Is it possible to diagnose depression before any serious consequences occur? Yes, you can, but for this we first need to figure out: “what is depression.” Let’s take a look at Wikipedia: “Depression (from the Latin deprimo - “to press”, “to suppress”) is a mental disorder characterized by the “depressive triad” ": decreased mood and loss of the ability to experience joy (anhedonia), disturbances in thinking (negative judgments, a pessimistic view of what is happening, etc.), motor retardation. With depression, self-esteem is reduced, and there is a loss of interest in life and usual activities. In some cases, a person suffering from it may begin to abuse alcohol or other psychotropic substances.” As a mental disorder, it is a disorder of affect. Depression is treatable, but depression is currently the most common mental disorder. It affects 10% of the population over the age of 40, of which two thirds are women. Among people over 65 years of age, depression is three times more common. Also, about 5% of children and adolescents aged 10 to 16 years are susceptible to depression and depressive conditions. The overall prevalence of depression (of all types) in adolescence ranges from 15 to 40%. Many works emphasize that a higher prevalence of affective disorders at this age corresponds to a higher frequency of suicides. And so, if you have experienced serious psychological trauma (violence, loss and other serious conditions), a condition such as depression can be considered a natural course of events in your life. In such cases, you should not be afraid of criticism and reproachful views; you need to contact a specialist. This could be a psychologist, psychotherapist or psychiatrist; depending on the severity of your condition, you will be referred to a specialist of the appropriate category. You shouldn’t delay it. If you feel a loss of strength and apathy for no particular reason, this may be a common signal that it’s time to take care of yourself and get some rest. We are only human and cannot always be in a state of activity; to be effective we need to rest. And please yourself more often. To do this, you don’t have to fly to the sea or go to the mountains (although I don’t argue that this is cool). Sometimes you just have to stop, step back a little from everyday and everyday problems, look at the starry sky (with a dream in your eyes, like in childhood). Or feel the pleasant warm texture of wood at your fingertips or walk a little barefoot on the grass (not empty, but feel it). Or maybe brew your favorite herbal tea or scalding coffee, wrap yourself in a fluffy blanket and listen to your favorite music. The fact is that everything we love, everything that brings us pleasure, is charged with energy and gives us resources, strength and energy for life... every day, and sometimes we are so absorbed in everyday worries that we forget to “recharge”. Stop, feel yourself right here, right now, stay in this state for a little while and the strength will come to you again, and not just, they will come, but they will surge like a tsunami and help you overcome any obstacle... Sincerely, Alexey Karev. http://www.irk-psiholog.ru