Depression 

Depression is basically an imbalance of the chemicals in the brain that affect how we think and feel.   It's a biological medical condition.  

Some people think it's a 'mental weakness' or that it's possible to 'just get over it' by willing it away.  

Science now knows there are 2 things that affect who gets depression and how it comes about.  

 1) Genetics - just like diabetes, heart disease, arthritis and other conditions, we can inherit genes that increase our chance of getting depressed, or diabetes, or arthritis. 

2) 2nd hit - it takes a second hit to actually develop the condition.  The 2nd hit is usually something in our environment or life.  The 2nd hit could be getting a virus, being exposed to toxic chemicals, physical injuries.  For depression, traumatic life experiences often are the 2nd hit.  

The traumatic experiences to not have to be major events, like living through a flood or major disaster or witnessing mass murder.  It can be anything that we feel is traumatic - it could be watching a powerful movie at just the right time in our lives when we've vulnerable to its message.  

A 2nd hit might be another medical illness, especially a 'chronic, lifetime condition like diabetes, heart disease, stroke, arthritis, or other conditions.

The same things that help us get better and healthier if we have a physical health problem, like diabetes or a heart condition, also help with depression: 

These are things that make a difference with depression:

• what we eat,
• being physically active,
• sleep. 
• Getting support from others
•  

They are the foundation of feeling healthy and happy! 

Physical activity, like exercise, has been shown to increase the positive chemicals in the brain.  Over time, if we are more active every day, the positive chemicals start to build up and mood and thinking improve. 

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With mild depression,  better care with eating, physical activity and sleep can be enough to reset the chemical balance in the brain.  

For moderate and more severe depression,  taking better care is important - the foundation for getting back in balance but more will most likely be needed to recover and regain balance. 

With attention to the basics of good health and treatment, most people will start to feel better within weeks.  

Most 

Two options to pursue:  

1) Learning different ways to cope and manage negative thinking and feelings to  shift back toward balance.  It also keeps them from interfering so much with our daily lives.   These tools can be learned different ways.

• with a therapist.  
• internet-based treatments, which can be used alone or with a therapist 
• Apps for the phone  or tablet - which help throughout the day to relearn and use new tools for managing negative thoughts and/or feelings

2) Medications - Just like managing diabetes or a heart condition, sometimes medications are needed to move the body back toward 'balance' and recovery.  As we regain our balance,  medications are  adjusted as we eat better, have regular physical activity, lose weight, cope better.   

What kinds of treatment work? 

There are a number of treatments that have been shown to help depression. 

• Medication
• Psychotherapy / Counseling
• Brain Stimulation
• Light Therapy
• Exercise
• Mindfulness - Meditation, Equine (Horse) Therapy
• Mind/body/spirit - attention to meditation, faith/spirit rejuvenation

We all have 2 parts - how we think about ourselves and the world and how we feel about ourselves, others and the world.   Depression affects both how we think and how we feel.  Both can be pretty negative - criticizing ourselves, thinking we don't measure up or aren't good enough,  feeling sad, angry, etc..  

With depression, these thoughts and feelings don't go away easily like they do when a person doesn't have depression.  They get stuck on the negative. 

When we start to recognize how we're feeling or what we're thinking, we can learn new ways to manage them.  The challenge with depression is getting motivated to do things.  There are 2 things that help

1) Being kind/gentle on yourself.  Remember, this is a biological, chemical state.  It's not your fault.  You're doing your best to deal with.  It takes time to reset the chemicals back to 'balance'. 

2) Give yourself permission to start small to get back into balance.  Pick something small to start with - be gentle on yourself.  Pick something small to start with.  Decide to do 1 thing small today.  For someone really depressed, it could be brushing your teeth, combing your hair.  Then, at the end of the day, congratulate yourself, you did it.  If you didn't, start fresh tomorrow.   Success will build - like hammering nails one at a time to build a house or cabinet.

3) "Fake-it-til-you-make-it" - With depression, 'feeling like doing something' takes time.  If you think you should wait til you feel like doing things, think again.  Sometimes, you have to do it anyway, act 'as if' you want to, and eventually, as the depression starts to lift, so does the feeling of wanting to do things.   Each success build up positive chemicals in the brain, creates new positive pathways through the brain. There

There are lots of resources out there to help deal with depression and regain balance in one's life.   

1. The first step is to see a medical doctor to be sure there isn't any medical condition that might be causing depression. 
2. Medications may be indicated to help treat the depression.  The primary doctor, e.g family physician or Internist, might feel comfortable starting medications.  They may also recommend seeing a psychiatrist because that's the specialty that focuses on treatment of depression. 
3. There may be other professionals you might consider to help with stress management, learning new skills to cope with negative thoughts/feelings.

To find out more the types of professionals to look for and what they do,