Collab with Never-Harm-Alone.

Overview:

Depression - a word that most people have heard over their lifetime. Maybe someone they know had and/or has depression, maybe they were learning about it in school.

Today, the Helping Hands Club and Never Harm Alone are working to inform you about depression, its symptoms, and how you can recognize it in yourself or others.

Depression is different from sadness. It's an illness that swarms your mind with darkness - darkness that many can't escape without professional help.

Depression comes in many forms, and can be used to describe different things.

Someone might say "I'm feeling depressed" and mean mood depression, or just sadness.

Mood depression comes and goes, but major or clinical depression is much harder to heal from. It's something you have to talk or work extensively about to feel better, and can potentially heal with time. 

There is one exception - situational depression. This is caused by the situation. Sometimes, after it has ended, it might go away. Other times it stays with you, turning into clinical/major depression.

Causes of mood depression might be:

Problems at home or at school, loss of a loved one and/or issues with friendship. These can turn into clinical/major depression if not talked about/healed.

Clinical/major depression can hit anyone unexpectedly.

Let's learn about it!

Signs and Symptoms:

Depression is ever changing, and even in one person it can change depending on the time. Symptoms are never the same, or have the same intensity across the board, but here are a few common symptoms we have noticed in our experience.

Worthlessness, or loss of self value when thinking and describing yourself.

Withdrawing from social situations or things you used to enjoy doing. For example, I loved to skateboard, but suddenly I just didn't care about it anymore.

Losing energy, not wanting to get up or do things, or simply not having the motivation to do so.

A desire to hurt yourself as a way to control your life, but it can be for many reasons.

Thoughts or desires to kill yourself, thinking it would stop pain or help others.

Change in appetite, such as overeating or undereating, which sometimes develops into an Eating Disorder.

Feeling like the world is hopeless and that nothing you do or anything around you will have an impact on the world.

Self hatred.

Guilt for things you have not done/for no reason.

Sometimes, depression can lead to anxiety.

When you express three or more of these symptoms related to something happening around you it is likely that you are going through a depressive "slump" or episode. This is often temporary but still make sure you take care of yourself and seek help or advice if it worsens.

However if these symptoms persist for long periods of time at a low intensity, Dysthymia, or Persistent Depressive Disorder (PDD), is more likely. This is also very important and often requires professional advice and help.

Clinical depression is having three or more of these symptoms intensely, almost every day. This disorder is incredibly serious, and if you think that you might be experiencing this, It is important to know you are not alone, and should try to reach out to someone professionally or just a trusted friend or family to get support.

Statistics:

More Than 264 million people have depression globally

Close to 800,000 people die due to suicide related to depression every year.

Suicide is the second leading cause of death in 15-29-year-olds.

Major depressive disorder affects approximately 17.3 million American adults, or about 7.1% of the U.S. population age 18 and older, in a given year. (National Institute of Mental Health "Major Depression", 2017)

Major depressive disorder is more prevalent in women than in men. (Journal of the American Medical Association, 2003; Jun 18; 289(23): 3095-105) This does not mean that men can not experience depression though! Many men and non-binary people do.

1.9 million children, 3 – 17, have diagnosed depression. (Centers for Disease Control "Data and Statistics on Children's Mental Health", 2018)

Adults with a depressive disorder or symptoms have a 64% greater risk of developing coronary artery disease. (National Institute of Health, Heart disease and depression: A two-way relationship, 2017)

Up to 80% of those treated for depression show an improvement in their symptoms generally within four to six weeks of beginning medication, psychotherapy, attending support groups or a combination of these treatments. (National Institute of Health, 1998)

Despite its high treatment success rate, nearly two out of three people suffering from depression do not actively seek nor receive proper treatment. (DBSA, 1996)

Coping Skills:

With depression comes horrible coping skills - such as self harm and repression - there are some good strategies and coping mechanisms to utilize whenever you need them.

When in the middle of a bad episode or spiral, try to sit down somewhere cool or outside. This slows your heart rate and causes your brain to slow and calm down. Another version of this is putting your face into a bowl of cold water.

Go to people! Often when people get really upset they isolate themselves and can end up hurting themselves or getting into a really bad headspace. Call a friend, text someone, or go hang out with your family and play a board game. Don't isolate yourself.

Distract yourself. This goes in hand with #2, play a game, read a book, or do exercise specifically, exercise releases endorphins which help you to feel relaxed, happier and lets you go to sleep easier. Playing with pets is also good, because animals love us unconditionally, and playing or petting them releases endorphins as well.

Do something creative! Especially art, like drawing or pottery. This helps distract you from your thoughts and allows you to put your energy into something beautiful.

Listen to music! Any genre is good, but try to not to pull yourself deeper into your deep mind space - like listening to depression or anxiety vent music, as that can worsen your situation.

Meditate, with a crystal if you'd like! Meditating comes in many different forms such as drawing, listening to music, and the classical way of drifting off into it. Try and do research on how to before trying! Regardless of your beliefs in healing crystals, knowing what they're there for can have a strong effect on your subconscious mind to have or try with those qualities. (You can read more about it in Never Harm Alone's self harm coping book!)

Go to therapy! If things are getting really bad, frequently, It might be time to think about professional help if you are not doing that already. If you go into a session during an episode, it's a lot easier to get help and describe what is actually happening at the time. You can also consider getting medications to see if that helps ease your symptoms more.

Practice positive self-talk, or recite affirmations! As cliche and stupid it sounds, do not let your inner voice drown your thoughts out in hatred. Shut it up and compliment yourself, or think about your achievements or all the good things you have done or are doing.

Pamper yourself! Whether this is going out for a $1,000 facial, or just laying in the bath, you deserve care and your body deserves respect, it's keeping you alive after all.

Write about how you are feeling! This is especially good if you cannot access therapy. Be completely honest with yourself, and just write down your thoughts, emotions, feelings and urges. Make sure you date it and keep it! If you are scared of someone finding it, buy a cheap locking pencil case from CVS or the dollar store, and put it in there. But these are important to keep, to reference later, use in therapy or to see how far you come.

Help others! Helping others can make you feel less worthless. As long as it doesn't turn unhealthy, (dependant on it or feeling as if that's the only thing you're good for).

Punch things on your bed. A lot of depression revolves around anger, and it can cause some. Sometimes being violent in a harmless way can help you release those emotions you may have been repressing.

Play with fidget toys! This is Skylar here, and I'm speaking from experience. This can help soothe depression and anxiety. This also really helps people who are neurodiverse. Self-soothing by chewing, taping, making noises, or feeling any other texture/surface can really help calm your nerves and think more clearly about yourself.

Start and Maintain a healthy and consistent routine. When making a routine, make sure you are getting at least 8 hours of sleep a night, putting your phone or electronics up at least 30 minutes before bed. Exercise, even if it's just walking, for 30 minutes, and try to interact socially for 30 minutes as well. Having routine and balance in your life can really make you feel in control and confident.

Conclusion:

Clinical or major depression is something to not go untreated, and if you've read about it here or other places and fear you might be suffering from it, please don't be afraid to reach out. We hope you enjoyed this! Please check out the Helping Hands Club for more, as well as Never Harm Alone - which focuses more on self-harm!

Written by Abby @Tallanted1 and Skylar @-FunkyFlow-