Depression is diagnosed when you have symptoms for at least 2 weeks and these symptoms interfere with your normal functioning. You are not alone. Depression affects 1 in 7 Australians. It is a serious medical condition that affects your physical and mental health.
Jenny’s depression presents as being “uninterested” in social events, even though she once enjoyed them. She has “withdrawn” from life. Her depression is also evident in her low self-esteem and feelings of worthlessness, which is why she is so willing to take the “bad runs that no one else wants” – she believes that she doesn’t deserve the good runs. Jenny’s depression also makes it difficult for her to concentrate and this is presenting as poor short-term memory.
Depression is different from sadness or grief in the following ways:
- Grief or painful, sad feelings come in waves. In depression, mood and or interest /pleasure are decreased for most of the time.
- In grief, self-esteem is usually maintained. However, with depression, feelings of worthlessness and self-loathing are common.
Depression can present in lots of different ways. For more examples of what depression might look like, explore other bus worker scenarios on the website.
Feeling down or flat or a short period of time is normal. But when those feelings don’t go away for more than 2 weeks and they start to interfere with your ability to complete tasks as you don’t have the energy or motivation to get out of bed or you lose interest in things that were once pleasurable, it is a serious condition that makes it hard to cope with work, commitments, and daily life.
The great news is that there are proven treatments to help people manage their depression. Your GP can diagnose your condition and then match you to the right treatment according to your diagnosis. To learn more about depression and how it can be managed, please click here.
HOW CAN I TELL IF I HAVE DEPRESSION?
To help you understand if your symptoms are likely to be depression, Beyond Blue has a Mental Health Check-in. It is a short questionnaire that asks how you have felt over the past 4 weeks. The results are anonymous and will give you some recommendation on how and what kind of support you may benefit from:
Beyond Blue – Mental health check-in
https://www.beyondblue.org.au/mental-health/mental-health-check-in-k10
WHO CAN I TALK TO? WHERE CAN I FIND OUT MORE?
Your GP can help you understand mental health and provide advice. Other good links for you to review or people to talk to include:
Beyond Blue https://www.beyondblue.org.au/mental-health/depression
Black Dog Institute https://www.blackdoginstitute.org.au/
or if you need immediate help https://www.blackdoginstitute.org.au/emergency-help/
Lifeline https://www.lifeline.org.au/get-help/information-and-support/depression/
If you want to talk to someone for free you can
- Call Lifeline – 13 11 14
- Text Lifeline – 0477 13 11 14
- Lifeline online chat https://www.lifeline.org.au/crisis-chat
Mindspot https://www.mindspot.org.au
