Depression

Depression is a serious medical illness. It's more than just a feeling of being sad or "blue" for a few days. If you are one of the more than 19 million teens and adults in the United States who have depression, the feelings do not go away. They persist and interfere with your everyday life. Symptoms can include:

• Feeling sad or "empty"
• Loss of interest in favorite activities
• Overeating, or not wanting to eat at all
• Not being able to sleep, or sleeping too much
• Feeling very tired
• Feeling hopeless, irritable, anxious, or guilty
• Aches or pains, headaches, cramps, or digestive problems
• Thoughts of death or suicide

Depression is a disorder of the brain. There are a variety of causes, including genetic, biological, environmental, and psychological factors. Depression can happen at any age, but it often begins in teens and young adults. It is much more common in women. Women can also get postpartum depression after the birth of a baby. Some people get seasonal affective disorder in the winter. Depression is one part of bipolar disorder.

There are effective treatments for depression, including antidepressants, talk therapy, or both.

NIH: National Institute of Mental Health

Disabilities

Disabilities make it harder to do normal daily activities. They may limit what you can do physically or mentally, or they can affect your senses. Disability doesn't mean unable, and it isn't a sickness. Most people with disabilities can - and do - work, play, learn, and enjoy full, healthy lives. Mobility aids and assistive devices can make daily tasks easier.

About one in every five people in the United States has a disability. Some people are born with one. Others have them as a result of an illness or injury. Some people develop them as they age. Almost all of us will have a disability at some point in our lives.

Department of Health and Human Services

End of Life Issues

Planning for the end of life can be difficult. But by deciding what end-of-life care best suits your needs when you are healthy, you can help those close to you make the right choices when the time comes.

End-of-life planning usually includes making choices about the following:

• The goals of care (for example, whether to use certain medicines during the last days of life)
• Where you want to spend your final days
• Which treatments for end-of-life care you wish to receive
• What type of palliative care and hospice care you wish to receive

Advance directives can help make your wishes clear to your family and health care providers.

Health Fraud

Health fraud scams involve selling medicines, supplements, devices, foods, or cosmetics that have not been proven effective. At best, these scams don't work. At worst, they're dangerous. They also waste money and might keep you from getting the treatment you really need.

Some of the possible dangers of scam products are that they could:

• Be contaminated from being made in unclean facilities or without proper quality control
• Contain harmful ingredients that are not listed on the label
• Trigger a harmful interaction with medicines you are taking
• Cause serious, even life-threatening, injuries

Health fraud scams can be found everywhere, promising help for many common health issues, including weight loss, memory loss, sexual performance, and joint pain. They target people with serious conditions such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease, HIV, and Alzheimer's disease.

Just remember - if it sounds too good to be true, it's probably a scam. Some red flags to watch for are product claims that:

• Have personal testimonials by "real" people or "doctors" played by actors claiming amazing results.
• Say that the product can treat or cure a wide range of unrelated diseases. No one product can treat or cure many different illnesses.
• Mention conspiracy theories like "This is the cure our government and Big Pharma don't want you to know about."
• Include phrases such as:
  • Ancient remedy
  • Miracle cure
  • No-risk money back guarantee
  • Natural cure
  • Quick fix
  • Secret ingredient
  • Scientific breakthrough
• Use scientific-sounding terms that don't make sense for the products, such as "molecule multiplicity."
• Refer to prestigious prizes, for example "Nobel Prize winning technology."

Before taking an unproven or little-known product, talk to your health care provider, especially if you are taking any prescription medicines.

Food and Drug Administration

Home Care Services

Home care is care that allows a person with special needs to stay in their home. It might be for people who are getting older (aging in place). It could also be for people who are chronically ill, recovering from surgery, orhave a disability. Home care services include:

• Personal care, such as help with bathing, washing your hair, or getting dressed
• Household chores, such as cleaning, yard work, and laundry
• Cooking for you in your home or delivering meals to you
• Money management, such as help filling out forms and making sure that your bills are paid on time
• Health care, such as having a home health aide come to your home or getting care from your provider through telehealth

You can get almost any type of help you want in your home. You have to pay for many of them. But some types of care and community services are free or donated. Sometimes government programs or your health insurance will help cover the cost of certain home care services.