Depression Warning Signs

Before we deal with Depression Warning Signs let us look at the big picture.

There are a number of causes of depression and these can include:

• Heredity
• Physiology
• Psychological conditions
• Medical conditions
• Substance abuse
• Life experiences and Traumas
• Unrelenting Stress

The first five causes all require medical intervention and supervision,.

Many people do not have a pre-existing medical condition, that is they have lived relatively normal lives, until they develop depression warning signs.

The causes are predominately lifestyle and stress related, that is - reactive or acquired depression.

It is these reactive causes of depression which I wish to address - the growing epidemic of the 21st. century.

A person is said to suffer from depression warning signs when intense sadness or despair reaches a point where it begins to affect their social functioning.

A depressed mood that goes on for at least two weeks is one of the definite depression warning signs.

If accompanied by two other signs of depression, then it is a clear indication of depression.

Depression Warning Signs :

• An inability to feel emotion
• Lack of interest in daily activities
• Extreme weight loss or gain
• Disturbed sleep patterns
• Fatigue
• Feelings of guilt or hopelessness or anxiety
• Trouble with concentration or memory
• Suicidal thoughts
• Fear of abandonment

The unrelenting stress of many modern lifestyles, take their toll on the functioning of our brain.

Whilst some stress can be beneficial, being stimulation and excitement, enough is enough.

If our minds do not get respite from continual over-stimulation and negative input, the brain defends itself and becomes less and less sensitive, leading to depression.

When we suffer great disappointments, abuse, grief, and loss, recovery is normal over a period of time.

See - Stages of Grief

However, repetitive occurrences of these emotional injuries and sadnesses can build up and become permanent.

That is why is is important to recognise the depression warning signs and do something about it.

Just as a physical injury can leave physical scars, an emotional injury leaves emotional scars.

The onset of depression is not necessarily immediate, in fact it can occur many years after the emotional injury.

Eventually an accumulation of untreated emotional injuries leads to depression warning signs.

These signs are an effect caused by a hormone imbalance in the functioning of the brain.

This is a physical condition resulting from an untreated emotion condition.

Once it has become a physical condition, we cannot snap ourselves out of it.

Keeping this explanation of reactive depression warning signs strictly non-technical, I shall explain it this way :

There is an interface - a two way system - between our mind and our brain.

Our brain is the physical organ in which our mind resides.

Our mind of course is our thinking/emotional processes.

The thinking process is facilitated by the electro-chemical functions of the physical brain.

In turn, our thoughts control the release of chemicals (hormones), which cause the way we feel.

Thus our feelings are a physical reaction to our thoughts.

If we think happy, we feel happy. If we think sad we feel sad.

We have a sense of humor and a sense of pathos.

All caused by our thoughts affecting the way we feel.

Our feelings in turn re-enforce our happy or sad feelings and thus we have emotions, both positive and negative.

Now, when everything is "normal", this feedback system creates a balance between our thoughts and feelings.

However, when this feedback system is for some reason damaged, the link between thoughts and feelings breaks down.

Imagine for a moment, a happy situation, or of a favorite joke, you feel the emotion resulting from the thought.

Now imagine thinking of the same happy situation - and no emotion results.

You would be depressed - literally.

You would have lost the ability to make yourself feel happy - or anything else for that matter.

That would be mild depression.

Now imagine if your negative emotions, see List of Negative Emotions, were switched on permanently.

Now if no amount of positive thinking, cheery input, good luck or whatever had the slightest effect on the way you feel -
now you would be depressed!

Each person describes their depression differently, ranging from feeling flat or feeling down, (melancholia), right through to unbearable sorrow.

When the causes of depression are from life experiences ie. traumas, disappointments and grief, we can do something about it. Dealing with and releasing ourselves from the shackles of the past is primarily what Be Master of Your Life is all about.

When signs of depression are present you have what is basically a physical condition in which your brain is preventing your mind from functioning properly.

Whilst there is no single magic wand depression warning signs, a multi-pronged approach of depression self help can roll back the causes of depression.

The bottom line is that you have to do something positive and build on it.

One must appreciate that when a person is depressed, they simply can't be bothered, or are virtually unable to initiate a change of any sort - that is one of the self sustaining feelings of depression.

That is why is is so important to act as soon as you recognise the depression warning signs.

Go to Depression Self Help

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