Depression is a serious disease and has been around for many years. Depression is a mood disorder that causes the feeling of sadness and loss of interest.  Depression has many effects on your body, emotionally and physically.

There is also Major Depression, major depressive disorder or clinical depression, it affects how you feel, think and behave and can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems. You may have trouble doing normal activities, and depression may make you feel as if life isn’t worth living.

Depression can lead to many things, but I’m going to write about how it affects our immune system. Untreated depression can cause more problems than if not treated, you can start to get serious health problems. Our Immune System are cells, tissues, and organs that work together to protect the body from infection. It helps prevent many diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and many other serious health problems. If you have depression you may have a weak immune system and be prone and vulnerable to infections and diseases.

Depression and stress may have a negative impact on the immune system, but can also have an effect on other parts of the body as well. Did you know about 6.7% of adults in the United States have depression and approximately 20% of teens experience depression before they reach adulthood, and between 10 to 15% suffer from symptoms? Unfortunately only 30% of depressed teens are being treated for it. Depression can cause mental and physical problems, for example depression can affect the appetite. Some people use food for comfort or don’t use it at all which can cause Anorexia. This can lead to weight and obesity-related illnesses like type 2 diabetes, or lose their appetite and begin to lose serious weight. Eating problems can lead to stomachaches, cramps, constipation, or malnutrition. Also medication isn’t always the answer to solve these problems.

Another problem depression can cause is cardiac problems such as severe chest pain, a heart attack, or a stroke. This can happen because stress hormones speed up your heart rate and make blood vessels tighten, putting your body in a prolonged state. Over time, this can cause heart disease. Having many cardiovascular problems occurring again is more related to depression than to smoking, diabetes, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol. Having untreated depression and just having a heart attack can increase your chance of death then if you were being treated. If you have or may have depression, getting treatment as soon as possible would be the best way to go.

What could potentially happen with untreated depression?

How does depression start?

What could you do so you don’t get depressed?