What is Depression and How Can I Battle It?

Some key facts are as follows: depression is a common mental disorder. At any given time globally, 5% or more of all adults suffer from depression. Women are affected by depression at a rate of two to one. Depression can lead to possible suicide. There are effective treatments for mild, moderate and severe depression.

Depression can happen to anyone. Famous celebrities, politicians, scientists are all susceptible to this problem.  A very recent example of this is that of newly elected Senator John Fetterman from Pennsylvania. Shortly after being elected, Senator Fetterman had to check himself into an institution to seek treatment. A month later he was discharged from the Walter Reed National military Medical Center in Maryland. Recently, Fetterman was interviewed by Joe Scarborough and told him that he is “begging” people who are struggling with their mental health to seek treatment like he did, saying it “saved me from my anguish.”

So how does this happen?  How do people who seem to have the world by the tail suddenly get struck down to the depths of deep depression? The answer is multifold. It’s a combination of genetics, physical and mental trauma of the past, and current events and environment. It’s possible that Fetterman was already susceptible to severe depression and the stress from the election made him deeply depressed.

Treatment for depression

There are Medical Treatments to help chemical imbalances in the brain that may be causing a person’s depression. Therapy should also be used in combination with these chemicals. And in truth, therapy is the backbone of treatment for depression and other anxiety disorders.

Some areas of the country offer plenty of therapists, while others are lacking enough therapists to meet the demand. Therapists in Tampa Florida, for example, are in high demand but the general feeling is that they are able to meet this demand. Smaller towns on the outskirts of bigger cities have trouble keeping up with the demand. Clients often have to drive half an hour to well over an hour for each therapeutic meeting.

How to Start

If you feel depressed and don’t know where to start, here is some good advice. Start by reaching out to your general practitioner, AKA your regular family doctor, and tell them your situation. They should be able to quickly refer  you to a qualified therapist.

You can also reach out to a therapist directly. A simple Google search is all you need.  Some therapists take insurance while others do not. It’s important to do a little research online to find out some information about your therapist. Do they seem like they would be a good fit? Do they take your insurance? These are all questions you will want answered before you set up an appointment.

Conclusion

There are many tools that can help you deal with depression. Once you start down the road to help yourself you will begin to feel the wheels of progress turning. You can make yourself feel better and it can happen fairly quickly.