Definition:
Depression is a chronic, long lasting or recurring and treatable disorder, where the patient experiences sadness, worthlessness, loss of motive, loss of interest and/or hopelessness.

A depressive disorder is an illness that involves the mood and thoughts and in simple words can be expressed as persistent sad mood. Depression is not a character flaw or a sign of personal weakness and the suffering person can’t make himself well by trying to snap out of it. Depression affects the way a person eats and sleeps, the way one feels about oneself, and the way one thinks about things.

Depression results from a complex, partly understood biochemical changes in the brain, which are influenced and supported by multiple causes inclusive of genetic trait, circumstantial factors, hormonal factors, socio-personal reasons, etc. Increased levels of brain chemicals called neurotransmitters, such as serotonin and norepinephrine are found to improve the state of depression.

Depression is much more common than we believe. However to get precise figures in terms of its prevalence is difficult as many of them go undetected and untreated. Women are twice more often affected with depression than men.

Not everyone who is depressed experiences all the symptoms listed below. Some people experience a few symptoms, some many. Severity of symptoms varies with individuals and also varies over time.

Remarks: Common symptoms include:
• Persistent sad, anxious, or "empty" mood and unexplained crying spells
• Feelings of hopelessness, pessimism, guilt feeling, worthlessness
• Loss of interest or pleasure in hobbies and activities that were once enjoyed, including sex, social withdrawal
• Loss of energy, persistent lethargy
• Difficulty concentrating, remembering, making decisions
• Insomnia, early-morning awakening, or oversleeping
• Appetite and/or weight loss or overeating and weight gain
• Thoughts of death or suicide; suicide attempts
• Restlessness, irritability, anger, agitation
• Persistent physical symptoms that do not respond to treatment, such as headaches, digestive disorders, and chronic pain

Though the precise cause and nature of depression is not clearly understood, it is believed to be an illness involving an imbalance of brain chemicals called neurotransmitters. The reasons that can induce such chemical imbalance are as follows:

1. Some types of depression run in families, suggesting that the condition can be inherited from parents and grandparents as a genetic predisposition.

2. When this genetic predisposition is topped with stresses at home, work, or school, it can evolve in depression. Stress can be in the form of a serious loss, difficult relationship, financial problem, or any stressful change in life patterns, etc.

3. People who have low self-esteem, who consistently view themselves and the world with pessimism or who are readily overwhelmed by stress, are prone to depression.

4. Medical illnesses such as stroke, a heart attack, cancer, Parkinson's disease, and hormonal disorders can cause depressive illness.

Very often, a combination of genetic, psychological, and environmental factors is involved in the onset of a depressive disorder.

Suggestion about homeopathic treatment:
Homeopathy offers an excellent treatment for all stages of Depression, especially in the early stages. Homeopathy can take care of various symptoms of depression. Extreme cases of depression or the cases where the patients are on high doses of the conventional medicines for a long time (drug dependency) may not find good results using homeopathy.

Homeopathy can positively influence personality traits that are working at the base of disease. The important aspect is that depression is a disease in which genetic make-up is topped with environmental stress result in disease. Homeopathy medicines are very deep acting and having potential to counter genetic tendencies. Homeopathy medicines address the root cause of the disease and hence prevent the relapse and recurrence of the condition. Last but not the least, homeopathy medicines are absolutely free from any side-effects as opposed to most of conventional medicines like anti-depressants and anxiolytics.
Homeopathy goes into the depths of depression, and the treatment is thus based on the underlying causes of it.

The results achieved using from homeopathy can be augmented with supportive measures like counseling and psychotherapy.

What is normal anxiety?

Anxiety can be described as a feeling of alarm or “worry”. It may be about something specific or it may be non-specific in nature. A certain amount of anxiety is normal and helps improve our performance and allows people to avoid dangerous situations. This normally lasts for a short period causing no impairment in social or occupational functioning. When this anxiety is prolonged and affects social or occupational functioning, it's abnormal and accounts for anxiety “disorder”.

General presentation of Anxiety disorders

Patients often experience a state of intense apprehension, uncertainty, and fear resulting from the anticipation of a threatening event or situation, often to a degree that normal physical and psychological functioning is disrupted. This may be precipitated due to several reasons which are generally easily identified by the patient himself. The anxiety is of a greater degree than just everyday worries and patients do mention that they are not able to control these worries. They are frequently accompanied with physical symptoms as well. These symptoms have to present for most days at least for several weeks at a time.

1. Anxiety disorders also manifest as physical symptoms along with psychological symptoms. Some of the common things that patients experience are as follows:

   :: Feeling that something undesirable or harmful is about to happen (edginess and apprehension)
    :: Dry mouth; swallowing difficulty; hoarseness
    :: Rapid breathing and heartbeat, palpitations
    :: Twitching or trembling
    :: Muscle tension; headaches; backache
    :: Sweating
    :: Difficulty in concentrating
    :: Dizziness or faintness
    :: Nausea; diarrhea; weight loss
    :: Sleeplessness
    :: Irritability
    :: Fatigue
    :: Nightmares
    :: Memory problems
    :: Sexual impotence

Suggestion about homeopathic treatment:
Homeopathy offers an excellent treatment for all stages of anxiety, especially in the early stages. Homeopathy can take care of various symptoms of anxiety. Extreme cases of anxiety or the cases where the patients are on high doses of the conventional medicines for a long time (drug dependency) may find good results using homeopathy.

Homeopathy can positively influence personality traits that are working at the base of disease. The important aspect is that anxiety is a disease in which genetic make-up is topped with environmental stress result in disease. Homeopathy medicines are very deep acting and having potential to counter genetic tendencies. Homeopathy medicines address the root cause of the disease and hence prevent the relapse and recurrence of the condition. Last but not the least, homeopathy medicines are absolutely free from any side-effects as opposed to most of conventional medicines like anti-depressants and anxiolytics.
Homeopathy goes into the depths of anxiety, and the treatment is thus based on the underlying causes of it.

The results achieved using from homeopathy can be augmented with supportive measures like counseling and psychotherapy.