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Depression truths

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Everyone feels overwhelmed or gets stressed out from time to time. But for some people, this feeling can last for weeks, months or even years. It may be depression, a medical condition that, unlike other diseases can be treated.

Depression affects every part of a person. It influences their thoughts and behaviour, their emotions and their physical well-being. It can change their attitude towards family, friends and work. For some, it's a matter of feeling overwhelmed, sad or stressed out. For others, depression's also marked by aches and pains, fatigue and sleep or eating disorders.

The key is to seek help. Unfortunately two-thirds of people with depression don't do this, hoping the condition will just "go away" on its own, or that they'll "snap out of it" eventually. Many of them fear family, friends and colleagues will treat them differently if they know.

The bottom line, however, is that there's a wide range of drugs now available to treat both the emotional and physical symptoms of depression. Most psychiatrists recommend staying on an anti-depressant for at least six to 12 months, since the new-generation drugs aren't addictive and have very few side-effects. Best of all, while they take four to six weeks to start working properly, within the first 14 days many symptoms of depression will already have disappeared.

Depression's far more prevalent than most of us realise. If you think you may be suffering from it, consult your GP, who'll be able to diagnose the problem and prescribe safe and effective treatment.

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