What are the dangers of depression?

People who are depressed are far more likely to have other chronic medical conditions, including cardiovascular disease, back problems, arthritis, diabetes, and high blood pressure, and to have worse outcomes. Untreated depression can even affect your immune response to some vaccines.
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What are risks of depression?

Risk Factors
  • Genetics: A history of depression in your family may make it more likely for you to get it. ...
  • Death or loss: Sadness and grief are normal reactions. ...
  • Conflict: Personal turmoil or disputes with family or friends may lead to depression.
  • Abuse: Past physical, sexual, or emotional abuse can bring it on, as well.
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What are the 5 effects of depression?

Some of the physical effects include erratic sleep habits, loss of appetite (or increased appetite with atypical depression), constant fatigue, muscle aches, headaches, and back pain. It's easy to dismiss these symptoms as stemming from another condition, but they are often because of depression.
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Is depression is a serious problem?

Depression (major depressive disorder) is a common and serious medical illness that negatively affects how you feel, the way you think and how you act. Fortunately, it is also treatable. Depression causes feelings of sadness and/or a loss of interest in activities you once enjoyed.
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What can happen if you don't treat depression?

Untreated clinical depression is a serious problem. Untreated depression increases the chance of risky behaviors such as drug or alcohol addiction. It also can ruin relationships, cause problems at work, and make it difficult to overcome serious illnesses.
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What happens if people don't receive treatment for depression?



What does depression do to your brain?

As depression starts to affect the brain's chemical balances, neurons in the hippocampus shrink, which can cause difficulty concentrating and memory loss. A shrunken hippocampus can also make completing familiar tasks difficult, which can lead to hopelessness, guilt, and anxiety.
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How do you fight depression?

5 Ways to Help Yourself Through Depression
  1. Exercise. Take a 15- to 30-minute brisk walk every day. ...
  2. Eat healthy foods. Some people with depression don't feel much like eating. ...
  3. Don't dwell on problems. It can feel good to talk through a problem with a caring friend. ...
  4. Express yourself. ...
  5. Notice good things.
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What can long term depression lead to?

According to the Mayo Clinic, patients with untreated long-term depression are more prone to sleep disruptions, heart disease, weight gain or loss, weakened immune system, and physical pain. Depression can result in an unhealthy cycle.
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How does depression affect a person emotionally?

Depression Symptoms: Emotional

The primary symptoms of depression are a sad mood and/or loss of interest in life. Activities that were once pleasurable lose their appeal. Patients may also be haunted by a sense of guilt or worthlessness, lack of hope, and recurring thoughts of death or suicide.
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Who is at most risk of depression?

Major depression is most likely to affect people between the ages of 45 and 65. “People in middle age are at the top of the bell curve for depression, but the people at each end of the curve, the very young and very old, may be at higher risk for severe depression,” says Walch.
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What is the greatest risk factor for depression?

Risk Factors for Depression
  • Mental Illness in Your Family. If you have people in your family with mental health problems, your risk is higher for depression. ...
  • Long-term Health Problems. ...
  • Major Life Changes. ...
  • Little or No Social Support. ...
  • Mental Health. ...
  • Gender. ...
  • Money Problems. ...
  • Age.
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What are the 4 factors for depression?

The American Psychiatric Association, or APA, divides depression risk factors into four categories: biochemistry, genetics, personality traits and environmental factors. The ways in which certain brain chemicals function may predispose someone to depression.
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Is depression cured completely?

There's no cure for depression, but there are lots of effective treatments. People can recover from depression and live long and healthy lives.
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How does untreated depression affect the brain?

Years of untreated depression may lead to neurodegenerative levels of brain inflammation. That's according to a first-of-its-kind study showing evidence of lasting biological changes in the brain for those suffering with depression for more than a decade.
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What should I do if I am sad?

How Can I Cope When Sad Things Happen?
  1. Name how you feel. Just tell yourself (or someone else) that you feel sad. ...
  2. Know you're not alone. When you're sad, try not to get upset with yourself. ...
  3. Take a few calm belly breaths. ...
  4. Keep a can-do attitude. ...
  5. Get support. ...
  6. Think about good things. ...
  7. Get active or make something.
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How do you stop from crying?

7 Ways to Stop Crying (or at Least Avoid or Delay It)
  1. Take a Deep Breath. ...
  2. Use Your Tongue, Your Eyebrows, or Your Muscles. ...
  3. Take a Break and Get Away From the Situation. ...
  4. Stop the Thoughts That Are Making You Cry (This'll Take Some Practice) ...
  5. Pretend You're an Actor in a Movie.
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How do you overcome depression and overthinking?

Here are 10 tips to try when you begin to experience the same thought, or set of thoughts, swirling around your head:
  1. Distract yourself. ...
  2. Plan to take action. ...
  3. Take action. ...
  4. Question your thoughts. ...
  5. Readjust your life's goals. ...
  6. Work on enhancing your self-esteem. ...
  7. Try meditation. ...
  8. Understand your triggers.
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How does depression change your face?

Depression. Like anger, sadness weighs heavily on the face, and can cause wrinkles from repetitively frowning and furrowing brows. Research now suggests that facial expression has such a strong effect on skin, that if you don't have the ability to frown, you might actually feel less sadness.
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Does depression change your personality?

Conclusions: The findings suggest that self-reported personality traits do not change after a typical episode of major depression. Future studies are needed to determine whether such change occurs following more severe, chronic, or recurrent episodes of depression.
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How long does it take to treat depression?

Keep in mind that you may need to try several different antidepressants to find the right option for you, and even then, it can take 2 or 3 weeks to see an initial improvement. After that, it can take 3 to 6 months for symptoms to improve to the point that you are no longer depressed.
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What causes the depression?

There's no single cause of depression. It can occur for a variety of reasons and it has many different triggers. For some people, an upsetting or stressful life event, such as bereavement, divorce, illness, redundancy and job or money worries, can be the cause. Different causes can often combine to trigger depression.
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Does depression cause weight loss?

Some causes of unintentional weight loss include: mental health conditions, such as depression, anxiety, eating disorders and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
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Does depression cause hair loss?

If you're experiencing symptoms of depression, and you've also noticed some hair loss, you might wonder whether it's just another sign or side effect of depression. While experts haven't found evidence to suggest depression directly causes hair loss, depression may have a more indirect role in thinning hair.
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What exactly are the symptoms of depression?

Symptoms
  • Feelings of sadness, tearfulness, emptiness or hopelessness.
  • Angry outbursts, irritability or frustration, even over small matters.
  • Loss of interest or pleasure in most or all normal activities, such as sex, hobbies or sports.
  • Sleep disturbances, including insomnia or sleeping too much.
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What are the three core symptoms of depression?

“Depressed mood” and “loss of interest or pleasure in nearly all activities” are core features of a major depressive episode, though a strong case can be made to pay increasing attention to symptoms of fatigue, sleep disturbance, anxiety, and neurocognitive and sexual dysfunction in the diagnosis and evaluation of ...
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