Clinical Depression
What is Clinical Depression?
Clinical depression is a medical illness similar to pneumonia that even
the strongest person cannot overcome without treatment. Clinical depression is similar
to heart disease and cancer in that all of us have a susceptibility to each. If we have
a family history of one of these illnesses, our susceptibility increases. This explains
how some develop a clinical depression only after extraordinary stressors and others
develop clinical depression seemingly out of the blue. Clinical depression is a very
common illness that affects approximately 3-5% of the population at any one time.
There is a 20% chance of having an episode of clinical depression at some point in
one's life. The percentages are similar for the general population and college students.
Is Clinical Depression Treatable?
Clinical depression is readily treatable with counseling and/or
medication. Medication can correct the chemical imbalance (low levels of brain serotonin
and norepinephrine) that is found in people with symptoms consistent with clinical
depression. Unfortunately, fifty percent of people who have clinical depression never
get help and suffer silently. Untreated, the average clinical depression can last
9-12 months. With treatment, people often report significant relief within 4-6
weeks.
Who's Susceptible to Clinical Depression?
Clinical depression often has its first onset in people between the ages
of 18 and 22. Many stressors are inherent to these years, which may contribute to the onset
of a clinical depression: separating physically and psychologically from ones family, managing
the increase in freedom, dealing with the successes and disappointments that occur in academic,
athletic, and extracurricular activities, developing and losing love relationships, many
people experience death for the first time during these years with the loss of a friend or
family member, choosing a major, finding a job, leaving the familiarity and security of
college for the real world.
Treatment
Successful treatment includes tissue cleansing,
counseling, dietary, lifestyle modifications.
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