Depression is considered a medical illness of chronic duration that deals with altering all medical, physiological and psychological aspects of the personality of patient. Depression refers to a persistent feeling of low self esteem and unhappiness that may or may not be associated with any provoking event in the life of patient. However in some cases there may not be any trigger.

What increase your risk to develop depression?

Depression may occur at any age, from young to very old. Most cases of depression in people of old age. There are a few risk factors that can greatly increase the risk of depression in people.

These are

• A positive family history of depression or other psychiatric disorder in the family. The risk is significantly higher if the depression is seen in immediate relatives.
• Any sudden change in the environment or in people around. This may be as normal of an event as switching a job, change of home or neighborhood, change of school (especially in children as they are more sensitive to changes around them and takes longer to adapt). If stressful events are more extreme, the risk of depression increases significantly with the severity of stress. For example the risk of depression is fairly high with the loss of parents or death of close relatives/friends and with the divorce.
• Personality of the individuals also matter. Some people take more time to adapt to their surrounding then others. Sensitive people are more vulnerable to get the influence of things happening in their surroundings.
• People who are patients of a chronic illness that may be any surgery or medical issue that affects the day to day activities, limit mobility, affect dependency or make people dependent on other may also lead to depression.

How to deal with depression?

Depression is a more complicated subject than it appears. Our brain has a right blend and balance of some neurotransmitters and any alteration or imbalance in the production or release of some neurotransmitters may culminate in widespread psychological alterations, an example of which is Depression. It is very important to deal with depression at the right time as if left untreated; depression may lead to suicidal tendency and other psychological alterations.

• Although behavioral management can sort out a number of issues, but in most cases depressive patients may need pharmacotherapy to control the level of neurotransmitters. It is poorly understood how day to day events can affect the level of different neurotransmitters in the brain but in either case, it is mandatory to remove the stressful event too.
• It is advised to keep yourself busy in activities that are productive and entertaining. Avoid spending time alone even if you are living alone. Improvement is social dealings can improve the symptoms of illness greatly.
  It is also advised to go to counseling after any stressful event that has changed your life to give yourself time to adapt to the change and to deal with it in a better fashion.
• If you have constant low levels of activity, it is better to go see a doctor for medical prescription.