Art work from our Services Users describing things that promote their Wellbeing
Stress, Anxiety, Depression – Useful Information
Facts about Depression
One in four of us will experience mental health problems at some point in our lives.
Depression and Anxiety are the 2 most common mental health problems. Both men and women can suffer from these problems.
However a great many people make a full recovery, if they seek and follow the help that is available
What to look out for
- Frequently feeling bothered, anxious, irritable or on edge
- Feeling sad or down for a long time such that it gets in the way of your everyday life
- Sudden anger or aggression
- Increased loss of control or greater risk taking
- Increase in alcohol consumption
What you can do to help yourself
- Taking regular exercise can help you if you have depression.
- Having a balanced diet is also helpful
- See also Five Ways to Wellbeing
What the NICE* guidance on depression says:
*What is Nice?
NICE stands for the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence.
It is an organisation which gives people advice about health and treatment.
The doctor or person looking after you should talk to you about how you are and what is going on in your life. This will help them understand your difficulties and suggest the best type of help for you.
NICE describe depression as being either mild, moderate and severe.
Mild symptoms
If you have mild symptoms you should not be offered medication, but you should see your doctor again within two weeks to make sure that your difficulties haven’t got any worse.
You should be given advice on how things like exercise and diet can help.
Moderate to severe
If you have moderate to severe depression, you should be offered a talking therapy such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) . You may also be offered a type of medicine called an antidepressant, but you should only be offered this as well as the talking therapy.
You should be checked to make sure that you have no side-effects from the medicine. If you are offered medicine, it should only be a type of antidepressant drug known as a Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI).
There are several different drugs in this group, but the one you should be given is called fluoxetine - also known as Prozac. However, Prozac may not help you, or you may have side-effects. If this happens you may be given one of the other SSRIs.
Remember that antidepressants don’t start working straight away and it may take a few weeks before you feel any better.
Did you know that drugs have two names?
Drugs are known by their 'generic' name and their 'trade' name - the name of the brand. For instance, Fluoxetine is the generic name, and Prozac is the brand.
If you want to know more, take a look at the Netdoctor page on names
if you have more concerns.
If the first type of talking therapy doesn’t help you, then there are other types of therapy available.
We are all different, so the person looking after you should talk to the other people in their team about other types of talking therapies that might help you.
Talk to your doctor if you have any concerns about the help you have been given and especially if you have any side-effects (starting to feel ill in different ways).
The NICE guideline does not recommend taking St John’s Wort, which is a herbal medicine often taken for depression. This is because there have not been any tests carried out on it to tells us whether it helps, or whether it is safe for children and young people to use.
Further information
You can find organisations and services along with factsheets relating to depression in our online directory.
Rochdale and District Mind can provide a whole range of services to help you if you are suffering from depression and if necessary can provide these services without the need for you to first contact your doctor. (Although we would always advocate involving your doctor)
Either:
Simply complete the attached initial contact form and one of our trained Personal Development Workers will arrange for you to undertake an initial assessment to determine which service is most suitable for you. Normally we can arrange for clients to start accessing a service within 1-2 weeks of them making contact.
Or Telephone Open Minds team on 01706752352.
Please do not suffer in silence. There is help available and it works. Contact us as detailed above.
