Depression Flu

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0><script type="text/javascript" src="http://hb.lycos.com/hb.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://ratings.lycos.com/ratings/lycosRating.js.php"></script> <script type="text/javascript"><![CDATA[//><!]]></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://scripts.lycos.com/catman/init.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/ad/code-start.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/ad/code-middle.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/ad/code-end.js"></script> <noscript> <img src="http://members.tripod.com/adm/img/common/ot_noscript.gif?rand=253702" alt="" width="1" height="1" />  <iframe frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" width="728" height="90" src="http://ad.yieldmanager.com/st?ad_type=iframe&ad_size=728x90&section=209094"></iframe>  </noscript> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="127015b3.jpg"> <div> <B>Depression Flu</b><B>  |  </b><FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="http://help4self.net" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://help4self.net"><B>Home</b></A></FONT></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=155 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <A HREF="id109.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Anxiety Disorder">Anxiety Disorder</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id33.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Best Prescription for Depression ">Best Prescription for Depression    </A></div> <div> <A HREF="id26.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Communication that Helps">Communication that Helps</A></div> <div> <B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Depression Flu</b></div> <div> <A HREF="id32.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Depression Talk Therapy">Depression & Talk Therapy</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id59.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Hypnosis">Hypnosis</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id58.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Insomnia">Insomnia</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id35.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Is Prozac Magic?">Is Prozac Magic?</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id34.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Get Real and Your Relationship Will Too">Get Real and Your Relationship Will Too</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id63.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Managed Costs and Mangled Care">Managed Costs and Mangled Care</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id61.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Nutty Ideas">Nutty Ideas</A></div> <div> <A HREF="ocd_in_a_poem.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="OCD in a Poem">OCD in a Poem</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id62.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Sleepy?">Sleepy?</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id36.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Staying In Love">Staying In Love</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id75.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Stay Married for the Kids?">Stay Married for the Kids?</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id70.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Suicide: Unanswered Questions">Suicide: Unanswered Questions</A></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 width="100%" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>Depression Flu </b></div> <div> by</div> <div> David C. Mathis, Ed.D.</div> <bR> <div> Individuals sometimes talk about depression as though it were the flu.  When we come down with the flu, we talk about treating it and recovering.  We may also complain about how we feel physically and may even wonder about how we contracted it.  It would seem strange to spend time contemplating what stressful events may have contributed to its development or talk about re-evaluating our values or priorities because of the flu.  We catch the flu, we are treated for it, and then we move on.  It is not so simple with clinical depression.</div> <bR> <div> We all have times of feeling depressed: a breakup with a girlfriend, failing a test at school, missing out on a promotion at work, the death of a friend, and many other normal life events which create some degree of distress.  It is normal to feel depressed or sad at such times.  However, clinical depression is of a different grade.</div> <bR> <div> Clinical depression is characterized by a set of symptoms which are persistent over a period of time.  At the minimum, these symptoms must be present for most of the day and every day for at least two weeks.  These symptoms can include: depressed or an irritable mood, decrease or increase in appetite (either significant weight gain or weight loss), sleep disturbance of insomnia (often early morning awakenings but other types of insomnia also occur) or an excessive need for sleep, decrease in energy, fatigue due activity, decline or near loss of enjoyment from activities which use to be enjoyable, difficulty concentrating, social withdrawal, decline in sexual interest, diminished self-esteem and loss of confidence, and inappropriate and undue guilt.  There is a milder form of depression which can be diagnosed when a few of these symptoms are present or the symptoms are not as severe.  This form of mild depression is called Dysthymia and is diagnosed if it has been present for a period of two years.  </div> <bR> <div> Now, back to the point about depression flu.  Depression is sometimes discussed and treated as though it were a common malady that one catches, is treated for and then moves on.  Many individuals take antidepressant medications from their physician without ever having talked about the onset, duration, or severity of their depression.  The majority of episodes of depression are brought on in reaction to significant stress or an accumulation of stress.  We know that equally good success can occur in the treatment of depression through psychotherapy (talk therapy) as through psychopharmacological (medication ) treatment. Research has been very clear about this.  It is common practice, and again supported by research, to recommend that individuals participate in both kinds of therapy: medication and psychotherapy.  Those individuals who are only treated through medication have a greater relapse rate.  Why?  Because depression is not like the flu.  Very often we must look at ourselves in the process of recovering from the depression.  We may find that certain beliefs or ways of coping just did not hold up and caused us to respond to the stress by developing depression.  Sometimes we may find that we are forced to have to deal with events and things in our closets which have haunted us for years but we never really addressed.  We may find that our old ways of dealing with stress, for example staying busy with distracting activities, just don’t work anymore.  Instead, we are faced with finding healthy ways to deal with stress or even adjusting our priorities in life.  We may be faced with a spiritual crisis that the stress has brought on as aspects of our faith have been challenged by stress, for example, through the death of a spouse or child. Depression is a physical disorder, without doubt, with broad effects on our functioning but it is not the flu.  Instead, it is a time to care for our whole self: mind, body and soul. </div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="594" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 WIDTH="320"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="20" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="320" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="263"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="20" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="263" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>