A psychiatrist advised patients suffering from mild-to-moderate depression to develop whole-life relationship with families and friends and try to remain happy.
Dr Sa'ad Malik, delivering a lecture on "when living hurts, how to manage depression" at the Ritz Auditorium of the Sukh Cha'n Wellness Club in Gulberg on Saturday evening, defined depression and then discussed about the short- and long- term strategies to combat depression.
The lecture was part of a series of informative and educative lectures engineered by club Chief Executive Officer Nina Akbar aiming at guiding, educating and solving psychiatric and psychological problems.
Dr Malik said depression was widespread and common. He listed several symptoms of depression in terms of thinking, feelings, behaviour and body changes. He said depression in terms of thinking was inability to concentrate and take decisions, loss of interest in things going around and in other people, indulging in self-criticism too often, self-blaming, pessimism and preoccupation with problems, failures and bad feelings and thinking about hurting own self.
"Feelings like sadness, misery, unhappiness, low confidence, poor self esteem, guilt, helplessness and loss of pleasure, satisfaction and enjoyment are other symptoms of depression," he added.
In terms of body changes, he listed loss of appetite or occasionally increase in appetite, disturbed sleep, loss of interest in sex, fatigue, lack of energy or exhaustion and inertia. About the short- and long- term strategies to manage the everyday depression, he suggested working on one's thoughts and activities, watching for self -blame, self-pity and other pities.