If you feel sad or depressed, you’re not alone. Depression is more common than you might think. Many of those who struggle with depression never seek treatment and might not realize that there are treatment options that could help.
Although not all feelings of depression qualify as depressive disorder, subthreshold depressive disorders are prevalent throughout the world. If left untreated, depression often has serious consequences for your physical, mental health, and wellbeing.
Serenity Light Recovery in Angleton, Texas, is here to help with depression treatment options.
Subthreshold Depressive Disorders
Subthreshold depressive disorders lie on a continuum with more severe forms of depression and mood swings. This type of depression is common and results in poor mental health, quality of life, and high healthcare costs. These depressive disorders also have a high potential of becoming more severe if left untreated.
Symptoms that may occur in both subthreshold depressive disorders and major depression include:
- Overwhelming feelings of sadness, hopelessness, or guilt
- Loss of interest in activities and relationships
- Major changes in appetite and fluctuations in weight
- Sleep problems
- Feeling restless or run down
- Trouble concentrating
- Suicidal thoughts
Depression treatment, such as medication and therapy, can substantially decrease subthreshold depressive symptoms.
Major Depression
One of the main differences in symptoms with subthreshold depressive disorders and major depression is that major depression exhibits a minimum of five depressive symptoms that last for two weeks or more. Major depression persists with feelings of sadness and worthlessness that linger, and it affects your day-to-day life.
This mental health issue changes how you feel and how you think, creating behavioral, emotional, and physical issues. Feeling as if there’s no way out, accompanied by suicidal thoughts, is a sign of major depression. It’s essential to talk to a counselor to get help because major depression rarely goes away on its own.
Persistent Depressive Disorder
The biggest difference between persistent depressive disorder (dysthymia) and major depressive disorder is that person’s ability to continue functioning. While persistent depressive disorder doesn’t typically seem as intense as major depression, it’s long-lasting and sucks the joy from life.
Symptoms include:
- Loss of appetite or overeating
- Sleep problems
- Low energy
- Low self-esteem
- Hopelessness
- Fatigue
- Indecisiveness
Persistent depressive disorder doesn’t exhibit the intensity of major depression. However, the lack of energy and pleasure, weight fluctuations, sleep issues, and poor self-image are ongoing for at least two years. And the symptoms can progress into major depression.
Individual therapy, group therapy, and medication are effective treatments for persistent depressive disorder.
Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar disorder is a condition characterized by extreme highs (mania) and low-lows (depression). Mania includes grandiose ideas, lack of sleep, racing thoughts, ramped-up activity, and pleasure-seeking and risk-taking behaviors. The self-destructive behavior brought on by mania eventually gives way to a period of depression.
Bipolar disorder requires medication to get the symptoms under control and stabilize the person’s mood, followed by various therapies.
Depression and Substance Abuse
While there are many more types of depression, they all have commonalities and require a specific diagnosis from a trained professional. Depression frequently co-occurs with substance abuse. For example, people who feel depressed may drink or abuse drugs to escape and feel better.
Unfortunately, alcohol and other drugs can also cause feelings of depression.
Co-occurring disorders benefit from dual diagnosis treatment that provides support for both depression and substance abuse.
Seek Help at Serenity Light Recovery
If you or someone you care about is struggling with depression, the first step is to reach out for help. At Serenity Light Recovery, we offer individual and group counseling programs, dual diagnosis, yoga therapy, and trauma therapy programs. Treatment may include psychotherapy and medication.
Please get in touch online via our contact form. Or, call us direct at (281) 431-6700 to take that first step to a better life.
As our CEO, Heather’s main calling is to stay true to the vision of the organization, which is saving lives and striving to redefine statistics by raising the standard of care with evolving treatment methods. Heather studied psychology at LSU and both the main and Clear Lake campuses of the University of Houston, and she is a certified IASIS provider and CPI instructor. She’s been helping people in recovery since 2011. Heather’s motto to live by is “I am not what I’ve done; I am what I’ve overcome.”
