More people suffer from depression in the 21st century than from other physical health diseases. It is easy to assume depression as benign just mood swings, and to not take it seriously. If not treated wisely and on time, depression can assume troublesome proportions.
Depression is a negative mental health condition that deeply affects the life of the individual suffering from it. It leads to a host of physical and emotional problems in the long run. On an everyday basis, depression affects adversely the life of the sufferer and his friends and family in the following ways:
1. Physical troubles: Chronic depression manifests itself in the form of innumerable health problems such as diarrhoea, breathing troubles, gastric problems, sleep apnoea, physical tiredness.
2. Emotional troubles: The individual suffers from constant mood swings which make it difficult for him and those around him to enjoy even pleasurable moments together. Feelings of hopelessness and futility keep creeping into his mind every now and then. Due to this, he feels gloomy most of the time. Such people get irritated very easily.
3. Social troubles: It is a known fact that depressed people have a limited social life. Getting up, dressing and meeting people seems like a chore to them. They prefer staying by themselves even when in a crowd. The social life suffers. The ones in close relationships too do not feel like making attempts to put efforts into their relationships. Their life begins to centre just around themselves.
4. Work troubles: Depression comes in the way of fruitful work. it doesn’t let the individual concentrate on his task. He is not able to take correct and timely decisions. He is not able to complete the assigned tasks on time. He does not take initiative at work, and is averse to trying new ideas.
5. Personality: a person who would earlier not be caught dead looking dishevelled, now no more pays attention to the way he presents himself when he is depressed. Depression makes him lose interest in shopping for himself and grooming himself. During free time, he would prefer to laze around and stare into nothingness rather than get up and go for some exercise or grooming sessions. He would not even notice if his clothes have become a size too small or big for him.
6. Piling to-do list: A healthy mind reminds a person to keep up-to-date on his responsibilities and important tasks in life. However, when a person is depressed, he forgets to complete routine tasks like paying bills, updating important government documents, filing returns, updating bank statements etc.
7. Messy life and messy home: Depression affects a person’s mind in such a way that he cannot organize his everyday life. His schedules go haywire. A depressed individual’s house gives tell-tale signs of his condition- it would be messy, with disorganized shelves and cabinets, dusty corners, dishevelled beds and dirty kitchens piled up with undone dishes.
The depressed individual himself might not be able to identify these signs and might take it as a normal form of living as time passes. It is up to his friends and family to extend support in such times.
