I believe, the term “Depression” has come to be used very casually and generically. What used to be earlier just “mood swings”, “boredom”, “Feeling low” and “off feelings” have now all blown up to become “Depression”. 

The effect? While on one hand the normal people have started believing themselves to be suffering from a “Psychological ailment”, on the other hand many people with serious pathological “Depression” are being taken very lightly and not been provided adequate social support and treatment facilities. Either ways the effect is one of concern. 

WHO says, “Depression can be long- lasting or recurrent, substantially impairing an individual’s ability to function at work or school or cope with daily life. At its most severe, depression can lead to suicide”. 

Understanding DEPRESSION in its real sense puts a moral responsibility on us – NOT TO USE THE WORD CASUALLY FOR EVERY FEELING OF SADNESS, GUILT, LOSS, FRUSTRATION, IRRITABILITY ETC. in us or in our near and dear ones. 

Here is what American Psychiatric Association says to us (http://www.psychiatry.org/depression): The death of a loved one, loss of a job, or the ending of a relationship are difficult experiences for a person to endure. It is normal for feelings of sadness or grief to develop in response to such stressful situations. BUT SADNESS and DEPRESSION are NOT THE SAME. While feelings of sadness will lessen with time, the disorder of depression can continue for months, even years. 

It further states: 
Depression is a serious medical illness that negatively affects how you feel, the way you think and how you act. Depression has a variety of symptoms, but the most common are a deep feeling of sadness or a marked loss of interest or pleasure in activities. Other symptoms include: 

• Changes in appetite that result in weight losses or gains unrelated to dieting
• Insomnia or oversleeping
• Loss of energy or increased fatigue
• Restlessness or irritability
• Feelings of worthlessness or inappropriate guilt
• Difficulty thinking, concentrating, or making decisions
• Thoughts of death or suicide or attempts at suicide

Let us then understand that 

EVERY SADNESS IS NOT DEPRESSION. Every person faces lot of challenges and problems in ones life- time. These problems and challenges are the opportunities presented to us for us to fulfill our life purpose. Each of these challenges makes us do things that we never imagined we ever can. Certainly the times are difficult, but every time we come out of it or the time changes, we can feel ourselves a little stronger. And most issues in life can be solved with proper intentions, guidance and motivation. 

Timely use of Effective Therapeutic Counseling is one of the best modes of coming out of mild to moderate depression and even as an adjunct to medicine in severe clinical depression. There are many Expert Counselors to handle depression issues. For those who are not comfortable in approaching a counselor or does not have access to one, they can now avail the online counseling programs for depression that are provided by experts from different parts of the world. It is just a matter of searching and sending a mail or a message.

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