People who are aware of the depression that it can cause mental illnesses. But, most people not aware that it is also dangerous for your physical health. If your depression condition can take a big toll on you physically if it left untreated. The reason why depression can complicate your physical health is you don’t take care of your body when you are suffering from depression. That is why you need to talk with your doctor regarding your depression problem and take treatment in order to avoid these seven health risks linked to depression.
Effect on Heart
It has been observed in a study that depression may cause heart disease, or if you have a previous history of heart disease, depression can make your existing worse. It will be difficult for you to get out of this zone once you are diagnosed with heart disease while suffering from this mental health condition. Depression will increase the risk of having a heart attack. You are unable to maintain a healthy lifestyle if you have a depression problem. Poor lifestyle habits include
- Smoking
- Addicting to alcohol
- Not hitting the gym regularly
- Not following the proper diet
The risk for type 2 diabetes
If you are unable to maintain a proper diet, too much smoking, and gain weight these habits will increase the risk of diabetes while you are suffering from depression. Depression will keep you away from the things that can deal with your diabetes. It has been observed that 20 percent of the people with diabetes also suffering from this mental health condition. Experts say that depression and diabetes are a dangerous combination if left untreated.
Leads to Obesity
Obesity is the first complicated risk you are going to experience if you don’t take care of your depression problem. There are high chances that depression may contribute to obesity. This happens due to some people eat too much when they are depressed, and not doing their regular workouts. It will result in producing stress hormones in your body that promotes belly fat.
Influence your brainpower
If your depression problem grows along with you and remains untreated, it will result in the loss of brainpower. Elder people are likely to suffer from this condition if they didn’t identify their depression problem in their earlier life. Researchers conducted an experiment on the brain scans of elderly people, at the end of their experiment they found that the elder people brain with depression show shrinkage in some areas of the brain and this wasn’t the case with the elderly people who don’t have a condition of depression. Experimenters also warned the people that the existing depression condition may contribute to Alzheimer’s disease if your depression condition remains untreated.
Addiction
A person with depression may likely become addict to alcohol, or drugs. It is due to they want to ease the symptoms of depression with drugs or alcohol. But, as a matter of fact, it will make your depression condition even worse and these substances make depression harder to treat. Many studies suggesting that drinking too much alcohol, and using drugs may contribute to depression. Having these dangerous conditions in your body will make you feel difficult to survive in your life.
Depression and Pain
Depression may contribute to chronic pain, and if you don’t take treatment in a timely manner it will make your pain worse. You will experience migraine headaches when your major depression condition left untreated. It has been observed that symptoms like pain, uneasiness are the common complaints normally people tell when they consult a physician. Please keep in mind that it’s not an easy task for your physician to treat your pain when you are suffering from depression. There are chances of these two conditions pain and depression can lead to isolation and more depression.
Thoughts of doing Self-harm
If you are in a peak stage of your depression, you will start harming yourself. In this world, two-thirds of all suicides are due to the existing depression problem. Due to this reason, consult your physician immediately if you are getting suicidal thoughts frequently. Normally people with depression who wants to commit suicide always talk about death, give their personal belongings to other people they love, and becoming suddenly cheerful are the warning signs of depression.
References
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3181964/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2852580/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3181771/
Sirisha B