Depression

Depression can affect anyone at any age. 1 in 10 people suffer from depression each year, with 1 in 4 of us experiencing it firsthand at some point in our lifetime. It is an illness in which there is persistent sadness, which interferes with everyday life, causing a variety of physical and psychological symptoms. Everyone’s experience of depression is different, as no one has the same life experiences or personal problems.

Symptoms Include:

  • Fatigue
  • Tearfulness
  • Lack of motivation
  • Feeling useless, inadequate, helpless and hopeless
  • Weight/ appetite loss
  • Insomnia or excessive sleeping
  • Self-hatred/doubt
  • Forgetfulness
  • Loss of sex drive
  • Agitation and restlessness
  • Sense of unreality
  • Being over-sensitive/vulnerable
  • Fear for no reason
  • Angry outbursts/impatience
  • Feelings of inappropriate guilt
  • Physical aches and pains and the fear that these may indicate a serious illness
  • Being unable to put thoughts into words, to talk naturally to others or even smile
  • Stress is present in 50% of cases of depression
  • Suicidal ideas

 
In the most severe cases depression can lead to suicide, with 4000 people each year taking their own lives as a result of this condition. However it can be treated successfully and there are many sources of help available.

Treatment may include:

  • Counselling or psychotherapy is most effective in minor to moderate depression.
  • Exercise and relaxation techniques (see stress/anxiety section)
  • Self-help - wanting to get better and taking positive steps to do so such as reading books about depression or joining a self-help group is more likely to result in success.
  • Anti-depressant medications are not addictive and can be taken safely over periods of time. They may be prescribed by your GP.


Where to go next...
You need not be alone - talk to people! If you do not feel that speaking to your friends is helpful, make an appointment with the counsellors, your personal tutor or the Vice President (Education & Welfare).

SGUL is affiliated with Nightline, a confidential telephone/ e-mail listening service: 020-7631-0101 and www.nightline.org.uk

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
(Nelson Mandela, 1994 inaugural speech)

http://www.rethink.org/living_with_mental_illness/coping_in_a_crisis/crisis_and_emotional.html

http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/expertadvice/problems/depression/mendepression.aspx

http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/expertadvice/problems/leafletformuslimsonstress.aspx