Depression

Understanding depression

What is depression?

If you’ve been feeling that something isn’t right, you haven’t felt like yourself or you’ve been feeling down for a while and you can’t work out why, you could be experiencing depression.

Depression is a serious condition which affects the physical and mental health of around one in seven people in Australia.

Depression can change how you feel about yourself and others – and it can make parts of your daily life feel much harder to manage than usual.

Sometimes it’s your loved ones who might notice you haven’t been feeling yourself. Whether you’re experiencing it yourself or worried about someone you care for, it’s important to know that depression can be treated. The first step can be to reach out and talk to someone.

Signs and symptoms

If you’re experiencing depression, you might:

• feel down for two weeks or more
• cry a lot without knowing why
• not feel like doing activities that you once found fun
• lose your temper or feel grumpy and irritable
• not want to see friends, family and/or get involved in social situations
• have trouble concentrating
• be feeling overwhelmed or confused
• feel that your libido is gone
• find you rely on substances such as drugs or alcohol.

Some of the signs of depression you might experience in your body include:

• losing or gaining weight in a short period of time
• finding it hard to get to sleep or waking up and not being able to get back to sleep
• feeling tired all the time
• headaches or muscle pains
• being more or less interested in food than usual.

In Australia, about one million people experience depression every year. Everyone can have a different experience of depression, so you might find you have a combination of symptoms or other symptoms altogether.

There are several types of depression and each type has different symptoms. Common types of depression are major depression (including postnatal depression), bipolar disorder and persistent depressive disorder (also known as ‘dysthymia’).

Supporting a loved one experiencing depression

Here are some tips which might help if you think someone you care about might be showing signs of depression:

• Talk to them. You might ask something like “I’ve noticed you haven’t been yourself lately. Is everything OK?”
• Listen without judgement. Sometimes people experiencing depression aren’t looking for a solution. They might just need to know that you’re there to listen.
• Encourage them to get professional help. Depression is common and there are many treatments available. A good place to start could be for them to have a chat with their GP or explore our treatment options below.

Remember, it’s possible that the person isn’t feeling ready to talk. They might even feel embarrassed or uncomfortable. Let them know you’re there for them and will keep checking in on them.

Your treatment options

The idea of getting help might feel overwhelming or uncomfortable – but you don’t have to go through this struggle on your own. Here are some important things to know about getting treatment for depression:

• It’s important to look for treatments which are evidence-based. You might like to start with an appointment with your GP or take a look at the treatment programs we offer through St John of God Health Care.
• A mental health professional will work with you to find the treatment which might work best for you.
• There are many different approaches to treating depression, including medications and therapy such as cognitive behaviour therapy. You might even need to try a few different treatments before you find the one which works best for you.
• Other treatments could involve making lifestyle changes such as exploring new exercise and diet habits with professional guidance.

Just as depression can feel different for everyone, the best treatment will be different for each person.

These are the programs which we offer through St John of God Health Care.