If you have been diagnosed with a mental health condition such as depression, your healthcare provider may prescribe antidepressant medication to help treat it. These medications work by rebalancing some of the chemicals in your brain, known as neurotransmitters.1 There are several different types of antidepressant medications and it’s important to find the one that works best for … Read more
Depression, also referred to as clinical depression or major depressive disorder, is a medical condition that is classified as a mood disorder.1 It can affect how you feel and your ability to function on a day-to-day basis. While everyone tends to feel sad or low from time to time, feeling that way for weeks or months … Read more
We’ll start by saying this plainly: Experiencing depression can be immensely debilitating. It isn’t uncommon to feel exhausted, isolated, and hopeless when in the throes of depression. Sometimes, depression can even lead to feelings of questioning if you want to be alive. For this reason, mental health professionals have created depression hotlines. These are phone numbers you can … Read more
Unipolar depression is a term used interchangeably with major depressive order,1 APA Dictionary of Psychology. Unipolar Disorder. and is characterized by continuous feelings of sadness, low mood, feelings of worthlessness, lack of interest in activities you used to enjoy, as well as suicidal ideation.2 Unipolar disorder is a serious mental health disorder affecting 8.4% of the U.S. … Read more
It’s normal for everyone to wonder about their purpose. At times, however, you might question existence to the point where you wonder, “What is the point of life?” When such feelings are accompanied by feelings of hopelessness, helplessness, sadness, and disinterest, it might signify a mental health condition such as depression. If you’re wondering if there … Read more
The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) is a self-report questionnaire used to measure the severity of depression.1 The BDI was developed by Dr. Aaron T. Beck, a psychiatrist, and released in 1961. The BDI includes 21 items, each of which corresponds to a symptom of depression. History of the Beck Depression Inventory The BDI was first … Read more
After a loss, you may experience many different emotions, including shock, denial, grief, anger, guilt, and regret. Eventually however, you may reach a stage of acceptance. “Acceptance doesn’t mean that you feel happy about the loss. Rather, in this stage, there is finally an acceptance of the pain and loss you experienced, and you start to … Read more
The ICD-10 is a medical coding system primarily designed by the World Health Organization (WHO). It includes mental and behavioral disorders but is not limited to psychiatric disorders. Medical professionals use it to diagnose patients.1 The ICD-10 criteria for depression are a set of symptoms and signs that indicate the presence of the disorder. History of … Read more
Lethargy is a condition characterized by fatigue, drowsiness, and an unusual lack of energy and mental alertness.1 Lethargy is not a medical condition in itself, but it may be a symptom of a health condition, or a natural response to lack of sleep, stress, or poor eating habits.2 In medical or hospital settings, the term lethargy denotes … Read more
Depression is a mental health condition that affects one in six people at some point during their lifetime.1 It can take many different shapes and forms, and affect people in different ways. High-functioning depression or functional depression is a lay term that is sometimes used to describe experiencing symptoms of a depressive disorder, but to outside appearances, … Read more