental/depression_signs_types_diagnosis_treatment.htm
Lincoln Mental Health Office (402)-483-6990
Talk to a physician at the Nebraska Medical Center (1-800)-922-0000