The month of October is designated as a month to spread awareness about mental health and depression screening. Screening is a way for people to find out whether or not they may be dealing with various mental health issues and/or depressive disorders. When we bring awareness to the screening process for mental health issues and depressive disorders, more people may be willing to get their own mental health assessments and find out the best way they can get the help they need.

As October is depression screening month, there are some things that people should know so that they may consider getting screenings themselves including signs and symptoms of depressive disorders, how you can support a loved one living with a depressive disorder, and available treatments for depression.

Identifying Some of the Signs and Symptoms of Depressive Disorders

Before deciding to get a depression screening, it can be helpful to identify some of the signs and symptoms of depressive disorders in your life. If you pinpoint some of these symptoms in your daily life, it can give you the confidence you need to make the first step to getting a diagnosis and develop a treatment plan so you can better manage these symptoms.

Living with untreated depression can lead to lasting pain, physical health issues, and suicidal thoughts, ideation, and behaviors. This is why it’s so important to recognize the signs and symptoms of depressive disorders early on and establish help through screening and treatment.

Some of the signs and symptoms of the various depressive disorders can include:

• experiencing negative emotions like sadness, despair, shame, guilt, and hopelessness
• sleeping too little or too much
• not being able to control eating – eating too much or too little
• not keeping up with personal hygiene
• thinking about or planning suicide
• having apathy, even for previously enjoyed activities/passions
• not being able to hold focus
• restlessness and/or sluggishness

I Think my Loved One is Living With a Depressive Disorder – How Can I Help?

It can be difficult recognizing that a loved one may be living with mental health issues like a depressive disorder. While the choice to get professional help is solely that of the individual who is living with a mental health issue, there are things loved ones can do to help. Some things you can do to help a loved one living with depression include:

-educating yourself on depressive disorders, available treatments, and coping methods
-be a listening ear without judgment
-research available treatments and bring them up with your loved one
-don’t leave them out of social gatherings – even if they decline invitations
-don’t ignore mentions of suicide – reach out to emergency services if you have to
-if treatment is accepted – be a part of their treatment planning

Explore Available Treatment Options for Depression

Even if you haven’t gotten a depression screening yet, it can be helpful to consider available depression treatment options so you know what you would feel most comfortable with after a diagnosis. There are a number of treatment approaches available for people living with depressive disorders. Different treatments may work differently from person to person, so it’s important to understand that you may do your best to utilize a number of treatments in order to find what works for you. Some examples of depression treatment techniques include:

Behavioral Therapy: Behavioral therapies like DBT and CBT help to teach people living with mental health issues like depressive disorders positive and healthy coping skills to utilize when symptoms of mental health issues arise.

Psychiatric Medications: Various antidepressants can be prescribed to people struggling with the symptoms of depressive disorders in order to manage debilitating symptoms. These medications work by balancing brain chemicals that are believed to be the cause of many symptoms of depressive disorders.

TMS: TMS is a revolutionary tool that utilizes electromagnetic currents to stimulate areas of the brain that aren’t functioning properly and may be the cause of dysregulated brain chemicals that can result in depressive symptoms.

Getting Depression Screening and Treatment at Yellowbrick

Yellowbrick offers comprehensive mental health assessments that can help people living with depressive disorders determine what type of disorder they may be dealing with. Furthermore, we offer a number of treatment services in order to help people living with depressive disorders find and establish lasting mental well-being.