What is Depression

My name is Ebony Kimario, licensed master social worker with the Oasis Treatment Center, and this video covers what is depression.

Depression is a serious and common mental illness that covers a host of different symptoms, such as intense sadness, loss of motivation, loss of interest in things that one previously was interested in.

In order for depression to be diagnosed, it has to last over two weeks and be accompanied by a noticeable change in functioning. So if a person was previously getting up, exercising, and going to work with no problem, and now for weeks on end they are struggling to do those same activities, that could lead to a depression diagnosis.

Let’s talk about the different kinds of depression. We can either have treatable depression, which would remain persistent. Treatable depression is going to be your diagnosis like major depressive disorder, and that’s going to be a lifetime thing to deal with.

Versus curable depression, which is going to be more trauma-centered or situational. So someone can become depressed depending on their situation, but once that depression is handled, they may never deal with depression again, as opposed to a different person whose brain is just set up that way and then they will have to deal with depression long term.

Depression can be associated with lots of other diagnoses. All sorts of things can kind of slide depression in—things like thyroid problems or other health diagnoses. Maybe a person gets their legs amputated and following that, they deal with depression.

We want to make sure that we’re understanding that depression can be situational or it can just be the way a person’s brain is set up, and depending on which one it is, our treatment is going to be a little bit different.

It is important to note that depression most often doesn’t just go away, and it is also not an indicator of a character flaw. Having depression doesn’t mean you’re weak or you can’t deal or you just need to pray about it or you just need to toughen up.

Having depression, just like having high blood pressure or a cold, means that you need to take a look at how things are going and figure out what we can do differently based on that diagnosis.

If you were to get the flu, you wouldn’t just power through it and say, “I’m going to keep living my life like normal.” You’d slow down, get some rest, take in extra fluids, take some medication. We want to make sure that we’re treating depression just like that, where it is a very real and present thing, and we want to make sure that we are getting the help we need for it.

Depression can be treated in a number of different ways. It can be treated with therapy, which would include talking to someone. That professional could either work with a person on a one-to-one basis, it could be group therapy, it could be telehealth, it could be in person. Depending on the person’s severity, it might be once a week, once a month, or if they’re in the maintenance phase of their depression, if they were diagnosed with major depressive disorder, they may just go in every now and again to check on things and make sure that they are continuing to be on the right path.

Depression can also be treated by medication. This would need to be prescribed by a professional—either the personal care physician, a psychologist, or a psychiatrist. After meeting with the person and determining their depression diagnosis, they would be able to prescribe them the correct medication.

Lifestyle changes can also address a depression diagnosis—things like meditation, journaling, practicing gratitude, exercising, getting more sunlight, eating a different diet. All of those things are lifestyle changes that can positively impact the person dealing with depression. These things can be done singularly or altogether to create a cohesive treatment plan.

It is important to note that the way depression presents in one person does not necessarily show in another person. One person may feel a certain way, whereas another person feels a totally different way, but that doesn’t mean that they are not both dealing with the same diagnosis or that either of them could interchange their treatment options.

The treatment option for one person is based on them, and no one else should try to automatically follow that regimen for themselves. The more personalized the treatment is, the better options they’re going to be long term. The more committed a person is to their treatment and their wellness, the higher the chances are for success in the long run.

Thanks for watching.