Like a thief in the night depression can steal away years of your life.
No one is safe from this illness and there are no sure fire cures.
When first diagnosed with depression many people feel ashamed but they shouldn't.
Some of the greatest thinkers in history have suffered from depression and one of the greatest minds of this century, Winston Churchill suffered from manic depression now referred to as bipolar depression.
Suffering from depression does not point to a flaw in your character any more than developing cancer does.
The good news is if you are suffering from depression you are not alone and there are effective treatments available for you.
There are a number of ways to treat depression and self help seems to be rapidly gaining favor amongst those suffering.
Self help centers around changes in lifestyle, attitude, and actions.
One of the first things a person tends to do when suffering from depression is to withdraw from friends and family.
They feel the need to seclude themselves from the world but by fighting this temptation and making an effort to attend social gatherings a person has a good change at reducing their symptoms of depression.
Remember to surround yourself with people who are generally positive as their positivity will have a catching effect hopefully bettering your mood as well.
Try to make it a point to avoid regular company with negative people as they can also have a mood sharing effect leading to a worsening of your depression.
Ever heard the phrase misery loves company? This is all to true.
Moving along perhaps one of the strongest things a person can do is to take care of themselves physically.
A strong physical body can help to maintain a strong mental one as well.
By eating properly and including nutrients such as Omega3 fatty acids a person stands a good chance of fighting off depression symptoms or at the very least reducing whatever symptoms might already be present.
Eating healthy is not enough alone but couple with regular exercise you should start to see a real increase in the level of happiness in your life.
Exercise is an extremely effective outlet to release stress that builds up in all of our daily lives.
Think of it as a blow off valve.
By releasing built up stress instead of allowing it to continue to build you are taking a large stride in the fight against depression.
One of the most overlooked causes of depression is sleep deprivation.
With our jobs requiring more and more hours of us each week we find ourselves with less time to spend with family and friends.
Often to compensate, we rob our bodies of much needed sleep in an attempt to squeeze a few extra hours into the day.
Sadly, the result is often sleep deprivation which can lead to severe mental health issues including depression.
In the end it is important that you choose some type of help for depression and self help is only one of the available methods of treatment.