LOW- GRADE DEPRESSION – the new form of Depression

Most often in our life, we get a situation where we can’t really decide that what is bothering us from inside but still we feel sad and deny everything by saying –“ I don’t have a mood right now.”

     It is natural that sometimes some unsettling emotions might rise to the surface and cause you to feel more down than usual and don’t we know it that being in a constant state of feeling low is becoming too common. So much has changed and a lot more is uncertain, there is a lot of loss to grieve and thus it is perfectly normal to have some difficult feelings about that. But these feelings might actually be LOW GRADE DEPRESSION.
         People with mild or low-grade depression may not even realise that they are depressed. Infact the feeling of sadness and low mood they experience may have been around for so long that they feel normal. However, it is not normal to go through life feeling unhappy or hopeless all the time. Everyone experiences occasional bouts of low mood in response to sad or stressful all the time. Everyone experiences occasional bouts of low mood in response to sad or stressful life events but constantly feeling depressed doesn’t seem a good story for life.

WHAT IS LOW GRADE DEPRESSION: –

Low grade depression is often described as dysthymia or persistent depressive disorder but in actual both are way apart. It is important to clarify that LGD (low grade depression) is not a formal clinical diagnosis as per the DSM-5. It is more a casual term that is used to help describe the lower level of depressive like feelings. It can be better defined as the mental health condition that often involves a sense of sadness, gloominess or despair.

  It is different from major depression because to be diagnosed with depression you must have four to five physical symptoms which should be present for at least two weeks or more. But according to Harvard health low grade depression can consistently last for up to five years or more whereas depression usually comes for a shorter span. And it is also different from dysthymia because dysthymia is less severe but a chronic form of depression whereas low grade depression isn’t chronic.

SYMPTOMS:-

It is quite hard to realise that you have low grade depression from the  beginning because there might not be an easily identifiable cause of depression. With a lot of heightened trauma like situations happening at the same time, it can be hard to even try to figure out that what you are actually dealing with and how to move forward. According to some reports it is evident that symptoms can look and feel different for everyone however some of most common symptoms are as follows –

• Appetite or weight change
• Feeling of hopelessness, worthlessness or guilt
• Lack of enjoyment and pleasure in things
• Low energy and reduced motivation
• Restlessness
• Sadness, tearfulness, frequent crying
• Sleep problem
• Trouble concentrating, focusing and making decision

One of the ways you can begin to identify low-grade depression is by keeping a track on whether your energy level, concentration or sleep are more problematic than usual so that you can identify your feeling and pattern.

TREATMENT:-

As we already mentioned that it is not a formal clinical diagnosis still it is treated mostly in the similar ways. In most cases since the symptoms are not identical it is advised to visit the mental health consultant to get checked minutely.

Antidepressant or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) are prescribed if the symptoms are really alarming or the patient is having suicidal tendency. Otherwise Talk Therapy is the most widely used psychotherapy in LGD cases.

SELF CARE TREATMENT: –

If therapy is not an option for you or you don’t feel comfortable to disclose your depression to anyone then you can use some of the self care treatment to get yourself treated and to upbeat yourself. Some of them are as follow:-

• Free associate or outline the things that are bothering you or making you worry on a paper because putting one’s thought on a paper provides objective and clarity and it would give you the idea that to whom you have to deal.
• Seeks people or friends from whom you can discuss your thoughts freely and the discussion should be mutual. The person must be positive and optimistic.
• Laughing is always termed as a best medicine but not the fake one it should come from inside. It can heal you really in a better way. For that use some humour, watch comedy movies, crack a joke, stand-up comedy watching.

• Get outside, take a walk, feel the charm of sunlight. It is scientifically proven that spending some time in sunlight charge up your mood for several hours.
•  Get a good sleep and add healthy diet in your meal.
• Make a daily routine and do as much you can to keep track on your routine, add some exercise, yoga or cycling in your routine as it can be stress reducing and mood boosting.

At last we have to understand that low-grade depression is something from which most of us are suffering and there is no shame in admitting it. If we don’t realize then it can mess up our relationships, our goals and everything which would be important for us at a time. We have to understand that nothing lasts forever so get in touch with yourself and your emotions to begin your journey of healing.

For any information you can contact Heart2Mind at contactus@heart2mind.com or +91-8595752152.