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Almost everyone gets a little "depressed" at times in their lives, and a brief attack of the blues isn't necessarily anything to worry about. But if the symptoms of depression persist then it could be clinical depression, whether a severe or mild form of depression. Any persistant depressive symptoms need prompt medical investigation by a medical professional.

In some cases, the term "depression" will refer to full clinical depression. Other uses of the term may refer to the cluster of depressive disorders of which clinical depression is the most severe type. As mentioned above, the term "depression" may simply refer to depressive symptoms like sadness or down moods.

Diagnosis of depression is not always easy and an underlying cause is always possible. Depressive symptoms could be caused by an emotional upset (e.g. grief, divorce, job loss, etc), by drug abuse, or several other causes. Feeling "depressed" a few days after a major life crisis does not warrant a diagnosis of depression, and in fact taking antidepressants may be an inappropriate treatment in this case (e.g. they may avoid the healthy sequence of coping with grief or loss). However, over-diagnosis of depression and over-prescription of antidepressants in such situations is known to occur. Another possible over-diagnosis of depression is caused by the cycle of emotional symptoms that arise from premenstrual syndrome (PMS).

Depressive symptoms may also indicate some type of underlying physical medical disorder. Various related depression-like physical symptoms (e.g. fatigue, lethargy, weakness, tiredness) could be symptoms of an underlying condition such as chronic fatigue syndrome, diabetes, fibromyalgia, Parkinson's disease or several other possible underlying conditions and alternative diagnoses.

List of symptoms of Depression:

The list of signs and symptoms mentioned in various sources for Depression includes the 62 symptoms listed below:

* Depressed mood and other emotional problems

• Persistent sadness
• Inappropriate crying
• Feelings of worthlessness
• Hopelessness
• Empty feeling
• Misery
• Inappropriate guilt
• Loss of confidence
• Loss of interest in activities
• Sluggishness
• Agitation
• Lack of energy
• Tiredness
• Restlessness
• Thoughts of death or suicide
• Irritability
• Losing your temper
• Anxiety
• Thoughts of suicide
• Suicide attempts
• Despair worse at night

* Eating pattern changes - you might eat more or less than usual

• Appetite loss
• Weight loss
• Overeating
• Weight gain

* Sleep pattern changes

• Difficulty sleeping
• Oversleeping
• Waking too early

* Mental changes

• Forgetfulness
• Difficulty thinking
• Difficulty concentrating
• Difficulty making decisions
• Fear of the future

* Social problems

• Relationship difficulty
• Isolation
• Alcohol problems
• Drug problems
• Sex problems
• Loss of interest in sex
• Loss of enjoyment of recreation
• Staying in bed
• Social withdrawal

* Physical problems

• Headaches
• Backaches
• Body aches
• Stomach aches
• Joint aches
• Muscle aches
• Constipation

* Other signs of childhood or adolescent depression:

• Poor school grades
• Poor school attendance
• Getting into trouble
• Running away from home
• Substance abuse
• Reckless behavior

Note that Depression symptoms usually refers to various symptoms known to a patient, but the phrase Depression signs may refer to those signs only noticable by a doctor.

Treatment list for Depression:

The list of treatments mentioned in various sources for Depression includes the following list. Always seek professional medical advice about any treatment or change in treatment plans.

* Lifestyle changes - helpful but often not adequate without other treatments.

• Love and care of family and friends

* Psychotherapy

• Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)
• Interpersonal therapy (IPT)
• Psychodynamic therapies

* Antidepressant medications

• Tricyclic antidepressants (tricyclics)
• Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) - mainly used if panic disorder with depression.

+ Fluoxetine
+ Sertraline
+ Fluvoxamine
+ Paroxetine
+ Citalopram

• Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs)

* Antianxiety drugs
* Sedatives
* Lithium
* Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)
* St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum)
* Biotin - possibly used for treatment of related biotin deficiency
* Magnesium - possibly used for related magnesium deficiency
* Vitamin B3 - possibly used for related vitamin B3 deficiency
* Vitamin B6 - possibly used for related vitamin B6 deficiency
* Vitamin B12 - possibly used for related vitamin B12 deficiency

Source: wrong diagnosi s.com

Depression has many features which are intensely physical in nature. Many of these symptoms and signs are very similar to symptoms seen in diseases which are known to have an identifiable physical cause. These physical symptoms of depression include aches and pains, weight loss, constipation, tiredness always tired, loss of appetite, loss of interest in sex and others. It can therefore be difficult for both patients and doctors to be certain whether a physical symptom is representative of depression, or suggests an entirely different disorder requiring a different treatment.

In addition because it is sometimes considered unacceptable to be psychologically ill, physical symptoms are often used as substitutes for psychological ones, particularly the more minor variations in mood. Many cultures express mood changes in concrete body terms, including descriptions of pains, for example. Many patients feel that doctors are trained to respond to bodily complaints and hence present these unconsciously to their doctors.

It is well known that common physical complaints can have a psychological contribution. Headaches, for instance, can be made worse by the increase in muscular tension of the neck and scalp muscles which are a physical accompaniment of a state of anxiety. In the more severe forms of depression not only are very physical symptoms such as slowness and constipation present, but worries about their physical state can increase in patients until they imagine they are ill when they are not, sometimes to the point of delusion.

Source: web 4 health.info

People are generally optimistic, believing they'll do better in the future than they've done in the past. This time around, I'll actually use that gym membership. I'm sticking to the diet this time. Now is the time to start saving for a down payment on a house. However, a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research reveals that this "optimism bias" can lead us to make immediate choices that go against our long-term goals.

Ying Zhang, Ayelet Fishbach (both of the University of Chicago), and Ravi Dhar (Yale University) identify how different mindsets work in conjunction with an optimistic attitude. They found that when people think about the goal in terms of progress, they are more likely to make a detrimental decision - such as eating an unhealthy snack. However, when people focus on commitment to a goal, they are more likely to choose an action consistent with its attainment.

"For example, when [a] workout is framed as progress toward the goal of being healthy, going to the gym elicits the perception of partial goal attainment and suggests that it is justified to enjoy a tasty but fatty cake," the researchers explain. "In contrast, when [a] workout is framed as commitment to the goal of being healthy, going to the gym signals being healthy is important and thus suggests that one should refrain from the tasty but fatty cake to ensure the final goal can be attained."

In the first study, the researchers asked one group of participants to indicate how often they went to the gym last year. Another group was asked to predict how often they expected to go to the gym next year - a yet-to-be-achieved goal. Those who were asked to think about exercise as a future endeavor were more likely to take a bottle of spring water over a can of sugared soda than those who were asked to think about the exercise they had already completed.

Similarly, in another experiment, participants were asked to visualize and write about either the process or completion of a gym workout session, a manipulation of the optimism bias. Then, participants were asked to estimate the duration of their next workout and to complete a survey that measured their interest in healthy foods.

"Relatively little is understood about how thinking optimistically about future goal pursuit can impact the immediate decision to pursue the ongoing goal, and what the direction of the impact would be," the researchers write. "Accordingly, this research suggests that marketers should consider not only the tradeoffs among the alternatives when making a choice, but also the relationship of this choice to past or future choices."

Source: medicalnews today.com