As my son returns to college I am fighting tears and happy at the same time. It is such a big adjustment to be away from him for several weeks at a time. I am sitting here thinking about the big impact of life transitions. We all experience them.
It is common knowledge that loss of a loved one and tragedies can increase risk of depression.
Moving, marriage, child moving out, job loss, retirement, and functional changes can increase risk of depression.
Diagnosis with a chronic illness can increase risk of depression.
As age increases, these life transitions can become more frequent.
When not recognized and addressed, depression can make you feel tired with too little energy, make it hard to concentrate and cause you to lose interest in things that you used to enjoy. It can also lead to you feeling sad and hopeless.
Depression is NOT a normal part of aging.
You do NOT have to just tolerate it and think this is your new normal.
Depression does NOT mean you have done something wrong.
There is help, and there is hope! Effective depression treatment usually requires support from people and medications. Medications that treat depression take about 8 weeks to work, so please be patient and take them every day until they work.
To further complicate things, depression is common in someone experiencing memory decline. As stated above, depression makes it harder to concentrate and remember. Cognitive or memory decline often leads to depression as the decline is recognized. Professional diagnosis and treatment is imperative to sort through what is causing what symptoms and the best course of action.
Remember, you do not have to live with depression.
Call us for a depression screening today at 410-472-5078 or learn more at www.medsmash.com.
For more application, check out my personal blog.
