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Do the irregular warm weather days get you excited for summer, but leave you feeling sad or depressed that winter is still here and there are more cold days to come? For many people, Seasonal Affect Disorder (SAD), a type of depression that’s related to changes in seasons, can be a serious issue to overcome every year.

“When I was first diagnosed with major depressive disorder, I was taken aback.” said writer Marie Rudowski. “It was 1993 and ‘depression’ wasn’t quite a household word yet. People with mental illnesses were considered weak or even throwaways. I was glad to have a diagnosis, but I didn’t want to think of myself as ‘broken.’"

In an effort to get treatment to the millions of Americans suffering from undiagnosed depression, the U.S. Preventive Service Task Force (USPSTF) recently recommended that all adults be screened for the disease. Published in the January 26, 2016 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, the USPSTF recommendation places special emphasis on screening pregnant and postpartum women who are less likely to be diagnosed and treated. The USPSTF’s recommendation is a major step towards adoption of the practice nationwide.

When Valentine’s Day hearts and cupids start going up in store windows, and we begin hearing about peoples’ plans for romantic celebrations, it’s hard not to give at least some consideration to your own relationships or how far you may seem to be from having normal relationships. If you’re suffering from depression, the holiday hoopla can remind you how painful interactions with people can be, how alone you may feel, and how far you may seem to be from normal relationships. Those who are undiagnosed or unaware that they have depression may blame themselves for their intensely pessimistic feelings and for distancing themselves from relationships with friends, families, and partners.

Approximately 6 million American men have depression each year, but fewer than half recognize, acknowledge, or seek treatment. Unfortunately, many men feel like they need to be “strong and silent” about their mental illness or society will look down on them, leading them to not find the correct treatment.

Depression is a serious illness that can affect anyone at any age. For many men, there is the added stigma that men with depression are weak or less than other men. This leads to men trying to be “strong and silent” about their mental health challenges and not seek the correct treatment. 

The following is Dr. Rosi’s final blog on Adolescent Depression.

As we’ve discussed in the previous blogs, Adolescent Depression is a challenging, and often debilitating, disease that needs to be diagnosed and treated as soon as possible to achieve the best results.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and perspective on your sister’s depression.  Your observations on how Adolescent Depression can affect a person and family are shared by the hundreds of family members I have seen over my years of treating adolescents.  Depression can be so damaging to the person and the family on multiple levels.  We can all recall the challenges faced in normal adolescence, whether it be who you are as a person, what you believe in, whom you trust, or what you choose to wear to school that day.  Imagine having to deal with depression on top of all that, including continual sadness, low motivation and energy, and possibly disrupted sleep and appetite.  How does one talk about that when the world of adolescence, and the world in general, may stigmatize you?  Fortunately for those who seek help, there are effective treatments for Adolescent Depression and some exciting new research on the horizon.    

The following blog is from a guest blogger that is the sister of a child with Adolescent Depression.

Even though it’s my sister that has depression, all of the family is affected. And, while medication and therapy helps, things are never that simple.

The following blog is from a guest blogger that is the mother of a child with Adolescent Depression.

Being a mother is a gift and a challenge. Being the mother of the child with adolescent depression (AD) makes you appreciate the gift of the good times, but enhances the ongoing challenge of providing a supportive, nurturing environment.