To put it simply, depression is characterized by significantly lowered mood and a loss of interest or enthusiasm in activities that are usually enjoyable. Depression affects the body, feelings, thoughts and behavior significantly and can cause a major personality change, thus impacting grossly on ones ability to love, work and function effectively on day-to day bases, the smallest daily tasks can become major hurdles for the depressed person.

 

Depressed mood is very common as well as normal in people, however, how can one distinguish between the normal depression and the more harmful and debilitating depressive episode?

  

The most common emotional, behavioral and physical symptoms of a depressive episode are:

 

Anxiety starts with feelings of uneasiness to immobilizing bouts of terror. Most of us experience anxiety at some point in our lives; this more often than not is accompanied by a sense of nervousness, in anticipation of a real situation. However, in saying this, one must pay attention to the intensity and the severity of these feelings, and seek appropriate help when the unwarranted worries, and uneasiness being experienced become troublesome to the point of avoiding everyday activities. This is indicative of a Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).

 

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) 

Symptoms:

 

Those who suffer from panic disorder experience fast and terrifying heart rate that strikes suddenly without any signs or warning. Panic attacks are unpredictable; they can strike at any time, thus leaving their victims in a constant state of worry that another attack could overcome them at any moment.

 

 

Phobias are irrational fears that lead people to altogether avoid specific things or situation that trigger anxiety.

 

 

PTSD can result from exposure to a traumatic life-threatening event. Events and experiences such as kidnapping, rape, physical abuse, airplane crashes and war, can cause psychological damage and affect a person's ability to function effectively, e.g.: a person may find it hard to maintain a job, or to develop intimate relationship with others.

 

Sufferers of PTSD typically avoid situations and places that remind them of the traumatic event, because they provoke intense distress or even panic attacks.

 

 

 

Stress is a condition or feeling experienced when a person perceives that " demands exceed the personal and social resources the individual is able to mobilize (Richard S Lazarus)

 

Walter Cannon 1932 established the existence of the well known "fight-or-flight response. His work showed that when an organism experiences a shock or perceives a threat, it quickly releases hormones. In humans as in other animals, these hormones help us to run faster and fight harder. They increase heart rate and blood pressure, delivering more oxygen and blood sugar to power important muscles. They increase sweating in an effort to cool these muscles, and help them to stay efficient.

 

They also divert blood away from the skin to the core of our bodies, reducing blood loss if we are injured. This mobilization of the body for survival also has a negative consequence. In this state, we are excitable, anxious, jumpy and irritable. This actually reduces our ability to function effectively with other people. With trembling and a pounding heart, we can find it difficult to execute precise, controlled skills, and find ourselves more accident-prone and less able to make good decisions.

 

In a nutshell, we need to keep this fight-flight response under control to be effective in our daily endeavors and to also avoid problems of poor health and burnout (Mind Tools).