Depression is treatable so don’t be afraid to seek medical help

My First Foot in the surgery last week might have flown in the face of tradition – but I considered it a good omen anyway.

Rather than a tall, dark-haired man this year it was actually a 25-year-old woman.

Around a year ago she’d come in to see me after feeling low and tearful for a couple of months.

She’d lost all pleasure in seeing her friends, reading and playing the cello – activities she’d previously always enjoyed.

Although she was tired, falling asleep wasn’t easy and in the morning she felt especially hopeless.

The girl who’d burst out crying when she tried to talk to me in 2018, I’m happy to say, looked like a new woman – one who was looking forward to 2019.

There are a few different definitions of depression but generally it’s a persistent low mood every day for more than a couple of weeks.

That’s along with some other common symptoms, like a loss of enjoyment in activities, disrupted sleep, loss of appetite or comfort eating, guilt, indecision and agitation or slowing of movement. Sometimes people experience difficult life events like bereavement, redundancy or the end of a long relationship.

It’s normal to feel down or upset because of these, and that usually isn’t depression although it certainly might feel like it.

Usually people will bounce back – but that’s not to say adversity can’t tip over into a depressive illness.

Depression is often worse in the morning, and those experiencing it feel they can’t face the day.

My advice in that situation is to try not to think about the day as a whole. Focus on one thing at a time, like having a shower, making a cup of tea, or even switching on the television.

Anti-depressants work, but aren’t a quick fix, as they take a few weeks to work and patients may experience side effects before the benefits. They do work for most, however, and they’re not addictive.

There are also counselling options, and something called Cognitive Behavioural Therapy which works on some of the negative thinking so destructive in depression.

If anything, seeing my patient in good mental health reminded me that although depression can seem hopeless, especially when you’re in the midst of it yourself, it is a very treatable condition.