Depression

Depression often goes undiagnosed as, during the early stages, the symptoms are fairly vague. Symptoms such as changes in sleeping patterns (either wanting to sleep for longer periods or not being able to get to sleep), eating patterns (either eating more or less than usual), irritability, withdrawal, apathy, malaise and lethargy are all subtle symptoms of the early stages of an underlying depression. The worst part of these symptoms is that they can be readily attributable to some other cause.

The majority of the population still have the belief that depression is not a serious illness and feel that the person needs to just "snap out of it" or that thinking positive thoughts will "cure" the depression. The feelings of hopelessness, helplessness and despair that sufferers of depression experience can lead to feelings of wanting to commit suicide if the depressed person isn't given the support and understanding that they need, and the recognition that what they are experiencing is real. Depression is a very real disease and is potentionally fatal if the suferer is having thoughts (ideation) of suicide.

Unless you've actually experienced depression yourself it can be difficult to understand how someone you care about can feel so negative about everything and lose the joy of living. Simply accepting that what the other person is experiencing is real to them and is affecting every part of their life, goes a long way to helping them come to terms with their illness and will help them seek help and treatment. Most people who have depression feel very alone, unloved, unwanted, a burden on others, and have a great desire to isolate away from other people. Basically, their emotions have shut down, they don't 'feel' very much and usually report that they feel totally numb inside. Their thinking changes, they mostly lack energy except for an occassional 'spurt' which is followed by a slump and they have difficulty in making rational decisions. They often feel very overwhelmed by other people and by any problem as their problem-solving ability deteriorates. A lot of people have also expressed confusion about what is happening to them, they've lost their ability for insight and often state that they should be happy and have no reason to feel the way they do.

There are two different major groups of depression, depression that has been caused through a chemical imbalance in the body and depression that is a result of life circumstances. Stress plays a major role in all forms of depression as its usually a trigger for both the chemical changes within the body and a reaction to life circumstances. Untreated stress often leads to depression (see 'Stress')

Ideally, depression should be treated in the early stages before the symptoms become severe but that takes the person having enough insight to recognise that something isn't right and then doing something about it. It also takes a lot of understanding, acceptance and support from the person's significant others, recognising that the person they care about is suffering mild depression. Most of us tend to ignore what is happening to us and keep pushing ourselves regardless of what our bodies are trying to tell us. It seems that the more we ignore ourselves and our symptoms and the more we push ourselves the greater the danger of developing major depression. Its easy to see how major depression can occur. Prevention really is the best treatment.

The treatment of depression involves caring for your body, your mind, your soul and your environment as all of these facets of your life are affected by this disease. Aromatherapy is one of the ways that can assist you in balancing these parts of yourself but if you have a major depression you will also need to see either your naturopath or your doctor for assistance with your diet and chemical imbalance. Counselling will also be of great benefit to you regardless of what level of depression you have as being able to talk to someone about what you're experiencing and what the possible causes of your depression are, will help you to resolve your issues and start to heal.