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• The Center for Health Promotion & Wellness

Depression: An Overview

If you'd like to talk to someone about this subject, please contact MIT Medical's Mental Health Service at 617-253-2916.

The information below is provided by MIT Medical's Center for Health Promotion and Wellness, which offers members of the MIT community specialized health expertise, information, and educational programs.

Feeling blue from time to time is common on any college campus. A challenging class load, a romantic breakup, or thinking of friends back home can trigger feelings of sadness. Those feelings are usually normal and go away with time. But if they persist and increase in severity, they may indicate depression, a serious medical condition that can affect your physical health, thoughts, and behavior. Knowing yourself, recognizing a change from the “usual you,” such as a period of feeling depressed, and making use of professional help is a sign of strength, not weakness. With help, you can recover from depression and learn how to avoid relapses.

Symptoms of Depression

You should take steps to treat your depression if you:

• Feel persistently sad, anxious, or empty
• Feel hopeless, guilty, or worthless
• Lose interest or pleasure in ordinary activities or in being with your friends
• Have trouble sleeping or waking up in the morning
• Lose your appetite, or overeat
• Have low energy
• Think about death or suicide or attempt suicide
• Are restless and irritable
• Have difficulty concentrating, remembering, and making decisions
• Experience headaches, stomachaches, or pain

Treating Depression

Because depression is caused by a combination of psychological, physical, genetic, and environmental factors, effective treatment methods include a combination of self-help activities, counseling, and medication. After a comfortable treatment plan is jointly developed between patients and their clinicians, most people with depression start feeling better and can soon return to normal daily activities.

Self-Help Activities

• Eat nutritious, balanced meals
• Get plenty of sleep
• Exercise regularly
• Attend class and socialize with friends
• Avoid alcohol, drugs, and too much coffee
• Realize that you are worthy and adequate and that your feelings of sadness will pass

Counseling

If you continue to feel depressed despite your self-help activities, make an appointment to speak with your care provider, who can determine whether a medical condition is the cause of your depression and refer you to a mental health professional if appropriate. Treatment may include cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), which helps people change negative thinking and behavior; interpersonal therapy (IPT), which helps people understand and work through troubled personal relationships that may cause or worsen their depression; and dialectical behavioral therapy (DBTI), which focuses on understanding and building mood-regulation skills.

Medication

Medications are generally safe and effective, even for the most severe depression. Speak with your health care provider to determine the treatment that is best for you.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a form of depression that comes and goes at the same time every year, usually beginning during the fall and winter. The causes of SAD are unknown but may include a disruption of the body’s internal clock, the over-production of the sleep-related hormone melatonin, or the reduction of serotonin, a brain chemical that affects mood, during times of reduced sunlight. Symptoms of SAD include sadness, depression, feelings of hopelessness, anxiety, loss of energy, oversleeping, social withdrawal, loss of interest in activities, and difficulty concentrating and processing information.

Managing SAD

• Natural light: Symptoms may be improved by spending more time outdoors or sitting closer to bright windows while at home or in the office.
• Light therapy: Light-therapy boxes, portable devices containing fluorescent bulbs or tubes, are often suggested as treatment for SAD. Light therapy has not been approved as a treatment by the Food and Drug Administration; before you consider it, consult your health care provider.
• Medications: Some people with SAD benefit from treatment with antidepressants or other psychiatric medications, especially if symptoms are severe. Discuss the pros and cons of antidepressant medication with your health care provider.
• Psychotherapy: Although SAD is thought to be related to biochemical processes, your mood and behavior also can contribute to symptoms. Psychotherapy can help you understand factors contributing to your symptoms, identify and change associated negative thoughts and behaviors, and teach you healthy ways to cope with SAD.

Helping a Friend

People who are depressed often want help but don’t know how to ask for it. You can help your colleagues and friends by expressing your concerns in a caring, non-judgmental way.

• Find a private, comfortable place to talk.
• In your own words, explain your concerns in a non-judgmental way.
• Ask open-ended questions. Your friend may choose not to answer but may feel relieved to know you are trying to understand.
• Don’t feel compelled to find a solution or express a judgment. Often, listening in and of itself is very helpful.
• Make your friend aware of local resources and encourage your friend to use available services.
• If necessary, help your friend make an appointment at MIT Medical’s Mental Health Service. Call while your friend is with you. Write down the appointment details, including time, provider’s name, and location.
• If you think it is an emergency, call MIT Medical’s Mental Health Service at 617-253-2916, and tell them your friend needs to be seen urgently. Or you can walk your friend over to MIT Medical.
• Stay on the line until you understand the specific steps you should take.
• Know your limits. If you find yourself thinking about your friend too much, it might help to speak with a tutor, housemaster, dean, or someone at MIT Medical’s Mental Health Service.

MIT Medical Can Help

MIT Medical’s Mental Health Service is available to anyone in the MIT community who has problems, questions, or concerns about depression. The service provides evaluations, treatment (both psychotherapy and psychopharmacology), referrals, urgent care, and consultations. In an emergency, call the Service at 617-253-2916 any time of the day or night.

MIT’s Medical’s Center for Health Promotion & Wellness offers information and resources to help manage depression:

• An extensive multimedia library, which includes books, videos, and other materials on depression and other health topics.
• Wellness classes, such as Mindful Meditation or Gentle Yoga, to learn anxiety-reducing techniques.

Other resources on depression

Coping with Depression: Detailed information about the symptoms and treatment of depression from DiscoveryHealth.

Getting Motivated When You’re Down: Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts offers tips on breaking the cycle of depression.

Go Ask Alice!: Columbia University's Health Education Program answers your questions about depression.

The Mayo Clinic web site offers an in-depth explanation of all types of depression, causes, and treatments.

National Institute of Mental Health: Information about the symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of depression. Included are brochures and information sheets, reports, fact sheets, and other educational materials.

ULifeline: A comprehensive student resource for access to mental health information and self-screening tools, including Harvard Medical School’s mental health and drug information library and Duke University’s Diagnostic Psychiatry Screening Program.