Mr Z is in his late 40s,he was brought to the clinic on account of strange behavior which has persisted for a few months.He was looking scruffy, hair not combed and he looked like he had lost confidence in himself. When talking, he avoids eye contact and he mumbles his words, you can hardly hear anything he says. He had studied in the UK, he returned to Nigeria and set up a school, he was a pretty successful proprietor. Few months ago, he was noticed to start withdrawing from social activities, his confidence seemed to drop, he sometimes refuses to eat or leave his room, he became indecisive and was found to keep asking all his staff for what to do in the school, he said he feels every other person has a better opinion than him in running the school, he feels he’s incompetent. Some members of staff took advantage of his condition and ran the school down and made away with his money. He feels hopeless and sometimes when he sleeps, he doesn’t feel like waking up. He hears voices telling him how useless he is and suggesting he should just take his life. He has contemplated suicide and feels he’s a failure even as a father. He was once treated for depression when he was in the UK.
A diagnosis of severe depression was made and treatment started immediately.

WHAT IS DEPRESSION?
Depression is a common mental disorder, characterized by sadness, loss of interest or pleasure in things and activities usually enjoyed, feelings of guilt or low self-worth, disturbed sleep or appetite, feelings of tiredness, and poor concentration. A depressed person may get to a point where he or she cannot carry out his/her regular day to day activity. Depression in its severe form can lead to suicide.

https://healthcareafrica./2017/01/25/depression/

Key facts

Depression is a common mental disorder. Globally, more than 350 million people of all ages suffer from depression.
Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide, and is a major contributor to the global burden of disease.
More women are affected by depression than men.
At its worst, depression can lead to suicide.
There are effective treatments for depression.
Despite the fact that there are effective treatments, 80% of depressed people are NOT seeking medical help

CAUSES OF DEPRESSION
The specific cause of depression is not known, however like many mental health issues, there’s a complex relationship between genetics and environmental factors. some conditions may increase people’s chance of getting depressed and some people that are prone to getting depressed just need the right bad news to break and they’ll tilt into depression.

Genetics
First degree relatives (The parents, brothers, sisters, or children of an individual) of a depressed person are 3 times more likely to have depression than the average person in a population. And about 40 to 50 percent of second twins will have depression if the other twin has it. However people can still get depressed without any family history

Environmental factors

Childhood traumas and personality – Physical, sexual and emotional abuse or neglect in childhood all predispose adults to depressive illness, but not everyone who has this background will be depressed. People who due to their personalities are very emotional and people that have “perfectionist” personalities are more prone to having depressive illness, and their personalities may be acquired from interplay of genetic factors and childhood experiences.

Social support – studies have shown that people who live in social isolation, people with deficit in social interaction and people who aren’t in relationships in which they can safely discuss their problems are more prone to getting depressed.

Unemployment – a study showed people who aren’t employed and home makers are 3 times more likely to get depressed than people who are employed.Chronic illnesses – illnesses that persist for a long time prone people to depression
Bereavement – loss of someone dear, can cause grief and increase the risk of depression

Social stress – losing a job or income, getting a divorce (studies have shown depression is higher in people who separated or divorced than people who are married or single), retiring etc.

Medications – some medications used in the treatment of hypertension (beta blockers) may increase the chance of getting depressed in some people. Corticosteroid treatment causes significant mood disturbance.
Excessive and chronic alcohol use (probably the most depressing drug humans use)

SYMPTOMS
At least five of the following symptoms have been present during the same 2-week period and represents a change from previous functioning: at least one of the symptoms is either 1) depressed mood or 2) loss of interest or pleasure.

Mood – Depressed mood most of the day, nearly every day (e.g., feels sad, miserable, irritable and empty)
Markedly diminished interest or pleasure in all, or almost all, activities most of the day, nearly every day
Significant weight loss and loss of appetite (in atypical depression, the person may have increased appetite and weight gain)

Insomnia – lack of sleep (there may be excessive sleep in atypical depression) nearly every day

Restlessness or sluggishness every day (observable by others, not merely subjective feelings of restlessness or being slowed down)

Fatigue or loss of energy nearly every day
Feelings of worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate guilt (the person blames his or herself for things that go wrong even though it has nothing to do with him/her) nearly everyday (not merely self-reproach or guilt about being sick), Feelings of futility, self-reproach, unworthiness

Diminished ability to think or concentrate, or indecisiveness, nearly every day.

Recurrent thoughts of death (not just fear of dying), recurrent thought of committing suicide without a specific plan, or a suicide attempt or specific plan for committing suicide.

Apart from the above symptoms, other symptoms that may be present are:

Talk – Impoverished, slow and monotonous

Physical – constipation, loss of libido, erectile
dysfunction, bodily pains, headache

Hallucinations – this may be present in the severe form of depression. The person sees, hears, smells or perceives something that is really not there. They may hear voices which may be critical and hostile; they may suggest suicide to the individual.

SOME OTHER FORMS OF DEPRESSIVE ILLNESSES

Dysthymia – the person have a mild form of depressive illness that is intermittent for 2 years or more. There’s low mood, low self-esteem and feeling of discouragement. These symptoms may subside for a while and begin again later. They may also at some point have major depression and meet the criteria that have been stated above.

Postpartum depression – some women have symptoms of depression within 4 weeks of child birth and can also happen in women who have suffered a miscarriage. It usually begins around 2 weeks after birth and may last for several months or even a year.

TREATMENT
Treatment of depression is based on the level of severity. Mild to moderate depression can be treated with psychotherapy only and some moderate to severe depression will require a combination of psychotherapy and medications. We will touch briefly on different modalities of treating depression below:

Psychotherapy (TALK THERAPY)
Treating a mental condition by talking and interacting with mental health provider (psychiatrist, psychologist or any other mental health provider). This method can be employed in the treatment of mild depression and when medications are combined with it, it can be used in the treatment of moderate to severe depression.

Nice one..

vizkiz:
This topic is needed in Nigeria right now. So people will stop jumping into lagoons. Not like they haven't been but it's becoming the latest trend for those feeling depressed.

Kudos Op

Exactly why I felt the need to share.

Mimzyy:


Exactly why I felt the need to share.

Lalasticlala. A depressed big SNAKE was killed in Tonto Decay's house by a Depressed Sulaiman and was later made into pepper soup that was enjoyed by Tonto decay, sule and otobo, Just the Three of them on the table.

Front page straight.

HardMirror:

Lalasticlala. A depressed big SNAKE was killed in Tonto Decay's house, be a Depressed Sulaiman and was later made into pepper soup that was enjoyed by Tonto decay, sule and otobo, Just the Three of them on the table.

Front page straight.

This made my morning . You're something else

[quote author=Mimzyy post=54852745]Mr Z is in his late 40s,he was brought to the clinic on account of strange behavior which has persisted for a few months.He was looking scruffy, hair not combed and he looked like he had lost confidence in himself. When talking, he avoids eye contact and he mumbles his words, you can hardly hear anything he says. He had studied in the UK, he returned to Nigeria and set up a school, he was a pretty successful proprietor. Few months ago, he was noticed to start withdrawing from social activities, his confidence seemed to drop, he sometimes refuses to eat or leave his room, he became indecisive and was found to keep asking all his staff for what to do in the school, he said he feels every other person has a better opinion than him in running the school, he feels he’s incompetent. Some members of staff took advantage of his condition and ran the school down and made away with his money. He feels hopeless and sometimes when he sleeps, he doesn’t feel like waking up. He hears voices telling him how useless he is and suggesting he should just take his life. He has contemplated suicide and feels he’s a failure even as a father. He was once treated for depression when he was in the UK.
.

WHAT IS DEPRESSION?
Depression is a common mental disorder, characterized by sadness, loss of interest or pleasure in things and activities usually enjoyed, feelings of guilt or low self-worth, disturbed sleep or appetite, feelings of tiredness, and poor concentration. A depressed person may get to a point where he or she cannot carry out his/her regular day to day activity. Depression in its severe form can lead to suicide.

https://healthcareafrica./2017/01/25/depression/[/quote

Nice one. One in four may become depressed in their lifetime. Every one should know about it. It still remains the commonest cause of suicide

There are different causes of depression. And know the causes let you have a better understanding of how to go about curbing the situation.

You can check this out:
https://healthdoconline.com/types-of-depression-causes-treatments-in-men-women-children/