Some people feel sad and they cannot even figure out why. Other people have experienced great success on the job and yet they feel empty. These are some of the symptoms of depression.
There are other symptoms of depression as well. For example, a person who is depressed often feels worthless (feeling no good” or useless), unattractive, hopeless (feeling that nothing will get better), and helpless. These symptoms of depression may also be accompanied by feelings of anxiety, panic, extreme fear, and other strong emotions.
In extreme cases depressed people may even have thoughts of suicide, or they may simply think they would be better off dead. Some depressed people often suffer from the pain of migraines (very severe headaches) or they feel very fatigued (extremely tired, no energy). They also may eventually develop more severe health problems such as heart trouble, stroke, or any number of other problems.
People who are depressed also often make poor choices, such as spending too much money, isolating themselves, drinking too much alcohol, becoming addicted to drugs, and so on. There is help and hope for depression suffers, however.
Some of the ways that people struggling can find help is by calling a crisis hotline, scheduling an appointment with a counselor, and joining support groups. Often people struggling with depression may also join exercise groups or participate in team sports.
Other depressed people have defeated depression by tapping into their creativity and expressing themselves through music, painting, writing, dance, or any number of artistic activities.
Some people who are depressed also are prescribed antidepressants or they will change their diets. Other people will put on soft, soothing music or they will search for a new job that they like.
Some people, particularly people with seasonal depression, are known to feel better after using light therapy (the use of a Happy Light, which gives off natural light similar to the sun). Other depression treatments involve the intake of St. Johns Wart (Hypernicum), Vitamin B, Ginseng (energy booster), and so forth.
The reason why there are so many different forms of treatment for depression is because there are quite a few different types of depression. Also, each type of depression hits a person differently than others, at different degrees.
One example of two different kinds of depression is that of bipolar and unipolar depression. Those with bipolar may experience extreme highs and extreme lows and those with unipolar may experience a moderately low mood most of the time (a.k.a. clinical depression).
Seasonal depression has been mentioned in this article as well. This is a type of low mood and low energy problem that hits people during certain times of the year. People with seasonal depression are particularly depressed during the winter months, and this type of depression is often treated differently than other types.
Any amount of self-improvement that a person does to help relieve depression symptoms can make a person feel more worthy. For many people, depression can be defeated without drugs or expensive psychoanalysis. There are books and articles that go into greater detail on this available at the website http://www.depressionsymptomshelp.com.