Agnes Oyedokun
Depression is known as a mood disorder that affects someone’s entire life. It brings a feeling of sadness and makes this affects the level of creativity negatively. It is a state of low mood and aversion to activity that can affect a person’s thoughts, behaviours, feelings and sense of well-being. It could also be a normal reaction to some life events like bereavement or a side effect of some medical conditions. Sometimes, depressed people don’t feel sad at all, they might feel lifeless or empty or aggressive.
Everyone is prone to depression; the rich, the poor, the old and the young. Everyone. For some people, the rate at which depression manifests itself in their lives is very rapid while it’s a gradual process for some people. This kind of people might not even know they are depressed until they get to the second to the last phase which is loneliness.
Depression can be triggered by so many factors like; loss of loved ones, broken homes, divorce, broken homes, prolonged illnesses, delayed admission, redundancy, broken relationships, not meeting up to set times, failure, poverty, sexual abuse, emotional and physical abuses, negative pressure from close family members and friends, body size and so on.
It might be difficult to explain how depression really feels with words because people don’t experience it the same way. For some people, it might be a feeling of despair while for some, it might be persistent anger or a overwhelming sense of emptiness. There are some common symptoms that depressed people may experience:

  1. Constant anger or sadness
  2. Extreme boredom. Even the things you used to love would seem extremely boring to you.
  3. Sense of unexplainable guilt.
  4. Sleeping too much or not enough.
    5.Extreme sensitivity to criticism.
  5. Unexplainable loss or weight gain.
  6. Trouble with concentration or remembering things.
  7. Suicidal thoughts.
    If you have gotten to the point where you are so overwhelmed that you can’t see any solution besides harming yourself or others, you need to get help right away. It can be really difficult to ask for help but it’s important that you reach out to someone you trust.
    Depression never brings positivity; it enables one to place other people’s opinions over what is really true. Depression takes one’s focus away from other achievements and blessings one has and makes one lose interest in some many creative things. Depression takes away one’s joy and peace and brings about loneliness which is the stage before suicidal thoughts start to creep in.
    Depression can be prevented by understanding who you really are and not allowing other people’s opinions to matter. Find the right set of friends for yourself, friends that will give you the right kind of energy; friends that will be there for you when you are down. There are some ways you can overcome depression:
  8. Believe in yourself. Shut out negative words people say about you.
  9. Talk to someone you trust.
  10. Do not isolate yourself: spend time with friends that make you feel good, get involved in activities that interest you.
  11. Adopt healthy habits; exercise, eat well, avoid drugs and alcohol and sleep well.
  12. Learn how to manage stress and anxiety

P.S Not all depression cases lead to suicide if proper help is given.

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