{"id":75,"date":"2009-12-21T17:05:48","date_gmt":"2009-12-21T22:05:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.drilonatobin.com\/?p=75"},"modified":"2009-12-21T17:05:48","modified_gmt":"2009-12-21T22:05:48","slug":"when-depression-is-mild","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.drilonatobin.com\/index.php\/2009\/12\/21\/when-depression-is-mild\/","title":{"rendered":"Fall Newsletter, 2009"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>DOWNLOAD THIS ARTICLE AND MORE AS A PDF FILE by clicking this link: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.drilonatobin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/tobin_fall09_web-1.pdf\">Fall 2009 Newsletter<\/a><\/p>\n<p>When Depression is Mild<\/p>\n<p>At some time, nearly every person experiences feelings of depression\u2014sadness, discouragement, the blues. These are common, normal feelings that come and go\u2014mild depressions that can be seasonal or event-related.<\/p>\n<p>Depression becomes an illness when symptoms intensify and persist over an extended period of time.<\/p>\n<p>Depression can be treated; however, nearly two-thirds of depressed people don\u2019t get appropriate treatment.<br \/>\n<!--more--><br \/>\nEven with all we know, some still believe depression is a personal fault or weakness, and that the person who is suffering could just \u201csnap out of it\u201d if he or she wanted to.<\/p>\n<p>Like with other illnesses, denial that anything is wrong may be one\u00a0reason help is not sought. Other times people don\u2019t seek help because they don\u2019t recognize the symptoms.<\/p>\n<p>Following are some common characteristics of depression and some dos and don&#8217;ts if you or someone you care about is experiencing mild depression.<\/p>\n<p>Some Symptoms of Depression<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Persistent sad or \u201cempty\u201d feelings, feeling discouraged, blue or down.<\/li>\n<li>Negative feelings \u2014feeling guilty, unworthy. Self-criticism, self-blame.<\/li>\n<li>Loss of interest in ordinary activities.<\/li>\n<li>Decreased energy, feeling fatigued, restless, irritable or lethargic.<\/li>\n<li>Increase of sleep or insomnia.<\/li>\n<li>Loss of interest in sex.<\/li>\n<li>Changes in appetite\u2014eating more or less, gaining or losing weight.<\/li>\n<li>Difficulty concentrating, remembering, making decisions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If symptoms persist and the following additional symptoms appear, then professional help is needed.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Excessive weeping or crying.<\/li>\n<li>Thoughts of suicide or death.<\/li>\n<li>Persistent physical symptoms such as headaches, chronic pain, digestive disorders.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>When Depression Is Mild, \u00a0What Should a Person Do?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Try to be with supportive, understanding people. Do those recreational activities that you have always liked. Participate in social activities or community gatherings. Exercise is helpful\u2014go for walks, work in the yard, plant some flowers.<\/p>\n<p>Also, break large tasks into smaller ones; set priorities. Only do what you can and check your expectations of yourself. Talk about how you\u2019re feeling with friends, family and your therapist.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What Should a Person with Depression Not Do?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Don\u2019t isolate or hide out.<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t set difficult goals or take on too much responsibility.<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t expect too much of yourself.<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t set yourself up for disappointment or failure.<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t make major life decisions \u2014 changing jobs, getting married or divorced\u2014without first consulting with others who know you well and\u00a0have a more objective view of your situation.<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t expect to suddenly get over the depression. Most likely, feeling better will happen gradually.<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t accept negative thinking and feelings as refl ecting your true\u00a0situation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you\u2019re experiencing mild depression, keep hope. With time and treatment, if necessary, the symptoms will dissipate. You will come back to\u00a0yourself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DOWNLOAD THIS ARTICLE AND MORE AS A PDF FILE by clicking this link: Fall 2009 Newsletter When Depression is Mild At some time, nearly every person experiences feelings of depression\u2014sadness, discouragement, the blues. These are common, normal feelings that come and go\u2014mild depressions that can be seasonal or event-related. Depression becomes an illness when symptoms [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.drilonatobin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.drilonatobin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.drilonatobin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.drilonatobin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.drilonatobin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.drilonatobin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":99,"href":"http:\/\/www.drilonatobin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75\/revisions\/99"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.drilonatobin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.drilonatobin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.drilonatobin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}