According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), major depressive disorder entails a persistent depressive mood or a loss of interest and pleasure.
This is entirely separate from having a bad day or week, because those come to an end. Depression’s onset is a repetitive cycle of symptoms for two weeks, most days.
What characterizes major depressive disorder?
- Significant changes in weight
- Insomnia or hypersomnia
- A diminished ability to think or concentrate
- Feelings of heaviness or restlessness
- Feelings of worthlessness
- Fatigue
- Suicidal ideation
To be diagnosed with major depressive disorder, one must exhibit at least five of these symptoms. Combined with an initial depressive mood.
Furthermore, a display of these symptoms may be linked to the five stages of grief or manic episodes that are common symptoms in borderline personality disorder and bipolar disorder.
Ultimately, only a licensed mental health professional can determine whether a person falls under the major depressive disorder umbrella.
Despite that, here are simple and reliable ways to tackle depression.
Take a spoonful of positivity
As above, so below; as within, so without. As the universe, so the soul. This is a quote from The 7 Hermetic Principles by William Walker Atkinson, an American pioneer of the New Thought Movement.
Atkinson’s various texts point out how complex the human mind is. Even with the current advancements in technology, it would be impossible to recreate a brain. With all its convoluted and wonderful functions, including depression.
A change in mindscape does not ease depression. It will not cure the aching pains of suicidal ideation or make one forget hard truths. That’s not the world we live in.
Thinking positively and creating a similar environment around you. That will exclude you from falling into a routine of self-pity. Positive thought affords your mind and soul a glimmer of hope when you really need it.
Cultivate a support system
When you’re going through a tough time, it is advised to have someone to lean on. By any design, it is not easy. There is the fear of judgment, even if you are surrounded by people who won’t judge you.
Depression is deeply personal and nuanced. The only way to understand it is if you’ve been through its depths.
When you allow those closest to you to see you at your most vulnerable. You cultivate trust, even in moments when you’re at your lowest. You need people you can trust.
Self-love
It is a bit of a reach: the urge to do anything that betters oneself eludes us. We can’t possibly imagine how something as simple as a bath or trimming our nails will circumvent our depression.
The thing with depression is that there is no one cure-all approach. There are only little doses, carefully counted rounds, all aimed at a horizon far beyond the lowest point.
Go to bed on time, rekindle that fitness subscription, or even take on that morning route. If possible, learn a new hobby. What’s the worst that could happen?
Volunteering
Human beings are social creatures. Despite the isolation behind our small and jumbo screens, it it does little to dissuade that.
Newer generations are often referred to as the ‘loneliest generation.’ What does that spell for everyone else? Have we adapted to modern-day solitude?
As we move away from larger communities and recede into nuclear family structures, some of us forget what it is like to use our social batteries.
Especially when our emotional lives are in duress. The act of volunteering involves placing your needs second to those of others, albeit for a short while.
The act of service takes you away from the hyperreal mess of being self-involved. It takes the spotlight away from woe and sheds it on those in much colder and compromising positions.
Seek professional insight
Mental health services aren’t always affordable. Depending on where you’re located, dipping your hand in the cookie jar for mental health services isn’t realistic, but beneficial in the long run.
Even learning about certain conditions from diagnostic manuals and experts goes a long way in the acknowledgment and validation of depression.
