Some people who have medical illnesses like Obesity, Heart disease, Diabetes, past history of stroke, COPD, cancer etc may suffer from depression.
People having medical problems get depressed than healthy people as they spend most of their time and money managing their illness, are frightened or are in pain.
Also, people with depression are more likely to get certain medical conditions than non depressed people. Due to depression, people forget to take medicines on time,do not exercise or do not visit their doctor. This leads to worsening medical conditions.
Signs of depression
Feeling low most of the time for at least 2 weeks.
Feeling sad and irritated almost daily.
Decreased/Increased sleep.
Increase/ Decrease in weight.
Tiredness/ weakness.
Confusion/ Forgetfulness.
Thought of Suicide.
How to deal with depression
You need to check with your doctor if you think you have the above signs of depression. You need to inform your doctor or nurse if you are being treated for depression as there are medications which may have some interaction with the medicines prescribed for depression.
