Major depression goes hand in hand with sleep troubles like insomnia. The less you sleep, the more things bother you and the harder it is to get a good night's sleep. It's a vicious cycle that stresses your body and jeopardizes the success of your treatment plan. The systems in your body that control hormones and brain waves depend on a smoothly running body clock to keep you balanced, so restoring healthy sleep patterns is essential for your mental and physical health. Getting on a regular bedtime schedule will help reset your internal clock so your body knows when to sleep and when to wake. Set aside 30 minutes before bed to finish the day’s must-dos (10 minutes), do hygiene things (10 minutes), and wind down with some deep breathing or meditation (10 minutes).
Depression Complications
Medically untreated depression puts people at higher risk for infectious diseases, type 2 diabetes and heart problems. People who do not seek treatment for depression also fail to thrive in work, home and school settings. It can negatively affect relationships, sleep patterns and libido. In severe cases untreated depression can result in suicide.
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Talk to your primary care doctor if you have diabetes and think you may be depressed. He or she can properly diagnose you, or can find someone qualified to make the diagnosis. If you do not feel comfortable talking to your doctor, are unsure where to go for help, or just want to talk more about depression, others who can help you include:- Regional or community mental health centers
- Hospital psychiatry departments and outpatient clinics
- Mental health programs at universities or medical schools
- Psychiatrists, psychologists, licensed social workers or mental health counselors
- State hospital outpatient clinics
- Family services, social agencies or clergy
- Peer support groups
- Private clinics and facilities
- Employee assistance programs in the workplace
- Local medical and/or psychiatric societies
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Dominion Hospital answeredMasked depression affects the body in different ways, depending on the behavior that is covering up the depression. Substance abuse or alcohol abuse, two common forms of masked depression, affect the body in many detrimental ways. An eating disorder is another example of masked depression that can have a devastating effect on the body's health.
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Dominion Hospital answeredSee All 2 Answers
Depending on the case, depression can have a mild to severe affect on the body. Depression may lead to overeating and weight gain, or loss of appetite and weight loss. The emotional stress of depression can cause heart disease and lead to drug and alcohol abuse with its associated negative physical impacts. Insomnia caused by depression can make you feel weak and devoid of energy.
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Dr. Mehmet Oz, MD , Cardiology (Cardiovascular Disease), answeredSee All 5 AnswersWhen I say depression, I'm not talking about losing 20 bucks in the office Super Bowl pool. A more passive negative emotional state over the long term is strongly associated with heart disease. In fact, people with depression are statistically four times more likely to have a heart attack than people who are not depressed. A feeling of helplessness appears to weaken the immune system. Beyond that, we need to learn a lot about how the depressed state of mind affects the body; what we know now is that it does affect it profoundly.
For instance, one study has shown that depression increases platelet aggregation, which means that being depressed may make you more prone to arterial clotting and arterial aging. Seeking professional help and managing depression requires recognizing it in yourself or friends, and getting help or helping your friends get help results in more than a 90 percent reduction in symptoms and consequences in just three months. Seeking help, whether through therapy or medication, is a needed first step to help you and your heart. -
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Dr. Michael Roizen, MD , Internal Medicine, answeredA mother suffering from depression can negatively affect her child's development. Watch this video as Dr. Mike Roizen and Dr. Ellen Rome talk about the effects of and remedies for postpartum depression.
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HealthyWomen answeredSee All 2 AnswersResearch shows that middle-aged women with a history of depression are at a much greater risk of heart disease.
While it remains somewhat elusive to scientists as to exactly why depression is linked to heart disease, they do know that it can increase the production of stress hormones in the body. Stress hormones, like adrenaline and cortisol, can make the heart rate speed up and raise blood pressure.
Many experts suggest women may want to consider getting screened for depression. Women who are depressed would do their heart a big favor to have their depression treated, either by instituting some coping mechanisms of their own or by consulting a health care professional (or both!).
This content originally appeared on HealthyWomen.org. -
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Mounting scientific evidence now suggests that people with diabetes are at least twice as likely to have depression as those in the general population. These increased rates of depression among people with diabetes have been confirmed in multiple studies, as well as across different cultural and ethnic groups. While there is a close relationship between depression and diabetes, there is a lack of public awareness about this relationship.
It is important that people with diabetes, depression -- or both disorders -- know these facts:- The relationship between diabetes and depression is complex. Current research suggests that each disease is a risk factor for developing the other, that the two disorders may share similar patho-physiological mechanisms, and that depression may indicate particularly severe underlying diabetic illness.
- Even symptoms of mild depression (not just a clinical diagnosis of depression) can impair your ability to manage your own health, and lower your quality of life.
- Depression and diabetes has been associated with poor medication adherence, poor glycemic control and with an increased prevalence of complications in Type 2 diabetes.
- Patients with depression in diabetes have 50-70% higher healthcare costs.
- Those with depression in diabetes have a higher risk of mortality than non-depressed patients, particularly the elderly.
- Depression can be treated with antidepressants, psychotherapy, or a flexible combination of both with relatively good results. While treatment improves depression symptoms, no treatment has been clearly identified that improves glycemic control.
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Sigma Nursing answeredSee All 3 AnswersMen who are depressed often experience loss of libido (sexual desire) and have trouble getting and maintaining an erection. Erectile dysfunction (ED) is also a common side effect of some medications used to treat depression. It’s a good idea to talk to your doctor if you think you are depressed, or are taking an antidepressant and have experienced loss of sexual desire or have problems with sexual function. -
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See All 3 AnswersDepression has often been referred to as a normal reaction to an abnormal situation. Therefore, it is not a surprise that depression is the most common complication of almost all chronic or serious medical conditions. Research has shown that depression often causes changes that can worsen a medical condition and reduce the needed energy necessary to cope with changes and treatment schedules, creating a vicious cycle of worsening physical and emotional symptoms.