With mental health awareness rising and more people being upfront with their own feelings and emotions, it is important to be able to better define what common mental health conditions look like, so you can be better informed.
We hope to dispel misconceptions regarding depression, and also shed light on depressive symptoms which are either misunderstood, mislabeled, or obscure to people without formal mental health schooling or training.
It should be mentioned some people are afraid of potentially being diagnosed or treated for depression because they believe it may label them as being “crazy,” “basket case,” or another common negative association with mental health.
If you are experiencing depression that does not mean you have to be suicidal; while suicide is often associated with depression, that particular symptom only occurs in the more severe cases of depression.
Often times, mild or moderate cases of depression do not exhibit these more extreme symptoms associated with depression.
How Common is Depression?
According to Mental Health America (mhanational.org) more than 8% or 21 million adults in America are diagnosed with depression each year, and 15% or 3.7 million youth (ages 12-17) are affected by depression each year.
These were the reported rates of depression in 2021.
Last year in 2023, research and polling conducted by Gallup (news.gallup.com) reported an increase in rates of depression since they had begun collecting current form data collection in 2015.
These include a report of 29% of adults in America having been diagnosed with depression at some point in their lifetime, which was up 10 percentage points since 2015.
As well as, 17.8% of adults in America currently receiving treatment for depression, a seven point increase since 2015.
Now what do these numbers mean?
Overall, it does indicate a rise in frequency of treatment for depression in the United States.
There are some positive ways to look at this:
- the normalization of seeking care for mental illness, which may explain some of the rise in treatment
- the increase in insurance providers being willing to cover treatment for mental health concerns, which has opened the door for many people to seek treatment, when perhaps they wouldn’t have done so in the past due to financial constraints.
At the same time, there are many other factors which are playing into increases in mental health conditions in the country, such as the rise in social media, political division, financial insecurity, unresolved conflicts, and so on.
In the end, depression is becoming more commonplace in our society, but treatment for depression is also becoming more accessible as well.
What are Signs and Symptoms of Depression?
As mentioned at the beginning, the common stereotypes of depression such as the suicidal individual who wants to end their life, or the “rain cloud” who has nothing positive to say, are what people usually associate depression to when they hear about it. However, these stereotypes are gross oversimplified ideas of depression and often keep people from seeking treatment or help with the depression they may be experiencing in their life. Often when people do get treatment for their depressive symptoms they note how much of a difference it ends up making in their overall wellbeing.
Now one of the common symptoms looked for in depression is a depressed mood most of the day or nearly every day. This mood is characterized by feelings of sadness, emptiness, or hopelessness. In younger individuals such as children or teens, they also include a prevalence of irritable mood. While depressed mood is one of the first indicators of depression, this is not the only indicator needed for a diagnosis. If a person also is experiencing a loss of pleasure or interest in activities which they used to enjoy, including lack of motivation lasting most of the day or nearly every day, this is another indicator or symptom of depression clinicians look for.
Other symptoms include noteable weight loss or weight gain in a short period of time, usually around a month. Insomnia, which can include troubles falling asleep or staying asleep. Hypersomnia, where an individual spends most of their day sleeping. Psychomotor agitation, which is a person struggling to relax, feeling like they need to stay busy so they either pace, excessively clean, cook, or do random things to keep themselves busy, because it helps distract themselves from their thoughts and feelings. Psychomotor retardation, which is when an individual is more sluggish in the physical body movements, speech, and thought process. Feeling fatigued or lacking energy most days. Feelings of worthlessness, hopelessness, and inappropriate guilt, which is blaming yourself for things which are out of your control. Troubles with concentration or ability to think.
This information is being provided to help you better understand what depression looks like at a clinical level, if you believe this is what you are dealing with, please seek a mental health professional who can help you determine if you are dealing with depression. You may notice several of the symptoms of depression do not have to do with your mood but also include physical symptoms such as troubles with sleep, weight loss or weight gain, fatigue, troubles concentrating or thinking, and so on. Because people often only think of depression in the emotional sense, they may overlook the important physical symptoms which could be indicating depression. Again, consulting with a mental health professional will help you better determine if you are dealing with depression or not.
What are Treatments for Depression?
With depression being commonplace, this means there are a wide variety of treatment options available for this condition. There are many different medications available to assist with the symptoms of depression and help improve your mood. There is also a wide variety of therapy options to help with depression such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Motivational Interviewing (MI), Solution Focused Therapy (SFT), Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), and many others. It has been found in the more moderate to severe cases of depression a mixture of medications and therapy, produce the best outcomes for individuals. In more mild cases, therapy can help reduce the symptoms and help the person challenge the negative thoughts/feelings, along with improving their daily routine which may be associated with their depression.
These therapy services and interventions are available here at Pinnacle Counseling Center, and we would be glad to collaborate with you in addressing any concerns you may be having with either your mood or daily routines. Please call 435-660-0050 to schedule an appointment or visit our booking option on our website to meet with one of our skilled therapists.