Depression

It has been said that depression is the most common mood disorder in the world. The numbers of those who experience depression continue to rise despite a great increase in knowledge and effective treatment for depression. There is no single cause, but depression can be a combination of many factors: biological, social, financial, existential and psychological. Although the most common age group to experience depression is the 25-45-year age group, the fastest increase in depression is experienced among children and teenagers. Despite the large numbers of people who experience depression, most individuals do not seek help.

Depression is experienced differently in each person, although there are many common features, signs and symptoms. Depression often exists with other issues such as grief and loss, anxiety or post-traumatic stress. People often experience periodic “episodes” of depression. These episodes are more likely to return if not treated.

Because the factors leading to the experience of depression are many and varied, therapy also needs to be targeted at the individual level. Hence, skill-building, learning more positive ways of thinking about life, physical or social activities, therapy for insomnia, working with forgiveness of self or others and EMDR therapy for dealing with previous traumatic events may all be part of the therapy to treat depression or perhaps just some of these tools may be required. Once people learn the skills to deal with their depression, those skills are there for life.