What is the difference between depression and sadness?
How to recognise the difference between depression and sadness and learn when you may need to seek professional support.
Read moreEveryone feels sad or down from time to time, but this does not necessarily mean you are depressed. Understand the symptoms of depression, and how to treat it.
Everyone feels sad or down from time to time, but this does not necessarily mean you are depressed.
What is depression? Depression is an intense feeling of sadness that lasts for a long time, sometimes weeks, months or years. If you are depressed, it can start to interfere with your day-to-day life, wellbeing and physical health.
Men may not recognise they have depression. If they do acknowledge it to themselves, they are often reluctant to talk about it or seek help. But depression is treatable, and the sooner you recognise the symptoms, the sooner you can recover.
Sometimes depression has no apparent cause. Other times it may be caused by different factors such as:
People experience depression in different ways. Below are some common symptoms of depression.
Everyone experiences some of these feelings or behaviours from time to time. However, for people experiencing depression, the feelings are severe, and they do not go away over time.
There are several myths about depression that can make men reluctant to talk about or seek help for their depression. These myths include the idea that:
Because of these ideas, men often focus on the physical rather than the emotional symptoms of depression and often talk about feeling angry or irritable rather than sad. They also tend not to seek help until the depression is very severe, if at all. Untreated depression can negatively affect your relationships, your ability to hold down a job, and can lead to drug and alcohol problems.
Fortunately, more and more prominent men, including high profile sportsmen and politicians, are now beginning to talk about their depression. This is helping to reduce the stigma associated with this illness and allowing other men to talk about and seek help for their depression.
Depression can have a very negative impact on one’s relationships. Depressed people frequently experience a lack of energy and motivation which can severely hinder their ability to function in a relationship. They may withdraw from others, become irritable and closed off, or fall into a state of apathy in which they are unable to act decisively or even get out of bed in the morning. Their withdrawal from others can be confusing and hurtful to those close to them, especially if the depression is not diagnosed or understood. Some people may respond unhelpfully by telling the depressed person to “pull themselves together”, not realising that their comments only make the sufferer feel worse. Many depression sufferers also lose interest in sex, creating further problems in intimate relationships.
Understanding that a depressed person’s behaviour is the result of an illness may not make things easy, but knowing what is going on, and that the condition is treatable, can give a sense of hope.
Like a physical illness, depression can be treated. There are psychological treatments that can help to reduce negative thinking, create strategies to tackle problems and improve relationships. For some, a combination of medication and psychological treatments may work best. It is important to find an approach that works for your situation.
If you are concerned about yourself or a loved one, speak to your GP or a mental health professional such as a MensLine Australia counsellor.
If your loved one or friend is depressed, here are some things you can do:
If you are on treatment and start to feel better, try doing things that you used to enjoy before you were diagnosed as depressed. Here are some other ideas that may help:
MensLine Australia is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with professional counsellors providing information and support for all relationship and depression issues. Call us on 1300 78 99 78 or access free video and online counselling.
In an emergency, please call 000.
How to recognise the difference between depression and sadness and learn when you may need to seek professional support.
Read moreEveryone feels sad or down from time to time, but this does not necessarily mean you are depressed. Depression is an intense feeling of sadness that lasts for a long time, sometimes weeks, months or years. Here MensLine Australia discusses the signs to look out for if you think you may be depressed.
Read moreDepression affects people of all ages. It is not an inevitable or normal aspect of ageing, although some of the changes that may accompany ageing, such as poor health and the loss of peers and loved ones, may contribute to it. Here MensLine Australia explores how to recognise the symptoms of depression, and how to treat it.
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