Hwo do you know if you have chronic depression?

Question

What are the symptoms of chronic depression, how can someone become so deeply depressed so suddenly, how can someone get back out of it without medication?

Answer 1

The shortest and best answer is to talk to your doctor about this. It's usually a mistake for a person to try and diagnose themselves. I used to work as a psych RN for over 20 years and have Chronic Major Depression now.

If you are clinically depressed you NEED to see your doctor and let him/her decide whether you need medications or not. If you had a broken leg would you ask people on Yahoo answers what you should do? I hope not. I hope you would call for an ambulance to take you to a hospital.

When you got to the hospital ER, would you tell the doctor, "I think I broke my leg. I want you to fix it but I don't want you to put a cast on it." I hope not. I hope you would let the doctor do whatever he/she thought would be best for your leg.

A doctor has to go to school for a long time to be able to diagnose whether a person is depressed or not. That is his/her job, why not take advantage of all that schooling?

Best wishes and God bless you.

Answer 2

Chronic depression causes a great deal of mental pain and anguish lasting several months. It's cause is a chemical imbalance in the brain, which is where medication comes in. Without the needed medication to balance the chemicals in the brain, a person can do things like exercise, think positive, eat right or live clean, but nothing will help. The brain will still be off balance. This can happen out of nowhere with no warning.

Answer 3

With chronic depression, you usually cannot contribute your depression to a particular event or "episode" in your life but is an ongoing "feeling", way of thinking , state of being that does not seem to break. It is usually deep rooted, or you can be genetically predisposed and it IS an illness. Brain chemistry is still largely a field of exploration and doctors still know little about it. Medication is sometimes a life saver when you cannot "escape" the depression on your own. You can get out of it without meds depending on the severity of your depression - therapy (talk therapy) and therefore learning to change your way of thinking has actually been proven to (naturally) change brain chemistry. Exercise has also proven benefits for chronic depression and anxiety for it naturally increases serotonin levels in the brain. Sometimes still meds are necessary and studies show medication along with psychotherapy provide the best results long term!

Answer 4

Go to
http://www.about.com
and type in depression in their search box (upper right corner). You can read about causes, symptoms and relief--you can also take anonymous quizzes to see if you are, in fact, chronically depressed.

It will tell you at that site, that regardless of what you learn there, it is no substitute for seeing a health-care professional. If you think that you are chronically depressed, you really would need some counseling and possibly medication.

One over-the-counter remedy that helps many people is called St. John's Wort (for a healthy mind--it says). It is in the vitamin aisle of pharmacies, supermarkets, Walmart, etc.
NOTE: If you are prescribed an antidepressant, you cannot take St. John's Wort with it. ALSO: If you are much under the age of 18, prescription antidepressants, and even herbal ones, could make you worse. So, read labels carefully--and speak to a pharmacist when in doubt.

Walking outdoors in nature helps depression
Comedy movies, TV, etc. may help
Cheerful music
Exercise
Talking to people who can make you laugh

Answer 5

Depression that lasts over 6 months is considered chronic.

Answer 6

Talk with someone. Everyone that you tell how you are feeling will have something to say that will help you get back on track. Friends and family will get you there. They are the ones who truly care what you are going through. Medication could help for short term but could cause you trouble if used long term. So if you go that route be very careful. Try talking with someone first. Good luck my friend.

Answer 7

Symptoms are similar to Major depression but they last all the time without person feeling better. In this case, i would chec if he or she is not Bipolar II or III.

Answer 8

Here is a site that has all the symptoms listed, hope it will help!

http://www.hmc.psu.edu/healthinfo/d/depression.htm

The best thing for people with depression is to keep busy and keep their mind busy on positive things.

Answer 9

See the quiz at http://www.ezy-build.net.nz/~shaneris on page 2, and employ those treatments.