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WHO knows what you need to know
about Depression

April 25th, 2017

The World Health Organization (WHO) is shining a spotlight on depression and its impact on individuals, families and societies the world over. For World Health Day 2017 on April 7, the WHO highlighted its campaign to enable more people with depression to take the steps they need to live healthy, productive lives. 

It’s common

Depression is a common mental disorder. The WHO estimates that around the world, more than 300-million people are living with mild to severe depression. It is characterized by sadness, loss of interest or pleasure, feelings of guilt or low self-worth, disturbed sleep or appetite, feelings of tiredness, and poor concentration.

Increased risk factors (aging is not one of them)

Depression is something that can affect anyone at any stage in life. Elderly individuals are no more prone to suffer clinical depression than those in other age groups. However, nobody is immune to the risk factors, as stated by the WHO, “The risk of becoming depressed is increased by poverty, unemployment, life events such as the death of a loved one or a relationship break-up, physical illness and problems caused by alcohol and drug use.”

“Untreated depression can prevent people from working and participating in family and community life. Depression can be long-lasting or recurrent, substantially impairing an individual’s ability to function at work or school or cope with daily life. At its most severe, depression can lead to suicide.”

There is help and hope

If you recognize depression in yourself or someone you love, there is help. “Talking with people you trust can be a first step towards recovery from depression.” One of the key points of the WHO awareness campaign is that members of your primary health care team (physicians, nurses, physical therapists, pharmacists…), can help set you on the path to mental health. “Depression is a disorder that can be reliably diagnosed and treated by non-specialists as part of primary health care.”

“When mild, people can be treated without medicines,” but, “Specialist care is needed for a small proportion of individuals with complicated depression or those who do not respond to first-line treatments.”

We're here for you

At Points West Living, we are committed to the Eden Philosophy of ‘person centred care’ and its movement to alleviate elders' 'three plagues': loneliness, helplessness, and boredom. As Eden mentor, PWL Lloydminster’s General Manager Sarah Walker says, “The antidote for loneliness is loving companionship, with easy access to human and animal companionship. The antidote for helplessness is choice, and for boredom the antidote is spontaneity and variety. At PWL we focus on building these relationships with our elders, and promote a pet friendly environment to help lift the loneliness, while also helping people cope with depression.”

Photo: ‘Black Dog’ is a traditional euphemism for depression (Creative Commons photo attribution: Joe Parks)  

Resources: World Health Organization Fact Sheet on Depression with links to resources and the video: 'I had a black dog, his name was Depression'

(All WHO quotes are taken from materials produced by the World Health Organization

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