Depression And Women: The Basic Facts
As the problem of depression grips more and more people worldwide, more so women, we thought of giving you a little anecdote on the probable symptoms and the possible treatments for this problem.
While most people will equate a sullen mood and the usual blues with the term depression, please understand that occasional blues are a usual phenomenon, and only when the grimness completely dominates a person’s life can it be considered as depression. While that can be one symptom, there are lots and lots of other symptoms that you need to look out for.
A person suffering from depression will show disinterest in most pleasure and social activities, and even sexual pleasure may fail to entice that person’s interest. The sufferer may also complain of excessive fatigue and display a lack of vitality.
There will be a noticeable change in the sleeping and eating patterns, and so you may see sudden weight loss or weight gain as well. Negative thoughts about oneself and about everything around are quite common, and the depression patient may be full of guilt, despair and feeling of worthlessness. Forgetfulness and lack of concentration along with decreased confidence are some other symptoms that point toward depression.
As for treatment, the success rate of completely overcoming depression is as high as 90 percent, provided timely and proper medical attention is given to the patient. Strangely, while more than 40 percent of the population suffers from depression at some point in their life, there are only a few who walk over to a medical practitioner to get help.
To begin with the treatment, the medical professional will first determine the cause of your problem and only then will he decide about the treatment approach to be followed. In women, depression may be a result of certain medications and other medical conditions, such as taking birth control pills, going through menopause or maybe a thyroid dysfunction.
So in many cases the doctor may not have to move straight on to antidepressants, rather use alternative methods such as hormone replacement therapy to cure depression.
The length and type of treatment will generally vary depending upon your particular conditions, and while your treatment is on with the medical professional, do think about trying some alternative treatments to speed up recovery.
