Tag Archives: Depression

Major Depressive Disorder- A History and Personal Reflection

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Everyone has those thoughts. Doom and gloom, and an overall lack or interest in doing anything. No one is alone in these feelings. However, there are some extreme case of these feelings known as Major Depressive Disorder. It can be a crippling disorder in which the person loses interest of former favorite activities, a loss of interest in family and friends, as well as a feeling of helplessness. The feeling of helplessness is the huge part in this disorder that makes it clear as to what disorder it is. However, the big point that sets regular depression apart from Major Depressive disorder is that the state of depression lasts for a long time, roughly two weeks or more. Depression is often compared to the common cold due to the fact that it is so common among people around the world. This is true shown that one of the most common drugs prescribed is Zoloft or its generic name Sertraline.

Major Depressive Disorder is something that I myself have to deal with on a daily basis. I was officially diagnosed with the disorder about a year ago and I myself am prescribed by my doctor Sertraline. This is something that runs in my family as my father as well as various other relatives have been diagnosed with MDD. As a person living with this disorder, it feels like a struggle when hit by the effects of the disorder. The biggest problem for me is the fact that I don’t always take my medicine all the time like I should due to the fact that one of the medicine’s side effects is drowsiness. I experience all of the symptoms that come with it, including thoughts of self-harm. When completely struck with the effects, I do not do things that I thought was fun or interesting like weight lifting and at times prefer to be along around no one and stay locked in my room by myself. It is a difficult thing and is a struggle to stay out of the ruts that MDD puts me in.

ADHD, Depression, and helpful coping mechanisms through Humanistic Therapy

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After beginning college, life and goals get increasingly difficult because of the real life implications of every choice you may make.  Because of this rise of difficulty, there are many things you may not realize about yourself until you reach these points of severe demand.  Personally, I went through high school with no problems academically and was a good student.  My only recurring problem was not having the motivation to work on subjects.  Believing that this was a product of high school subjects that would go away during college, I didn’t think twice about it.  After getting into college, I started to realize that this problem is happening even worse because of school, work, and life.  After trying to work extremely hard, I would be in the library trying to study when I realized I couldn’t focus no matter what.  Every single piece of sensory information was being processed by my brain and I couldn’t focus.  I then realized that my hyperactive behavior as a child had progressed into inattentive ADHD.  Every single day was just a giant explosion of sensory overload which left me to be completely crippled in noisy environments as far as mental activity goes.  After realizing what has happened to me, I chose to seek help with my parents and doctor, and use the positive effects of humanistic therapy and coping with it in a positive way through self-criticism.  Now everyday I study, I try to isolate myself partially in order for me to properly deal with the effects of my disorder.  I also have found times in the day in which I am more productive to benefit from.

Another disorder I realized I had was depression.  Depression is not just one day of feeling under the weather.  It is the extreme recurring feeling of apathy and confusion.  Life throws many hurdles in the way, and sometimes you fall down for a long time.  After being apathetic and lacking ambition for many of my life responsibilities, I realized I had depression.  I found through humanistic therapy that my inability to cope and act was the reason for my downfall.  Some ways of coping included simply exercising and understanding the things I take for granted in life.  We all take things for granted no matter what we may say.  Simply typing this extremely helps me cope because it is exposing my flaws which is definitely therapeutic.  Laying all of your flaws on the table could be depressing, but looking at it like a to do list is the best attitude to take.

Hopefully this post helps you understand that even though your days may look gloomy there is always a way to deal with it and make it a bit brighter.  Also look at the positive benefits of humanistic therapy along with making conscious efforts to deal with problems you may face.

Smile…Scare Saddness Away

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Major depressive disorder, more commonly known as depression, is one of hardest mood disorders to undergo. A lot of people underestimate depression and its severity. They make the claim that their one day of sadness is labeled as depression. This may be the case but it is only a mild case. The most commonly diagnosed cases of depression last two weeks or more. A genuine depressive disorder is defined as an extreme and abnormal sadness. They exhibit many different characteristics. The individual cannot even function or go about his/her day properly because of the emotional distress that they are going through. They function very slowly, they show a loss of interest in activities or even things they used to like, they have a loss of interest in friends and family, they feel worthless and as though they have no purpose on this earth.

Depression is diagnosed in many different ways but one of the main methods is the explanatory style. Psychologists use this style to differentiate the difference between the way a normal person would react or think about a situation and the way a depressed person would. For example, a normal person would look at the break up with a significant other as something sad but they would be able to get over it. A depressed individual looks at the break up as something detrimental that they will have a lasting effect on the rest of their lives. I have had people in my past who have undergone deep depression. I remember when my one friend, Sarah, had lost her mother in a car accident back in middle school. She fell into a deep depression that caused her to drop out of school for the remainder of the school year. Before the event, she was known around school as one of the happiest people to roam the hallways. Always smiling, always optimistic; she even won the best smile award at the end of 7th grade. But after the death of her mom, it seemed as though she snapped. It was the saddest thing in the world.

Major depressive disorder really affects people in the harshest of ways. The lasting effects of depression can really leave a mark on a person’s mental. And the thing with this disorder is that it can happen to anyone. As stated above with Sarah, even the happiest people can be struck with this just because of a devastating event. No one is excluded from clutches of depression. But I guess it’s a good thing depression has a really simple cure then. And that cure is love.