Just because you feel sad and depressed for a few days does not mean that you have depression. Depression can last for years, it’s a serious illness. According to various reports as many as fifteen million Americans suffer from this disease. The sad fact is that only a third of those Americans will ever seek help for their affliction. It’s the mental illness stereotypes, things like the crazy eyed old man, that make people think twice before seeking treatment for depression. Depression is a progressive illness. It will get worse without treatment. Ignorance in this case isn’t bliss.
A variety of factors, and even combinations of these factors, lead to depression. It can by biological, genetic, physical and emotional. Simple daily life and surroundings are important. Detrimental factors such as stress can lead to it. Depression is a very complicated disease. The human mind is very complicated as well. To learn how the mind works, doctors and researches are studying it each day. A chemical imbalance in the brain causes depression, that’s known. More about the way this process works is learned each day. Better treatments come from more knowledge.
There are a variety of medications available to treat depression. Quick fix schemes exist too, but they don’t work. Clinical tests to prove something really works in treating depression are required. Not too long ago people who were considered mentally ill were thrown into asylums, never again to be seen or heard. That is a thing of the past, thank goodness. In 1988 the anti-depressant ‘Prozac’ first hit the market in the United States. Although it has side effects it is widely used and it is effective.
Since then a new class of anti-depressants has become popular as well. Currently depression is being treated with SSRI or (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors) such as Paxil, Zoloft, Lexapro, Celexa, and Luvox. These work even though they too show some side effects. There are also numerous natural herbal depression medications available on the market. The ingredient in St. John’s Wort extract, heperforin, is present in those that prove every bit as effective as anti-depressant drugs. If this ingredient is used in the proper strength it is effective. Be careful, do your research and you will find effective medications to treat depression.