Giant Microbe: Depression

Featuring a brain with a thought cloud outlined by a silver lining, this is a unique, memorable and useful tool to help educate, spread awareness, and hopefully get more people talking about this complicated and vitally important mental health topic.

This Depression Brain plush toy is approximately 11cm in size, includes a printed card with fun, educational, and fascinating facts, and is safe for ages 3 and up.

Materials and Care Instructions: Plush from all new materials. Stuffed with polyester fiber fill. Surface washable: sponge with water & soap, air dry.

Giantmicrobes are based on actual microbes, cells, and organisms, only 1,000,000 times actual size!

FACTS from Giant Microbes:

Depression is the most common mood disorder in the U.S. and prevalent throughout the world. It is also referred to as major depressive disorder or clinical depression. This extremely debilitating mental illness consists of repeated and ongoing sadness, loss of interest or excitement in activities, decreased appetite and energy, and inability to concentrate. People with depression are sometimes so fatigued that they don’t get out of bed all day, yet have a hard time falling asleep at night. Depression can cause insomnia because melatonin, the hormone that regulates sleep, is derived from serotonin, which is depleted in a depressed person’s brain.

As with anxiety, everyone experiences feelings of sadness from time to time. But with depression, bouts of unhappy feelings may happen for no apparent reason. Clinical depression may be diagnosed if symptoms of depression occur without a trigger and are affecting a person’s ability to function every day. The causes of depression remain unknown. Scientists believe it is related to reduced activity of one or more monoamine neurotransmitters, such as serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine. This is known as the monoamine hypothesis. Current medication-based treatments for depression are based on this hypothesis. Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs), tricyclics, and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are commonly prescribed antidepressants. These theoretically work to increase the depleted levels of these neurotransmitters in depressed people.

Unfortunately, depression can lead to self-harm, feelings of worthlessness and even suicidal thoughts. If you, a friend or loved one is struggling with feelings of depression, please do seek help and support from your healthcare professionals, or you can also check out this list of helplines provided by the mental health charity Mind.