Depression is one of the most common mood disorders in the world and one of its most important types is major depression, which affects nearly one in 10 people. A depressive episode may affect 1 in 3 women and 1 in 5 men before the age of 65. So never mind, you are not alone, it is a common global disorder and has appropriate treatment methods that we will talk about in this article.
What is it?
First, you need to understand that you are not depressed. It’s simply a change in the “lens color” through which we see life, turning our clear lens black because of depression. God Almighty did not create us with dark, depressive lenses. That’s why depression is something external, and just as the lenses changed for the worse, there are treatments that help remove this darkness from your perspective and bring the lenses back to their clear state. And no matter how much those dark, depressive lenses convince you that there’s no hope in trying or living, remember that these are only depressive thoughts that make us feel sad. The lenses will return to their clear state just as they were before.
With the buildup of life pressures – whether family, social, work-related, health, financial, or educational – we may fall into a pit of depression with dark soil that colors the lenses through which we see life. We find ourselves in a depression pit feeling constant sadness and occasional spontaneous crying episodes. However, we lose our passion and enjoyment of the activities we used to enjoy. For example, whoever enjoys communicating with others may be isolated due to a lack of pleasure from that because of the melancholy of the depression lens, and whoever enjoys practicing a certain activity may lose that because of the melancholy of the depressive lenses.
And at the bottom of that pit, because of its depth, we may no longer be able to see the goals we set before falling into it. We lose hope in the future and keep replaying the painful events of the past, which only deepens the darkness of those depressive lenses. We see the future as dark, and we see ourselves with the same lens of lack of importance and role. We have dark thoughts that we are burdens on others and that we have no future and that others and ourselves do not deserve attention or even life. And how could it be otherwise when the lenses of depression are black, making everything appear dark and stirring doubts and fears about ourselves, others, and our future. Because of these dark, depressive thoughts, we start to withdraw and stop going out into life. The black lenses of depression begin to focus on everything unpleasant and magnify it, and on everything beautiful and shrink it, leading us to isolate ourselves. Depression seizes that opportunity to infuse more of its dark thoughts; it urges us not to leave the bed or the room, knowing that these actions reduce the blackness of its lenses. It convinces us that eating is not important to reduce appetite and thus changes the settings of our body so as not to increase the nutrients necessary to provide us with strength to try to get out of the depression pit in an effort to increase its depth. When we lack the essential nutrients our bodies need, our energy and ability to carry out our usual tasks decrease. We begin to feel heavy and weak, which leads to even more isolation. We avoid doing the things that once made us happy, and the depressive lenses grow darker. With that, our sadness and isolation deepen, allowing depression to achieve its goal of gaining more and more control. As the darkness of the depressive lenses increases, it begins to make us doubt even the simplest decisions, using hesitation as an ally to deepen the darkness. We then avoid making even basic choices due to our doubts about their outcomes. His lenses tell us: Do not eat because your appetite is low, do not go out because your energy is low, and do not communicate with anyone because life is useless. As the depth of the depression pit increases, we may feel hopeless and frustrated, yet our focus, which was affected by isolation and not doing what we were doing before, decreases.
But let us remember that these are just dark, depressive lenses that we hadn’t seen through before. Just as they came, they can go, using scientifically proven therapeutic skills that I will refer to later. The depressive lenses are not us; they are external, and our view of life will return to being clear, just as it was.
How it is diagnosed:
To diagnose depression, there must be either a decrease in mood (sadness), loss of interest, or enjoyment of activities that we have been accustomed to for two weeks or more. In addition, a total of 5 out of 9 symptoms must be present:
- Appetite disorder (either loss of appetite or excessive increase), which affects weight.
- Sleep disturbance (either insomnia or excessive sleeping).
- Decreased activity or energy level.
- Dark thoughts that we are worthless, a burden to others, or feelings of guilt.
- Reduced concentration or hesitation in making decisions.
- Recurring dark depressive thoughts about death or thoughts of self-harm or suicide.
- Easily angered or irritable, with slowed physical movement and heaviness.
Let us always remember that these are symptoms of an illness, such as smoke being a sign of fire, and once the fire (depression) is put out, the smoke (the symptoms) will fade.
Treatment methods:
The psychiatrist or psychologist usually inquires about these symptoms and then does the following:
- Excluding organic diseases that cause similar symptoms, such as thyroid disorders, and taking blood tests to check for these possibilities.
- Diagnosis of depressive disorders. Depression may be secondary to other disorders, such as anxiety disorders, eating disorders, personality disorders, or psychotic disorders, to name a few.
- After confirming the diagnosis of depression, its severity is determined. Each level of severity has appropriate treatment methods, including:
- Mild depression:
Very mild depression can be treated through self-education and behavioral activation, which involves creating and planning a daily routine that combines doing activities we used to do and observing their effect on our mood. This gradually clears the darkness of the depressive lenses, especially if access to psychological treatment is not available for any reason.
- Mild to Moderate Depression:
Seeking psychological treatment is very important. It is provided by a psychiatrist or a psychology specialist trained in delivering these forms of therapy, including cognitive behavioral therapy, interpersonal therapy, psychodynamic therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, supportive therapy, or problem‑solving therapy. At this stage, antidepressants may not be necessary, as most cases respond to talk‑based psychological therapies. However, if improvement is difficult, antidepressants can be started after consulting a doctor.
- Moderate to severe depression:
The appropriate treatment method from the options above is determined by a psychiatrist or psychology specialist. Antidepressants may also be started after consulting the psychiatrist. For example, someone experiencing low concentration and memory may not benefit enough from talk‑based psychological therapy alone, and in such cases, starting antidepressants alongside the previously mentioned therapy sessions may be necessary. Some cases of very severe depression may require additional treatment methods, such as magnetic or electrical brain stimulation, which are highly effective and scientifically proven, especially when the person’s life is at risk.
Of course, each case is different and an appropriate treatment plan is designed for each case. I always encourage clients to ask themselves the following question for problem-solving:
When you’re locked in a room and have five keys, would you give up just because the first key didn’t open the door? Or will you try to use the rest of the keys?
Therapeutic methods work the same way. A person might respond to one approach differently than the one before it. Each unsuccessful attempt is just a bump in the road, not the entire path. We need to hold on to hope, the way out, so we can keep trying no matter how much the dark depressive lenses tell us it’s impossible. They’re only thoughts that depression uses to convince us, so it can take over even more.
You can self-assess whether you’re experiencing severe depression or not through a Mental Health Test Tool
The self-help method suggested is based on cognitive behavioral therapy research.
| Reversing the thoughts and behaviors that depression imposes on us, which lead to recovery from it | The reason | The thoughts and behaviors that depression imposes on us, which make it more severe |
| Social interaction: Take small steps in messaging a friend or relative and meeting them for even 5 minutes and notice the difference in how sad you are and how wrong your dark thoughts were. | Low mood happens when depressive thoughts aren’t corrected, thoughts saying there’s no point in being around others, that we’re a burden, or that no one cares about us. | Social isolation. |
| Improve your diet, and if you lose your appetite, remember that it’s like a muscle; it weakens and strengthens. By stimulating your appetite, your mood and energy levels will improve, thus lessening the severity of your depression. Remember that eating one more bite or snack is better than nothing, and that the recovery curve is gradual and winding. Your appetite will improve, and with it, your mood and energy levels. Also, remember that depression convinces us that we must love what we use, but we don’t love using the ladder/stairs to get to it. It’s simply a means to escape our situation. | Depression seeks to control us by depriving us of the nutrients necessary for daily activities. With appetite disturbances, activity decreases, sleep and thinking are disrupted, and we feel even sadder. | Appetite changes |
| nothing. Recovery is gradual and uneven, and your appetite will improve along with your mood and energy. Also, remember that depression tries to convince us that we must enjoy what we use, which is false. We don’t need to love using a ladder or stairs to use them. They are simply tools to get out of where we are. When you wake up, tell yourself, “I will get out of bed even for just five minutes.” Instead of staying in bed, use a chair and try taking a lukewarm shower instead of a warm or hot one. This helps shift the depression‑affected mindset, boosting your mood and motivating you for the rest of the day. Also, do the following: Make your goal relaxation, not sleep. Sleep is often beyond our control, but we can relax, which reduces anxiety about not sleeping and gradually helps you fall asleep. Gradually reduce daytime naps, for example, by cutting them by an hour to build sleep pressure for the evening. Avoid caffeine-containing drinks after late afternoon. Replace them with a glass of milk, tea, or chamomile, for example. Avoid exercising in the evening before bedtime. Prepare your room to be quiet, at a comfortable temperature, and dimly lit before sleeping. Use your bed only for sleep and avoid using your phone in bed; phone light reduces melatonin in the brain, which promotes sleep, causing insomnia. When getting ready to sleep, keep your phone away so you don’t watch the time, as monitoring the clock increases anxiety, which reduces sleep and worsens insomnia. Try reading a physical book instead of an electronic one to avoid lightexposure. If you can’t sleep within 20 minutes, leave the bed and sit on a chair in another room without starting stimulating activities like watching TV, using your phone, or reading an exciting book. Return to bed when you feel tired or bored and repeat the previous steps. – قم بالعودة للسرير عندما تشعر بالإرهاق أو الملل وأعد الخطوات السابقة. | Oversleeping or insomnia increases depression’s control over us by lowering our activity, concentration, and motivation to perform the tasks we used to do. Therefore, when you wake up early, get out of bed to break the mental association between wakefulness and the bed. This way, when you are in bed, the only thing that comes to mind is sleep, rather than lying down without doing anything. | Sleep changes. |
| Use the principle of gradual steps in doing things, which will slowly break the mindset of despair and guilt. Acknowledge your achievements, no matter how small. Getting out of bed, even for a short time, is an accomplishment, and increasing your food intake when you’ve lost your appetite is also an achievement. Record these small achievements. Just as accumulated drops form rivers, small successes build up over time. | One of the symptoms of depression is despair and feeling like a burden to others, accompanied by guilt. | Despair. |
| Write down the activities you used to enjoy in your phone notes and start with the ones that require the least energy to serve as your experiments. For example, if you enjoyed watching a movie, choose a short movie you’ve previously enjoyed and gradually increase the duration to reactivate your enjoyment settings. Pay attention to your experience, even if it’s just for five minutes. | Depression makes us feel a lack of pleasure in things we used to enjoy through its dark lenses. Remember that depression | Loss of enjoyment in activities we once liked. |
| Create a schedule of physical activities, no matter how simple, for example, doing push-ups during your day. Activity is like a muscle; it needs exercise to get stronger. Start with two push-ups, then stop, gradually increasing the number while noticing the effect on your mood and energy. Without a doubt, your mood and energy will rise, motivating you to repeat the activity and gradually extend the duration. | Depression robs us of energy by altering appetite, sleep, and pleasure, leaving us feeling low on activity. Doing simple exercises in your room raises your heart rate and activates 25% of the capillaries in the brain, improving mood and energy by 25%, along with better concentration and memory, while reducing dark depressive thoughts like despair. | Low activity/energy levels. |
| Reverse the mindset that pushes toward self-harm into one of self-care. When self-harm thoughts come to you, postpone acting on them even for one minute. You’ll notice they weaken with time. Replace the thought of harming yourself with a thought of caring for yourself. Some clients, for example, apply a nicely scented lotion or moisturizer to shift that mindset and delay turning the thought into an action. Remember that it is just a thought, not a fact, and the negativity of a thought doesn’t make it true. Always remember that self-harm thoughts are created by depression, not by you. They are merely passing negative thoughts. Bad in content and without value. | Depression makes us feel worthless, undeserving, and like a burden on others through his dark lens. He makes us believe we don’t deserve to live and deserve harm, while in reality these are his gloomy thoughts, not facts. In a single day, we experience about 70,000 thoughts, most of which (70%) are negative. The issue isn’t the negative thought itself, but turning it into behavior. Remember that acting on it only worsens our mood and deepens the depression. Always keep in mind that a thought is not a fact, and that we didn’t have these thoughts before experiencing depression. The dark lens of depression is foreign to us; it wasn’t part of us before it appeared. And just as depression came from the outside, it will leave. God did not create us with depression. It’s just a bump on our path, not the entire road. Always remember that an idea is not a fact, and that we did not suffer from those ideas before we suffered from depression. The dark lens of depression is an intruder, and we did not have it before we suffered from it. Just as depression is an intruder, it will leave. God did not create us with depression; it is merely a bump in our path, not the whole path. | Self‑harm thoughts |
| – تذكر أن التردد عرض لمرض وأن التجنب والتأجيل يزيدنا حيرة وترددا- لا يجب علينا التأكد من نتيجة قراراتنا، فعملها بما يكفي مهم للتخلص من التردد- تذكر أن فعل الشيء بنسبة ٢٠٪ أفضل من عدم فعله فذلك يأتي بنتيجة صفر٪ – أعد جدولة قراراتك وابدأ بالأسهل منها حتى وإن لم تكمل المهمة وتدرج في قائمة أهدافك.- تذكر بأن البحر مكون من العديد من القطرات الصغيرة وكذلك المطر، فهو تراكم للعديد من القطرات.- استشعر الجزء الذي حققته ليتحسن مزاجك أكثر ويساعدك في الاستمرار في تراكم تحقيق الهدف.- اربط ذهنيا عملك غير الممتع بشيء ممتع، مثلا سأتفرج على التلفاز بعد قيامي بالمهمة الفلانية فبذلك يزداد حماسك وتركيزك.- التردد يجلب التردد، والتجنب يجلب المزيد من التجنب، لذلك الحل في المواجهة التدريجية والتي ستزيل التردد تدريجيا. | Depression puts us in a state of confusion and hesitation over even the smallest choices, mentally and physically draining us and holding us back from completing the simplest tasks. This is one of the symptoms of depression. It leads us to delay or avoid things we’re capable of doing, no matter how small. | Difficulty making decisions |
| Remember the connection between mood and our behaviors, which are affected by depression. Incorporate some simple pleasures into your day—those things that used to bring you joy. Write down these past pleasures and include them in your schedule for the next day. Notice how your mood improves with them, realizing that depression isn’t you. Acknowledge any improvement in mood, even if it’s just 1%; recognizing it will boost your mood and add to your accomplishments. Choose pleasures that align with your personal, religious, or social values. For example, some people feel happy when helping others, and research has confirmed this. So, write a list of things you can do to help someone else. It could be saying a kind word or offering your help to those around you. This will increase the neurotransmitters that bring happiness and improve your mood. | lens through which we see life, and that feeling is a symptom of the illness, not who we are. Our mood and its decline are closely tied to our behaviors, like avoidance, isolation, and hesitation. Doing the opposite, facing situations instead of avoiding them, making decisions instead of hesitating, and noticing any amount of progress, no matter how small, builds strength and lifts our mood. Finally, depression’s dark thoughts magnify the negative and shrink the positive outcomes of any decision we try to make. Don’t give attention to those exaggerated negative expectations. Start with the smallest tasks, even if they don’t feel meaningful at first. Progress is cumulative, just like exercise: when someone goes to the gym, they don’t see their muscles grow right away, but the change appears gradually with continued effort. | Difficulty making decisions |
