About Depression vs. Sadness
(http://www.find-a-psychologist.com/conditions/depres
sion.htm)


the test
(http://www.findingstone.com/servi
ces/tests/depressiontest.htm)
i got an: 72






How do you know when what you are experiencing is just a bad day or something more serious? We all have our ups and downs depending on how our day or week is going. The transition from bad day to rut to clinical depression can be gradual and leave even the strongest person thinking, "What is wrong with me? I just have to try harder! Why am I so lazy? Why can't I get out of bed?"




SIGNS OF CLINICAL DEPRESSION
Concentration is often impaired
Feeling fatigued after 12 hours of sleep
Inability to experience pleasure
Decrease in appetite or food loses its taste
Increased isolation
Feelings of guilt, helplessness and/or hopelessness
Sleep disturbance or unable to fall back to sleep
Thoughts of suicide
Change in personality
Missing deadlines or a drop in standards
Increased alcohol/drug use Increased sexual promiscuity
Increase in self-critical thoughts with a voice in the
back of one's mind providing a constant barrage of harsh,
negative statements
If someone experiences most of the above symptoms for more than two weeks, there is a good chance they are suffering from a clinical depression.

Questions About 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 one's 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.

WHEN YOU LOOK AT ME

When you look at me, what do you see
Do you see my inner beauty,
My compassion or wit
Or do you see that I'm fat and nothing more

When you look at me, what do you see
My twinkling eyes, my smile,
My love for reading
Or do you see that I'm fat and nothing more

When you look at me, what do you see
My passion for music,
My glee for cooking, my love of animals
Or do you see that I'm fat and nothing more

If all you see is my fat,
Then aren't you missing out,
On knowing the wonderful person inside?
When you look at me, what do you want to see?