Image by Engin Akyurt on Pexels
How Does Depression Affect Us?
How depression affects us can vary. Everyone has felt depressed at least once in life. For some, it was a fleeting moment they let pass by without much of a second thought. For others, getting out of bed every morning is a constant battle. Depression affects everyone differently. Some of the lasting effects, while often mental, can also be physical. So how does depression affect us, and how can we avoid or even fight back?
What Is Depression?
First off, what is depression? Depression, also known as major depressive disorder, is a mood disorder that makes someone feel constantly sad or leads to a lack of interest in life. Generally, depressed individuals feel unhappy. This feeling usually lasts a couple of days. However, other forms of depression can be more troublesome as episodes last from days to weeks. Typically, these cases classify as clinical depression.
How Does Depression Affect Our Bodies?
So how does depression affect us? Depression can impact several parts of the body. For instance, depression can affect the brain, heart, digestive system, and even the central nervous system. One common symptom of depression is continually feeling tired or struggling to get a good night’s sleep. Other things to watch out for can be a general sense of anger, being irritable, and losing interest in things that used to bring pleasure. Depression can cause headaches and chronic body pains that medication may not be able to alleviate.
It is not just your mental and physical health at risk. Your appetite and nutrition can also be affected. Sometimes people will cope with their depression by overeating. Conversely, they may not eat at all, and this behavior can cause malnutrition, cramps, stomach aches, and constipation. Much like chronic body pains, there is no guarantee that medication will help alleviate these underlying symptoms.
Fight Back Against How Depression Affects Us
Now we know how depression affects us. But are there ways to fight back and feel better? Of course, there are! There are many small things that you can do to help improve your depressive state or get rid of it entirely. Exercise is a great way to help reset your brain and take a break from the sadness and stress put on by depression. Taking time to walk outside in nature has proven to help boost morale and make people feel better. Simple as it is, this is a great way to fight back against how depression affects us. While you walk, perhaps give yourself attainable goals to accomplish. They do not have to be big, but completing simple tasks can improve your self-esteem drastically. Instead of cleaning the house, make your bed. Do not fret over columns of emails. Just get to the most important ones and leave the rest for later.
Depression affects your energy and makes you feel depleted of strength and miserable. Try not to give in to depressive behavior by doing something you enjoy. Always try to do the opposite of what the depression is telling you to do. Pick up one of your hobbies and see if that helps. You may have to push yourself to start, but once you get into a rhythm, you may find the depression starting to sink away.
Depression affects us in many, many ways. It is difficult to get up and do the things that once brought you joy when there is a feeling of sadness and hopelessness. The key is to push yourself to do what made you happy before the depression. Understanding that you can fight back may help you get one-up on depression the next time it tries to sneak up on you.
Have Health Insurance Questions?
We hope that this information on depression is helpful for you. Want to learn some fascinating facts about your ears? Check out our article: 5 Things You’ve Never HEARD About Your Ears
Insurance is oftentimes overwhelming, and we want to shed light on the industry by answering your questions. Comment below and your question may be the topic of our next post!
If you liked this article, share it with your friends!
Empower Brokerage wants to help you find the insurance coverage you need and help you save money getting it. Stay on top of your health and give us a call at (844) 410-1320.
Get affordable health insurance quotes by clicking here.
See our other websites: