Depression

Depression is a serious illness that interferes with your daily routine and reduces your quality of life. Like any other illness, it requires professional diagnosis and treatment. It not only affects your brain and your behavior, but it can affect your entire body and how your body functions.

Depression is not a cookie-cutter diagnosis, and can look different in different people. Traditionally more women are affected by depression then are men. Women tend to experience symptoms of sadness, worthlessness, and guilt, while men are more likely to be tired, irritable, lose interest in work or activities, and have difficulty with sleep. Other signs and symptoms of depression may include: difficulty concentrating, remembering details, or making decisions; inability to sleep or stay asleep (insomnia), sleeping all of the time, overeating or loss of appetite, thoughts of death and suicide or suicide attempts, ongoing aches and pains, headaches, and/or digestive problems that don’t clear up with standard treatment.

Older adults may be more difficult to diagnose, as some medical conditions may mirror depressive symptoms, and some medications can also produce side effects that contribute to depression. Children may also more difficult to diagnose, as “normal mood swings” associated with developmental stages can look like depression. Some children may become more clingy, refuse to attend school, get into trouble at school, or experience severe irritability. A comprehensive assessment is necessary to ensure proper diagnosis and treatment.

It is also important to recognize that other serious illnesses, such as Cancer, Chronic Pain, Parkinson’s Disease, Diabetes, Heart Disease, Stroke, HIV/Aids, etc., may trigger or exacerbate symptoms of depression. Battling a painful or life altering illness requires a healthy mind so that you can manage and participate in your medical treatments with the goal to improve your overall health. Properly diagnosing and treating depression may help in achieving that goal.

EBC’s new “Be Seen Today” intake process, similar to some medical and/or urgent care centers, where clients, once they call the Intake phone number, may choose to “walk in” to see the next available clinician, as opposed to scheduling a more traditional first appointment, which may be several weeks away. This “walk-in” model of care provides the client with the same comprehensive clinical assessment as a traditionally scheduled appointment, but the client would be seen on the day he/she calls, or arrives at the Center. Currently the walk-in model is available on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 8:30 am to 12:30 pm., on a first come, first serve basis, as staff have been assigned to be available during these times. The Center’s Intake number is 401-246-1195

EBC’s mission has remained the same for many years – to improve the lives of individuals and families within our communities by providing a broad range of high quality mental health and addiction services. Especially in the face of adversity, EBC will be here to help you, your family, and your community. We encourage you to visit our website at www.eastbay.org for information regarding services, employment, locations, etc. To speak to someone regarding services or to schedule an appointment, please call 401-246-1195 and ask for “Intake”. (Special thanks and recognition to the National Institute of Mental Health for the information on depression used in this article.)