Depression is a serious mental health condition that many people currently face. Depression can cause children and adults to have very strong feelings of sadness that they can’t get rid of and may even make them want to hurt themselves. But, if people see a doctor and get help for their depression they can find ways to get it under better control.
Even though depression affects many people around the world, doctors still have not figured out the exact way that it changes how the brain works. The brain is the organ that allows us to think, feel and move, and there are several types of chemicals in the brain called neurotransmitters.
Neurotransmitters control the ways that the brain works by sending, or “transmitting”, messages from the brain to different parts of the body. Neurotransmitters work in the other direction too: the brain also receives messages from the body.
In the past, scientists believed that depression was caused when there were either too many or not enough neurotransmitters in the brain. Now, researchers have found that there are lots of different things that could lead to depression like your family history, how your mood is controlled, or other medical problems.
Because there are so many different causes for depression it is sometimes hard to treat. Testing to find out if someone has depression is called screening. Screening is very important because it is the first step to help treat patients. Today is National Depression Screening Day, which is a day to bring attention and support to patients suffering from depression.
The more that people with depression get screening, the more it helps scientists to come up with answers on how to best take care of people.
For more information about spotting the signs of depression and how to get screening, visit