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  • Q&A with Australian Health Practitioners

    how do you know if you have depression?

    Related Topics
    Depression Mental Health Postnatal Depression
    I have lived a roller coaster life. I have 4 kids latest being twins of 3yrs. I have been on and off on prozac but somehow I dont feel I am getting better. I keep on thinking about things that happened in past and lose interest in life. I cant make myself enjoy what I have today no matter what. What do I do?
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  • Dr Kate Lemerle

    Psychologist

    Kate is a Psychologist with 40 years' diverse experience as a practitioner and educator. She established Chrysalis Wellness Services (now operating as Chrysalis Counselling and … View Profile

    Your life certainly sounds busy and with 4 children, stress and sleeplessness are going to be affecting your sense of wellbeing and quality of life, particularly if you tend towards frequently thinking in negative terms.

    For a diagnosis of depression, you need to meet 5 or more of the following criteria for most of the day nearly every day for at least 2 weeks:
    1. depressed mood (observable to others as well as yourself)
    2. marked loss of interest or pleasure in most almost all activities
    3. significant weight loss without dieting
    4. insomnia or hypersomnia (sleeping too much)
    5. either agitation or retardation of physical activity
    6. fatigue or loss of energy
    7. feelings of worthlessness or guilt
    8. difficulty thinking, concentrating, or making decisions
    9. recurrent thoughts of death (or suicidal thinking)

    If your symptoms don't meet the criteria for a diagnosis of depression, you're more likely suffering from fatigue and stress. Looking at ways you could get some social support could help with this, so you have regular “time off” from your parenting job and use this time meaningfully to regenerate your energy. You could learn basic mindfulness meditation as one powerful way to re-energise, and other forms of relaxation can also help here, particularly with sleeping.

    I also note that you “keep thinking about things that happened in the past”, so I'd suggest some simple exercises to refocus your thinking onto positives. Taking a few moments regularly to reminisce about joyful experiences you've had in life, and really re-experiencing those moments, has the effect of boosting your mood. Taking a few minutes at the end of every day to reflect on what went well during the day and in particular, how you contributed to these things, can also boost your mood. Finding out more about your strengths - you can do a free online survey at www.authentichappiness.com - and making a commitment to actively use one or more “signature strength” each day reorients your thinking to the positives rather than the negatives. Writing a letter of gratitude to someone who has helped you in the past, and deliberately choosing to do something kind for someone, are also both activities that are proving to help people overcome negative moods. In fact, recent evidence is suggesting that these “positivity exercises” have a far more lasting and beneficial effect than the antidepressants, which in all but very severe cases of depression have been shown to be no more effective than placebos.

    So my suggestion to you is to firstly find a psychologist who uses “positive psychology” and can help you develop a personal intervention plan to turn around the way you think about yourself and your life, and secondly, start learning more about the science of positivity and make it a habit to do these activities daily - they are fun, effective, and have no nasty side effects!

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  • Dr Simon Easterbrook-Smith

    Health Professional

    My research interests include immunology and the mechanisms of amyloid formation. The latter has implications for people who are dealing with Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease … View Profile

    Quoting Dr Lemerle: "you can do a free online survey at www.authentichappiness.com"

    A definite +1 to this.

    I am in remission from depression - my psychiatrist recommended Seligman to me.

    I do a regular mood-check on the authentichappiness site - so far, so good, but I know that if things  turn out to be not so good then it is time to have a talk with the members of my care team.

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