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Symptoms of depression
Experts identify more than 250 symptoms of depressive disorder. How different are they from each other? depression, so much more diverse are their clinical symptoms. However, there are a number of signs of depression that also meet diagnostic criteria. Signs of the onset of depression
In each individual case of illness, the signs of the onset of depression may be different and expressed to varying degrees. The whole set of these signs is conditionally divided into four main groups.The groups of initial signs of depression are:
- emotional signs;
- disturbance of mental state;
- physiological signs;
- violation of behavioral status.
Emotional Signs
Emotional signs of the onset of depression indicate a deterioration in the patient’s emotional status and are most often accompanied by a decrease in general mood.
Emotional signs of depression include:
- changeable mood with a sharp change from joy to melancholy;
- apathy;
- extreme despondency;
- depressed, depressing state;
- feeling of anxiety, restlessness or even causeless fear;
- despair;
- decreased self-esteem;
- constant dissatisfaction with yourself and your life;
- loss of interest and pleasure in work and the world around you;
- feeling of guilt;
- feeling of uselessness.
Patients with depression show signs of impaired mental state, manifested by slowed mental processes.
The main signs of a mental disorder are:
- difficulty concentrating;
- inability to concentrate on a specific job or activity;
- performance simple tasks over a longer period of time - work that a person previously completed in a few hours can take the whole day;
- “obsession” with one’s worthlessness – a person constantly thinks about the meaninglessness of his life, he is dominated only by negative judgments about himself.
Depression manifests itself not only in the depression of the patient’s emotional and mental status, but also in disorders of organs and systems. Mainly affected are the digestive and central nervous system. Organic ailments in depression are manifested by various physiological signs.
90% of the time a person is indoors.
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Electromagnetic radiation: computers, mobile phones, microwave ovens, wi-fi routers, sockets, as well as power lines, tram and trolleybus networks.
Mercury vapor
An environmental assessment of housing is an affordable procedure that will help identify the invisible causes of ailments.
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Basic physiological signs of depression
Major physiological changes | Signs |
Violations by gastrointestinal tract |
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Sleep disturbance |
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Movement disorders |
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Change in sexual behavior | Sexual desire decreases or completely disappears. |
Malfunctions of the cardiovascular system |
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Behavioral status disorder
Often the first symptoms of depression are expressed in the patient's behavioral disturbances.
The main signs of behavioral disturbances in depression are:
- reluctance to contact family and friends;
- less often – attempts to attract the attention of others to oneself and one’s problems;
- loss of interest in life and entertainment;
- sloppiness and unwillingness to take care of oneself;
- constant dissatisfaction with oneself and others, which results in excessive demands and high criticism;
- passivity;
- unprofessional and poor quality performance of one’s work or any activity.
Diagnostic signs of depression
Based on these signs, a diagnosis of a depressive episode is made. If depressive episodes are repeated, then these symptoms speak in favor of recurrent depressive disorder.There are main and additional diagnostic signs of depression.
The main signs of depression are:
- hypothymia – decreased mood compared to the patient’s normal norm, which lasts more than two weeks;
- decreased interest in any activity that usually brought positive emotions;
- increased fatigue due to decreased energy processes.
- decreased attention and concentration;
- lack of self-confidence and decreased self-esteem;
- ideas of self-blame;
- disturbed sleep;
- impaired appetite;
- suicidal thoughts and actions.
Anxiety and depression
Anxiety is an integral component of depressive disorder. The intensity of anxiety varies depending on the type of depression. It can be minor in apathetic depression or reach the level of an anxiety disorder in anxious depression.Manifestations of anxiety in depression are:
- feeling of internal tension - patients are in a constant state of tension, describing their condition as “a threat is in the air”;
- feeling of anxiety on physical level– in the form of trembling, rapid heartbeat, increased muscle tone, increased sweating;
- constant doubts about the correctness of decisions made;
- anxiety extends to future events - at the same time, the patient is constantly afraid of unforeseen events;
- the feeling of anxiety also extends to past events - a person constantly torments himself and reproaches himself.
Autonomic symptoms of anxious depression are:
- tachycardia (fast heartbeat);
- labile (unstable) blood pressure;
- increased sweating.
Sleep disorders in depression
Sleep disturbance is one of the earliest symptoms of depression, and also one of the most common. According to epidemiological studies, various sleep disorders are observed in 50–75 percent of patients with depression. Moreover, these can be not only quantitative changes, but also qualitative ones.Manifestations of sleep disturbances in depression are:
- difficulty falling asleep;
- interrupted sleep and frequent awakenings;
- early morning awakenings;
- decreased sleep duration;
- superficial sleep;
- nightmares;
- complaints of restless sleep;
- lack of a feeling of rest after waking up (with normal sleep duration).
Sleep disturbances in depression include both insomnia disorders (85 percent) and hypersomnia disorders (15 percent). The first include night sleep disorder, and the second - daytime sleepiness.
In the dream itself, there are several phases, each of which has its own functions.
The stages of sleep include:
1. Non-REM sleep phase
- drowsiness or theta wave stage;
- sleep spindle stage;
- delta sleep;
- deep dream.
With depression, there is a reduction in delta sleep, a shortening of the short sleep phase and an increase in the superficial (first and second) stages of slow-wave sleep. Patients with depression experience the phenomenon of “alpha – delta – sleep”. This phenomenon takes up more than one-fifth of sleep in duration and is a combination of delta waves with alpha rhythm. In this case, the amplitude of the alpha rhythm is several fluctuations less than during wakefulness. It is assumed that this activity in delta sleep is the result of an activating system that does not allow the inhibitory somnogenic systems to fully function. Confirmation of the relationship between REM sleep disturbances and depression is the fact that delta sleep is the first to recover when recovering from depression.
Depression and suicide
According to statistics, 60–70 percent of all suicides are committed by people who are deeply depressed. Most patients with depression note that they have had suicidal thoughts at least once in their lives, and one in four have attempted suicide at least once.The main risk factor is endogenous depression, that is, depression in the frame of schizophrenia or bipolar psychosis. In second place are reactive depressions, that is, depressions that developed as a response to trauma or stress.
The main problem with suicide is that many who commit suicide have not received qualified assistance. This means that the majority of depressive conditions remain undiagnosed. This group of depressions mainly includes masked depression and depression associated with alcoholism. These patients receive mental health care later than others. However, patients receiving drug treatment are also at risk. This is due to frequent and premature interruptions of treatment and lack of support from relatives. Among teenagers, a risk factor for suicide is taking certain medications. It has been proven that second-generation antidepressants have the ability to provoke suicidal behavior in adolescents.
It is very important to suspect a patient’s suicidal mood in time.
Signs of suicidality in patients with depression are:
- the slipping of suicidal thoughts into conversation in the form of phrases “when I’m gone”, “when death takes me” and so on;
- constant ideas of self-accusation and self-deprecation, conversations about the worthlessness of one’s existence;
- severe progression of the disease up to complete isolation;
- before planning suicide, patients can say goodbye to their relatives - call them or write a letter;
- Also, before committing suicide, patients often begin to put their affairs in order - they draw up a will and so on.
Diagnosis of depression
Diagnosis of depressive conditions should include the use diagnostic scales, a thorough examination of the patient and collection of his complaints. Questioning a patient with depression
In a conversation with a patient, the doctor first of all pays attention to long periods of depression, a decrease in the range of interests, and motor retardation. An important diagnostic role is played by patient complaints of apathy, loss of strength, increased anxiety, suicidal thoughts.There are two groups of signs of the depressive process that the doctor takes into account when diagnosing. These are positive and negative affectivity (emotionality).
Signs of positive affectivity are:
- mental inhibition;
- yearning;
- anxiety and agitation (excitement) or motor retardation (depending on the type of depression).
- apathy;
- anhedonia – loss of the ability to experience pleasure;
- painful insensibility.
The depressive content complex is:
- ideas of self-blame - most often for sin, failure or death of close relatives;
- hypochondriacal ideas - consist of the patient’s belief that he suffers from an incurable disease;
- suicidal thoughts.
Additional diagnostic signs depressions are:
- family history - if among the patient’s relatives there were people suffering from depressive disorder (especially bipolar), or if there were suicides among the immediate family;
- patient's personality type – anxious personality disorder is a risk factor for depression;
- presence of depression or manic states previously;
- concomitant somatic chronic pathologies;
- alcoholism – if the patient is partial to alcohol, then this is also a risk factor for depression.
Beck Depression Inventory and other psychometric scales
IN psychiatric practice psychometric scales are preferred. They significantly minimize time expenditure and also allow patients to independently assess their condition without the participation of a doctor.Psychometric scales for assessing depression are:
- Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS);
- Hamilton Scale (HDRS);
- Zung scale;
- Montgomery-Asberg scale (MADRS);
- Beck scale.
Very easy to use and interpret scale. Used to screen for depression in hospital patients. The scale includes two subscales - the anxiety scale and the depression scale, each of which contains 7 questions. In turn, each statement corresponds to four answers. The doctor asks these questions to the patient, and he chooses one of these four that is suitable for him.
Next, the doctor conducting the survey adds up the points. A score of up to 7 means that the patient is not depressed. With 8–10 points, the patient has mild anxiety or depression. A score greater than 14 indicates clinically significant depression or anxiety.
Hamilton Scale (HDRS)
It is the most popular and frequently used scale in general medical practice. Contains 23 points, the maximum score for which is 52 points.
The interpretation of the Hamilton scale is:
- 0 – 7 points talk about the absence of depression;
- 7 – 16 points– minor depressive episode;
- 16 – 24 points
- more than 25 points
The Zung Scale is a 20-item self-report measure of depression. Each question has four possible answers. The patient, filling out the self-questionnaire, marks with a cross the answer that suits him. The maximum possible total score is 80 points.
The interpretation of the Zung scale is:
- 25 – 50 – variant of the norm;
- 50 – 60 – mild depressive disorder;
- 60 – 70 – moderate depressive disorder;
- more than 70– severe depressive disorder.
This scale is used to assess the dynamics of depression during treatment. It contains 10 points, each of which is scored from 0 to 6 points. The maximum total score is 60 points.
The interpretation of the Montgomery-Åsberg scale is:
- 0 – 15 – absence of depression;
- 16 – 25 – minor depressive episode;
- 26 – 30 – moderate depressive episode;
- more than 31– severe depressive episode.
It is one of the first diagnostic scales that began to be used to determine the level of depression. Consists of 21 statement questions, each of which contains 4 answer options. The maximum total score is 62 points.
The interpretation of the Beck scale is:
- up to 10 points– absence of depression;
- 10 – 15 – subdepression;
- 16 – 19 – moderate depression;
- 20 – 30 – severe depression;
- 30 – 62 – severe depression.
Depression threatens modern society. This disappointing forecast is shown by annual disease statistics. Depressive disorders occupy an honorable second place among ailments, second only to cardiovascular pathologies. How to treat depression, which affects more than 30% of the world's population?
Few people know about the typical signs of impending trouble. Most people seek help when their depressive disorder becomes severe, dangerous character. According to WHO, 50-60% of all suicides are committed by people who are depressed. To avoid facing a serious situation, you need to learn everything about depression.
Depressive disorder is the No. 1 threat in modern lifeClassification of depressive disorders
Depression is a mental disorder perceived by most people as a manifestation of selfishness, laziness and pessimism. But a pathological situation is not just an indicator of a bad mood. This is a serious somatic disease that requires competent and timely treatment.
Women, due to their innate emotionality and sensitivity, are susceptible to depression much more often than the stronger sex.
Russian psychiatry divides the manifestation of depression and the disease itself into two large groups. They are divided into simple and complex.
Simple depression
Doctors characterize simple depressive disorders as level I depression. These include the following types of pathology:
Adynamic. This type of depressive disorder manifests itself as general weakness and loss of interest in life. The patient has no desires, pronounced indifference to others. During the day, drowsiness predominates, and at night a person suffers from insomnia.
The term “adynamia” means a sudden, severe loss of strength, accompanied by muscle weakness.
Adynamic depression is manifested by physical and emotional inhibition. The patient develops feelings of worthlessness, self-pity and feelings of inferiority.
Main symptoms depressive disorders Agitated. This type of disorder is accompanied by increased arousal, accompanied by constant feelings of anxiety and fear. Patients are tormented by feelings of guilt, desire punishment, and reproach themselves for any actions.
Dysphoric. It manifests itself as eternal dissatisfaction with everything that surrounds the patient. The disorder provokes outbreaks of irritability, dissatisfaction and deep melancholy. Aggressive manifestations towards others may occur, sometimes reaching the point of uncontrollable rage.
Ironic. The patient, faced with this type of pathology, does not pay attention to internal anxiety. The main sign of ironic depression is a deliberate demonstration of a good mood. The patient begins to be ironic, joke, smile, make jokes, hiding true feelings.
Modern depression is rapidly getting younger Stuporous. A depressive disorder of this type is accompanied by motor inhibition, sometimes reaching partial or complete immobility and mutism (prostration). The patient falls into the deepest depressive affect. He refuses food, all reactions are inhibited.
Alarming. This common type of depressive disorder occurs against a background of depression, anxiety, and a sense of danger. The patient experiences sudden mood swings and the emergence of various phobias: darkness, strangers, streets, cars, animals.
Patients show increased agitation: they talk a lot and often, their thinking is confused and accelerated. The disorder occurs with the development of suicidal feelings and dark thoughts.
Melancholic. Characterized by the manifestation of oppressive melancholy, tearfulness, and a deep drop in mood. This type of depressive disorder often develops in middle-aged people. The patient complains of a feeling of severe mental pain (it is also called “vital melancholy”), accompanied by pain in the cardiac region.
Complex depression
Depressive disorders classified as level II. Pathologies of this type combine more complex symptoms and psychopathological syndromes . Complex depression includes the following types of disorders:
Asthenic. Depression of this type brings with it the manifestation of inadequate perception of any impressions. A person loses the ability to respond to external stimuli, his emotional reaction disappears. Patients complain of a feeling of emptiness, an inability to perceive and express feelings.
Mechanism of development of depression People become painfully impressionable, suspicious, and insecure. There is a sharp decline in working capacity, increased fatigue and irritability.
Hysterical. A type of depression in which patients demonstrate vivid affective states. They are characterized by expressive behavior, an exaggerated attitude towards all events, tearfulness, reaching the point of hysteria.
Hypochondriacal. Such patients experience a combination of a feeling of depression with the development of any overvalued ideas close to a delusional state. According to observations, this type of depression develops more often in lean, slender women.
Interesting facts about depression Psychasthenic. It occurs against the background of a persistent decrease in mood and complete lethargy. A person develops a feeling of self-doubt, indecisiveness and timidity.
Additional types of depression
Depressive disorders are also classified according to the reasons that caused the pathology and the nuances of the course of the disorder. Depression is divided into the following additional types:
- Chronic. It is diagnosed if the symptoms of classical depressive disorder are observed for a long time (up to 2-2.5 years).
- Clinical (or acute). One of the most complex types of pathology. Such depression is characterized by a number of pronounced symptoms. Clinical depression is usually short-lived. This type of disorder is common and most people are familiar with it.
- Reactive. This type of depressive disorder develops against the background of prolonged, severe stressful situations.
- Neurotic. The trigger in the development of neurotic depression is emotional disorders of varying degrees and neurotic states.
- Alcoholic. People who have begun to struggle with drunkenness experience this. Such depression develops as a result of coding or identification of dangerous diseases for which the consumption of alcoholic beverages is prohibited.
- Lingering. It develops due to the long-term accumulation of any negative factors, which at one point result in a depressive disorder.
- Masked. Manifests itself due to various pain signs that accompany various forms of somatic diseases.
- Postpartum. This type of depression is caused by sudden hormonal changes in women after childbirth.
- Manic (or bipolar). This depression is caused by the innate nuances of a person’s character (when emotional lability predominates in the mental makeup of the individual).
Depressive disorders are rich in manifestations and varieties. Each of the numerous types of pathology has its own symptoms.
Symptoms of depression
Depressive manifestations are variable, their severity depends on the personality type, the presence of additional somatic disorders, the cause and type of depression. Doctors have grouped the main signs of the disorder into four separate classes:
| View | Symptoms |
| Emotional | Melancholy, despair, depressed mood, constant anxiety, feeling of danger, irritability, mood swings, loss of self-esteem, feelings of inferiority, dissatisfaction with oneself, loss of interest in favorite activities, detachment from others, loss of the ability to empathize. |
| Physiological (somatic) | Sleep problems (insomnia/drowsiness), the appearance of bulimia or vice versa, loss of appetite, gastrointestinal disorders (constipation, diarrhea, flatulence), decreased libido, physical weakness, decreased intellectual abilities, painful manifestations in the stomach, heart, joints, muscles . |
| Behavioral | Development of passivity, fear of social activities, tendency to loneliness, reluctance to communicate, loss of interest in friends and family, tendency to abuse alcohol, refusal of any type of entertainment. |
| Thinking | Difficulty concentrating, fear of making decisions, gloomy mood, thoughts of death, suicidal talk, lack of a sense of humor, feelings of worthlessness and uselessness, severe pessimism. |
Regardless of what symptoms of depression appear, any type of anxiety disorder is accompanied by a fear of large numbers of people and a panicky fear of public speaking. Sometimes people are afraid to even go outside.
Depressive disorders are often accompanied by thoughts about the possibility of contracting an incurable disease.
To diagnose a depressive disorder, it is enough for a psychiatrist to have at least 3 signs present in the clinical symptoms. And manifestations of pathology were observed for 1.5-2 weeks continuously.
How the disorder develops
The development of all depressive conditions is based on disturbances in the normal production of hormones responsible for biorhythms and emotional background. Predisposing biochemical factors under the influence of any external causes give rise to depressive symptoms.
Consequences of depression Psychiatrists distinguish the following stages in the development of depression. They are basic. Know them in order to recognize impending danger in time:
First stage (development of hypotemia)
Doctors call hypothemia a persistent drop in mood. A decrease in emotional background does not recover after proper rest and is fundamentally different from the annoyance, boredom or sadness that everyone is accustomed to.
What previously brought pleasure now causes disgust and apathy. The emotional connotation of hypotension can vary - from a feeling of blues to pronounced self-flagellation.
The patient reproaches himself for any reason, exaggerating problems and fantasizing about their gloomy development. Gradually, a person moves away from any manifestation of social activity, withdraws into himself and falls into an apathetic state.
Second stage (manifestation of bradypsychia)
This term in medicine refers to retardation (motor and mental). The patient begins to feel a gradual increase in a certain lethargy. The former liveliness, optimism, and cheerfulness disappear.
Main signs of depressive disorder Efficiency suffers, the person does not want to do anything. Life ceases to bring the same satisfaction. A favorite hobby is pushed into the background, a person stops taking care of himself. Now, even to make the necessary phone call, you have to force yourself to go to the phone and dial the number.
All the usual routine things are now done with obvious effort, on “autopilot”. Human movements become mechanical and stereotypical. The body gradually depletes itself.
With bradypsychia, the intellectual abilities of the individual suffer to a greater extent. Physical performance remains at the same level. That is, a person is able to carry heavy bags home, but is not able to comprehend what needs to be bought, forgetting about the essentials.
Third stage (occurrence of hypobulia)
Or a significant decrease in instinctive and volitional human impulses. The patient loses interest in the opposite sex, tasty food, and desire for night rest. The person cannot sleep and often wakes up. Chronic lack of sleep further exacerbates hypobulia.
Hypobulia often begins before classic symptoms of depression appear. A person can feel these signs long before they completely go into a state of psychomotor retardation.
At this stage, a person already understands that something wrong is happening to him and looks for the reasons for his illness. Visits to doctors and diagnostic centers begin. Of course, there are additional somatic diseases. Treatment is started that does not in any way affect the real cause, which leads to a worsening of the disorder.
What to do if you are depressed
Often people do not turn to a psychotherapist, even knowing what depression is and how it manifests itself. The usual prejudice dictates their will:
- what my colleagues and friends will think of me if they find out that I am being treated by a psychiatrist;
- I don’t want to turn into a slobbering vegetable, because I will have to take heavy medications;
- What if they forbid me to drive a car, register me, or offer me to go to a mental hospital.
A person, fearing public reproach, attributes the symptoms of depression to ordinary fatigue. He spends money and time on treating the somatic illnesses accompanying depressive disorder, driving himself to complete exhaustion and severe neurotic conditions, which are actually being treated in a hospital.
Is this development of events better than timely seeking help from a psychologist or psychotherapist? After all, the sooner a depressive disorder is diagnosed, the easier and faster it will be to get rid of it and live a full life again.
What is depression? Depression in psychology is defined as a type of emotional disorder accompanied by anxious and suspicious manifestations and loss of interest in life. Symptoms of psychotic depression occur to varying degrees at some point in everyone's life. Of course, only a psychotherapist can diagnose depression. Depression in mandatory implies the need for treatment. It can last for years and literally exhaust a person. To get rid of depression forever, you need to understand which doctor to see and find out its cause. Diagnosing depression is usually not difficult for a knowledgeable specialist.
People sometimes do not want to admit to themselves that they are experiencing enormous signs of depression. They feel that if they tell someone about their feelings, they will certainly look weak in the eyes of others. Many people are afraid of making a bad impression, appearing weak and weak-willed, appearing in an unfavorable light in front of colleagues, friends and even relatives. For this reason, manifestations of depressive disorder are often driven inside into the subconscious. As a result, the person ceases to understand what exactly is happening to him. He may suffer for years from uncontrollable fear, resentment, anxiety and despair, but does not even correlate all these characteristics with his mental illness. The greatest danger of depression is that the personality fades away gradually, day by day, without seeing or noticing the changes that occur.
Signs of Depression
Depression is a disease, a real disease. It has nothing to do with bad moods or whims. It cannot be overcome by simple willpower. The first signs of depression can appear even in someone who is generally satisfied with life, but for some reason is currently experiencing dissatisfaction. These are the ones you should pay attention to in time. A depressed state of mind can ultimately lead to uncontrollable consequences. To defeat the enemy, you need to know him. What are visible symptoms depression? How do you know if you are depressed?
The psychology of depression is such that a person who is in it cannot control his internal state. He suffers greatly, but does not find the strength to cope with the feeling of despair and hopelessness. From the outside it may seem that he has completely lost all taste for life. How long does depression last? There is no clear answer here.
There are different types of depression. Depending on the severity of the mental disorder, it may not go away for years, and sometimes it is cured in a relatively short period of time. Mood changes happen all the time. The personality changes abruptly from apathy to joy and vice versa. Most often, thoughts about the meaninglessness of your existence do not go away for hours, preventing you from performing your usual activities and enjoying life in general. There is a feeling of emptiness that cannot be filled with anything. This is what depression leads to.
Apathy and despondency become the central emotions of a person. In this regard, he simply cannot notice the beautiful things that happen around him. Psychiatry diagnoses depression as an extreme degree of fixation on a problem and the inability to find a way out of the situation. Defining depression helps to understand its essence. How more people plunges into himself, the more he begins to feel inner emptiness and despair. When wondering why depression occurs, you need to be able to address your state of mind.
As already mentioned, there are different types of depression. In some cases, a person is limited to anxiety and suspiciousness. In the worst case scenario, strong fears await him everywhere. It is not surprising that despair always goes hand in hand with depression. A person loses his life guidelines, everything begins to seem unimportant to him, devoid of all meaning. Depression obscures all other experiences and prevents liberation from depression. Treatment should be immediate, regardless of the type of depression. If a person is left alone for a long time with his universal melancholy and sadness, he ceases to believe in the very possibility of healing. Of course, you need to know how to cure depression. Actions must be coordinated, targeted and last a relatively long time.
Low self-esteem
A person who is in disorder ceases to see value in himself. More and more often she is visited by the feeling own uselessness. This is very dangerous condition which needs correction. Diagnosing a disease means already taking a step in the right direction, understanding what is happening. After all, the longer a person wanders through the labyrinths of his own soul, the worse it will be, the longer the treatment will be.
In most cases, a person additionally experiences a feeling of guilt for causing some kind of concern to loved ones. There are hypochondriacs who endlessly fear for their health. And this condition does not allow them to fully enjoy life or make plans for the future. Low self-esteem does not allow you to develop or try something new. Any undertakings are suppressed under the onslaught of uncontrollable fear. When thinking about what depression can be, you should be aware of the signs of an emerging disorder. Types of depression and their symptoms show how lost a person is in life.
Panic attacks
Depression is sometimes accompanied by a number of comorbid disorders. These include panic attacks, uncontrollable fears that a person cannot cope with on his own. If a state of this kind is noted, then the person generally begins to feel himself in a certain trap. Fears begin to inexplicably guide his real thoughts and feelings. Panic attacks is a serious disorder that needs attention. The sooner a person is provided with real support, the faster he will be able to restore his undermined mental balance.
Panic attacks always indicate the presence of obvious trouble. A healthy and mentally balanced person will simply, without apparent reason, never succumb to the influence of fears so much as to forget himself. However, a depressed person not only forgets his true self, he unknowingly harms his own condition.
Diffidence
For a very objective reason, depression gives rise to extreme self-doubt. A person sees that his capabilities are rapidly drying up. In fact, he simply loses touch with himself, ceases to feel his individual needs. He loses all aspirations and doesn’t want to do anything. Why is all this happening to him? Often he cannot understand where the formation of strong disharmony in his internal, mental state came from.
Self-doubt is an indispensable accompaniment of depression. A person who is not aware of his aspirations and desires does not know how to move in the chosen direction. In truth, such a person does not choose anything at all. She finds herself hostage to her own fears. Self-doubt greatly interferes with life and prevents the formation of a happy attitude. To get rid of the problem, you will need to work long and hard on yourself. If every person was not afraid to act and acted decisively, there would be significantly fewer unhappy people in the world. Being burdened with fears does not contribute to the development of personality.
Feeling worse
The physical symptoms of depression are not so noticeable, but are tangibly experienced by the patient himself. How do they manifest themselves, how to identify the symptoms of an unfavorable condition? The disease does not develop instantly. Ailments physical nature also appear gradually. They occur when a person despairs and stops believing in his own strengths and capabilities.
What exactly is happening? Dizziness, characteristic muscle weakness, pain in the certain parts bodies of varying degrees of severity. All these manifestations constitute a serious reason to consult a doctor for advice.
Causes of depression
Experts in the field of psychology associate the causes of depression with a violation of internal balance. It’s just that at some point in time a person ceases to feel his own integrity. Actually it's serious problem which definitely needs treatment. The causes of depression are so simple and clear that no one doubts their truth. This disease is unlikely to be hidden from others. A person who needs help becomes lethargic, apathetic, unpredictable, and suspicious. Let's take a closer look at the causes of depression.
Loneliness and rejection
Experiencing a feeling of some isolation from the world, the personality in most cases withdraws into itself. Such self-awareness, of course, is not in vain. Over time, contacts with people are lost, melancholy and despondency begin to take hold. Loneliness is perhaps the worst thing that can happen to a person. Realizing his restlessness, a person can decide to do the most absurd acts that would never be done in real life. calm state. Depression accumulates and anxiety grows if a person does not know where to go or who to turn to. Depression occurs as a result of a complicated emotional disorder and becomes a real disease.
Character traits
Sometimes a person himself turns out to be predisposed to the development of psychological ill-being. In this case, over the years, he increasingly develops the ability to perceive reality from the point of view of failure. Such a person gets upset in advance, even when nothing serious has happened. He doesn’t know how to rejoice and looks for tricks everywhere. Such a worldview does not lead to anything good. There is nothing sadder than watching your own fall, especially when you don’t have the strength to really change something. The more a person fusses, experiences fears and anxieties, the more he withdraws into himself. This means that helping him becomes actually incredibly difficult. Character traits greatly influence the development and strengthening of depression.
Treatment of depression
Can depression be cured? Which doctor treats depression? What treatments are there for depression? These and other questions are asked by a person who intends to get rid of incomprehensible mental confusion, which he is in no way able to explain to himself. How to treat depression? What do you need to remember?
Working with fears
The first thing you need to get rid of is all-consuming fears. It is they who create those same invisible barriers in the head, over which the person then struggles for months and years in the hope of finding a way out of the difficult situation. Treatment methods for depression are based on an integrated approach. Working with fears includes thoroughly clearing the mind of negative thoughts and attitudes. It is necessary not only to learn not to think about bad things, but to cultivate positive thinking in yourself. It is bright thoughts that lead to personal growth and self-improvement that can truly change a person’s life.
No one has any idea how to treat this disease until they experience it themselves. Recognizing the existence of a problem means already solving it to some extent. You can talk to your doctor about everything that excites and worries your soul, what you really feel. Hiding worries and fearful thoughts will only prolong the visitation process indefinitely. It is for this purpose that there is someone who heals a person’s thoughts and feelings.
Working with a psychotherapist
Which doctor treats depression? You need to see a psychotherapist. This specialist will help you build a long-term vision of life and decide on your leading values. If you do not take this step, then gradually the already emerging disorder will literally consume the person. He will stop not only enjoying life, but generally making any plans and leaving the house. Everything begins gradually, imperceptibly for the individual himself, and this is the greatest danger. Any little trouble will become a real disaster for him, and minor health problems will turn into a severe hypochondriacal disorder. Depression is treated the easier the sooner a person realizes the need to seek help. When the situation is very advanced, sometimes they resort to psychiatric help. That is why you need to obey the doctor strictly and conscientiously follow all his instructions.
Filling with emotions
You should understand in advance and accept on faith the idea that simply swallowing pills will not get rid of the problem. A person can actually recover if he pays a lot of attention to the disturbing issue. After you have successfully cleared yourself of negative attitudes, you should begin to absorb useful and positive information. Such content must necessarily bring joy, inspiration and happiness. This is the only way to feel the difference, to understand how wrong you were before, plunging into endless despondency and melancholy.
Emotional content should be based on a person’s interests. Someone will need to turn to products of creative heritage. Another person will need to go to a beauty salon and get an excellent hairstyle. Everyone has their own values that no one has the right to take away. The more a person at this stage turns to his own true needs, the sooner he can truly begin to feel satisfaction from every day he lives.
Thus, a mental disorder such as depression necessarily requires timely diagnosis. The success of all subsequent actions related to overcoming this oppressive state depends on this step. If you do not understand in time what it is and do not recognize depression, a person will eventually completely lose the ability to rejoice. Seeking help helps to work through the situation and cure this illness. You can determine depression yourself, the main thing to remember is that although it is long-lasting, it is still treatable.
Depression is a disease known since ancient times. People suffering from it have always had a hard time living - not only because of their own melancholy, but also because of society’s attitude towards the problem: if before the patient was suspected of being possessed by the devil, in our times depression is often considered a manifestation of laziness and weakness. Scientists, fortunately, think differently and, moreover, successfully treat this disease. T&P explain how real depression differs from the usual blues and what to do if someone close to you suffers from it.
Poor people
“Depression” is a relatively new term, it appeared only in the 19th century. However, the disease itself has existed for more than the first millennium. It is mentioned in ancient texts from Mesopotamia, Babylon, Egypt and China. In those days, the cause of depression (as well as other mental disorders) was considered to be human possession by demons. The treatment, accordingly, was exorcism sessions: the patients were beaten, tied up, and starved.
IN Ancient Greece Since the time of Hippocrates, healers, following the legendary doctor himself, were sure that melancholy (as depression was previously called) was caused by an excess of “black bile” - one of the main body fluids. To treat this condition, Hippocrates recommended the use of bloodletting, baths, physical exercise and diet.
The next important step forward was taken during the time of Plato: philosophers of that time came to the conclusion that the cause of mental illness could be childhood experiences and problems in the family. However, it was not possible to advance further than this idea in those days - after another half a millennium, the dark ages came, which did not promise anything good for the mentally ill.
St. Augustine, who lived at the very beginning of the Dark Ages, stated that despondency and depression are punishment for sins, and symptoms of severe clinical depression are signs of demonic possession (yes, again). They were treated for “demons” in much the same way as in ancient times - with the help of punishments with which patients were supposed to atone for their sins. But the gradual decrease in the influence of the church by the 17th–18th centuries did not bring anything good to patients with depression: the era of reason and rationalism explained the disease “progressively” - as a lack of self-discipline and indulgence in laziness. However, this does not mean at all that medicine condoned “laziness” - depression was treated with torture, designed to distract patients from their harmful lack of concentration.
By the middle of the 19th century, a fashion for hysteria began in Europe - it was explained by many diseases in women, from depression to sexual dysfunction. The popularity of hysteria caused the emergence huge amount various methods of its treatment - from hypnosis and water procedures to quite medieval practices like burning the skin with acid to distract the patient from her illness. In the 20th century, depression began to increasingly appear as a separate diagnosis in medical practice, but even today the attitude towards it is ambivalent - the myth that it is not a disease at all, but a lack of motivation, connivance and laziness, is still alive.
What is depression
Today it is common to call depression anything, even endless sadness about the absence of your favorite type of tea in a cafe. Doctors, however, have their own opinion on this matter. Depression in its classic form (also called clinical depression or major depressive disorder) has four main symptoms, and none of them are at all similar to what people normally feel when separated from their favorite drink.
1) Decreased mood. This is not just sadness, but a feeling of melancholy and hopelessness that is literally physically felt. In case depression is caused by events outside world(then it is called reactive), it is basically impossible to escape from depressing thoughts, despite all the cheerful advice from friends “not to get hung up on.” If depression is endogenous (that is, caused not external factors or other diseases) and there seems to be no reason for sadness, then life simply ceases to please you completely, completely.
2) Impaired cognitive function - simply put, problems with thinking. Firstly, thoughts become very slow and clumsy, and secondly, it is noticeably harder to think than before - they either scatter or get confused, and it is impossible to put them together. And finally, thirdly, thoughts always revolve around one thing. Either around the cause of reactive depression, or, with endogenous depression, around one’s own sins, shortcomings, mistakes, character flaws. One way or another, quite often depressed people come to the conclusion that they are to blame for all their (and sometimes other people’s) troubles, and things won’t get any better, which means life no longer has meaning. This is why depression is such a dangerous risk for suicide.
3) Motor retardation. It becomes as difficult to move as it is to think, even one expression often freezes on the face - according to friends, people with depression seem to age several years at once.
4) Irregularities in work different systems body. Symptoms of depression also include loss of appetite, insomnia, weight loss (even if there are no problems with appetite), general weakness and constant fatigue, disturbances in the gastrointestinal tract, decreased libido and disorders menstrual cycle among women.
In addition to clinical, “major” depression, there is also “minor” depression - when the patient has at least two of the listed symptoms, but their number or severity does not reach full clinical depression. It happens that this condition lasts for several years - in this case, the doctor diagnoses “dysthymic depression”. Its cause is often some traumatic event in the past, already half forgotten, but still pressing.
Correctly diagnosing depression is not always easy, because in addition to cases “just like in the textbook,” there are also patients who do not have any characteristic signs of depression at all, for example, there is no depression or sadness. But instead of it (or some other symptom), other disorders are added. Such depressions are called atypical. Simple atypical depressions include those in which grumpiness is included (the term “grumpy depression” actually exists in medical reference books), anger, a tendency to be ironic, cry, etc. But if, in addition to the characteristic features of depression, the patient also has hallucinations or delusions, doctors talk about complex atypical depression (it is also called psychotic).
And finally, in addition to unipolar depression, when the patient’s mood is more or less consistently bad or not at all, there is also (previously called manic-depressive psychosis), in which periods of depression are replaced by episodes of impressive elation.
And why all?
If we talk about exogenous depression, then the reasons for their occurrence (at least first-order reasons) include all sorts of traumatic events that happened to the patient, various diseases(primarily neurological, such as epilepsy and dementia, and endocrine, such as diabetes), traumatic brain injuries, taking certain medications, lack of sunlight, severe stress.
The situation is more complicated with endogenous, “causeless” depression. There is no clear answer to the question of what goes wrong at the moment when a person becomes depressed. But there are hypotheses about this. The leading theory today is the monoamine theory. According to it, depression begins due to a deficiency in the body of two substances - serotonin and (or) norepinephrine (they are precisely monoamines). The first of them, among other things, is responsible for the feeling of joy, the second is called the “mediator of wakefulness”; it is actively produced during stressful reactions and in situations where it is necessary to gather oneself and act.
The problem may be not only in the actual lack of these substances, but also in disturbances in their transmission from neuron to neuron. The development of Prozac and some other popular antidepressants is based precisely on this theory - their work comes down to increasing the amount of monoamines or correcting problems with their transmission. However, not everything is smooth here. Critics of the monoamine theory say that if depression depended only on serotonin levels, then antidepressants would help immediately after taking them, and not after a month of treatment, as is actually the case. In addition, research suggests that when serotonin levels decrease, not everyone develops depression. From these premises a separate “stress theory” grew. According to her, the effect of antidepressants is not due to their influence on the level of serotonin in the body, but to the stimulation of neurogenesis - the birth of new nerve cells. These processes in certain areas of the brain continue throughout life, and stress can disrupt them. A couple of weeks of taking antidepressants corrects the situation, and thus depression can be overcome. The “stress theory” today is no longer considered an explanation of the origin of depression, but as a hypothesis about the mechanism of action of some antidepressants, it is taken quite seriously.
Happy pill
Of course, a conversation about the treatment of depression should begin with a story about antidepressants. They are divided into two large groups - stimulating and sedative. The former are used when symptoms of lethargy and fatigue predominate, the latter - for depression accompanied by anxiety. Choosing the right antidepressant is a difficult task, since it is necessary to take into account the type of depression, its severity, the patient’s expected response to a particular drug, as well as the potential for the development of mania in patients with bipolar disorder. The wrong choice of drug can result not only in aggravation of the condition, but also in suicide - stimulant antidepressants can give the patient exactly the strength that he lacked to end his hateful life. Actually, this is why it is better not to conduct personal experiments with these drugs.
Patients with depression are often recommended to undergo a course of psychotherapy - however, soul-saving conversations mainly show their effectiveness in reactive depression. They treat endogenous drugs, according to studies, in much the same way as placebos.
In general, the range of remedies recommended for mild forms of depression is quite wide: physical exercise, light therapy, acupuncture, hypnosis, meditation, art therapy and more. Most of these methods evidence base Not at all, some (these include physical activity and light therapy) have it. Unfortunately, with severe endogenous depression, all this does not work. However, there is treatment for such cases too.
Electroconvulsive therapy shows the best results (much better than antidepressants, for example). This is not at all a continuation of the centuries-old history of treating depression with torture: the patient is given anesthesia and a drug to relax the muscles, after which controlled convulsions are induced using an electric current. As a result, chemical changes occur in the brain that lead to improved mood and well-being. After approximately 5–10 sessions, 90% of patients experience significant improvements (antidepressants help in approximately 60% of cases).
Everyone is sad
Depression is one of the most common mental illness. According to WHO statistics, more than 350 million people suffer from it worldwide. This means that it is very likely that someone you know may have this disorder. It is with them that you can show all your delicacy and sensitivity, because proper treatment of a patient with depression is very important.
The very first rule is that you should not be embarrassed to be a reinsurer. If someone talks about plans to commit suicide, it is better to first call the emergency service psychiatric care, and only then figure out whether it was in a beautiful phrase or expression of intention.
Depressed people are rarely good communicators—few people can be when life seems unbearable. Therefore, when communicating with someone who is depressed, you should not take too harsh answers or their complete absence personally - this is only a consequence of the disease. There is no need to reduce the conversation to platitudes like “everyone goes through this” and “I understand how you feel.” Firstly, own feelings are always perceived as unique, and secondly, you really most likely have no idea what exactly the person is going through at the moment. It can be much more helpful to admit that you don't know what your friend or relative is feeling right now, and are willing to listen to them if they want to tell you about it.
People with depression often feel lonely and isolated from others, so telling them that they are not alone and that you are ready to support them and help them can be very helpful. But you shouldn’t say how hard it is for you because of their poor health - the feeling of guilt will only grow, and the person will most likely not be able to correct the situation, even if they try.
There is no need to try to help with feigned optimism - most likely, “cheerleading” will only worsen the condition. Trying to “order” people to come to their senses and pull themselves together is another great way to ruin communication a little more than completely, just like unprofessional advice on treating depression, regardless of what Wikipedia writes about these specific recommendations. Simply letting your loved one know that you are here and ready to help them is the best medicine you can offer.
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Depression is a mental disorder characterized by a depressive triad, which includes decreased mood, disturbances in thinking (a pessimistic view of everything that is happening around, loss of the ability to feel joy, negative judgments), and motor retardation.
Depression is accompanied by decreased self-esteem, loss of taste for life, as well as interest in usual activities. In some cases, a person experiencing depression begins to abuse alcohol, as well as other available psychotropic substances.
Depression being mental disorder, appears as pathological affect. The disease itself is perceived by people and patients as a manifestation of laziness and bad character, as well as selfishness and pessimism. It should be borne in mind that a depressive state is not only a bad mood, but often psychosomatic illness, requiring intervention from specialists. The earlier it is installed accurate diagnosis, and treatment has been started, the more likely success in recovery is.
The symptoms of depression can be effectively treated, despite the fact that the disease is very common among people of all ages. According to statistics, 10% of people over 40 suffer from depressive disorders. summer age, two thirds of them are women. People over 65 years old suffer from mental illness three times more often. Among adolescents and children, 5% suffer from depression, and adolescence accounts for 15 to 40% of the number of young people with a high incidence of suicide.
Depression history
It is a mistake to believe that the disease is common only in our time. Many famous doctors since antiquity have studied and described this disease. In his works, Hippocrates gave a description of melancholy that is very close to a depressive state. To treat the disease, he recommended opium tincture, cleansing enemas, long warm baths, massage, fun, drinking mineral waters from the springs of Crete, rich in bromine and lithium. Hippocrates also noted the influence of weather and seasonality on the occurrence of depressive conditions in many patients, as well as improvement in condition after sleepless nights. This method was subsequently called sleep deprivation.
Causes
There are many reasons that can lead to the disease. These include dramatic experiences associated with losses ( loved one, social status, certain status in society, work). In this case, reactive depression occurs, which occurs as a reaction to an event, a situation from external life.
The causes of depression can manifest themselves when stressful situations(nervous breakdown) caused by physiological or psychosocial factors. In this case, the social cause of the disease is associated with a high pace of life, high competition, increased level stress, uncertainty about the future, social instability, difficult economic conditions. Modern society cultivates and therefore imposes a whole series of values that doom humanity to constant dissatisfaction with itself. This is a cult of physical as well as personal perfection, a cult of personal well-being and strength. Because of this, people have a hard time and begin to hide personal problems, as well as failures. If psychological, as well as somatic reasons depression does not reveal itself, then this is how endogenous depression manifests itself.
The causes of depression are also associated with a lack of biogenic amines, which include serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine.
The reasons may be caused by sunless weather and darkened rooms. Thus, seasonal depression occurs, which occurs in autumn and winter.
The causes of depression can manifest themselves as a result of side effects of medications (benzodiazepines, corticosteroids). Often this condition disappears on its own after stopping the medication.
The depressive state caused by taking antipsychotics can last up to 1.5 years with a vital character. In some cases, the reasons lie in the abuse of sedatives and sleeping pills, cocaine, alcohol, and psychostimulants.
The causes of depression can be provoked by somatic diseases (Alzheimer's disease, influenza, traumatic brain injury, atherosclerosis of the cerebral arteries).
Signs
Researchers in all countries of the world note that depression in our time exists on a par with cardiovascular diseases and is a common illness. Millions of people suffer from this disease. All manifestations of depression are different and vary depending on the form of the disease.
Signs of depression are the most common. These are emotional, physiological, behavioral, mental.
Emotional signs of depression include sadness, distress, despair; depressed, depressed mood; anxiety, feelings of internal tension, irritability, anticipation of trouble, feelings of guilt, self-blame, dissatisfaction with oneself, decreased self-esteem and confidence, loss of the ability to worry, anxiety for loved ones.
Physiological signs include changes in appetite, decreased intimate needs and energy, sleep disturbances and intestinal functions - constipation, weakness, fatigue during physical and intellectual stress, pain in the body (in the heart, in the muscles, in the stomach).
Behavioral signs include refusal to engage in goal-directed activities, passivity, loss of interest in other people, frequent solitude, refusal of entertainment, and use of alcohol and psychotropic substances.
Mental signs of depression include difficulty concentrating, concentrating, making decisions, slowness of thinking, the prevalence of gloomy and negative thoughts, a pessimistic view of the future with a lack of prospects and thoughts about the meaninglessness of one’s existence, suicide attempts due to one’s uselessness, helplessness, insignificance .
Symptoms
All symptoms of depression, according to ICD-10, were divided into typical (main) and additional. Depression is diagnosed when two main symptoms are present and three additional symptoms are present.
Typical (main) symptoms of depression are:
Depressed mood, which does not depend on external circumstances, lasting two weeks or more;
Persistent fatigue for a month;
Anhedonia, which is characterized by loss of interest in previously enjoyable activities.
Additional symptoms diseases:
Pessimism;
Feelings of worthlessness, anxiety, guilt, or fear;
Inability to make decisions and concentrate;
Low self-esteem;
Thoughts about death or suicide;
Decreased or increased appetite;
Sleep disorders, manifested in insomnia or oversleeping.
The diagnosis of depression is made when symptoms last for more than two weeks. However, the diagnosis is established even after a shorter period with severe symptoms.
As for childhood depression, according to statistics it is much less common than in adults.
Symptoms of childhood depression: loss of appetite, nightmares, problems with school performance, the appearance of aggressiveness, alienation.
Kinds
There are unipolar depressions, which are characterized by preservation of mood within the reduced pole, as well as bipolar depression accompanied by bipolar affective disorder with manic or mixed affective episodes. Depressive states of minor severity can occur with cyclothymia.
The following forms of unipolar depression are distinguished: clinical depression or major depressive disorder; resistant depression; minor depression; atypical depression; postnatal (postpartum) depression; recurrent transient (autumn) depression; dysthymia.
You can often find in medical sources such an expression as vital depression, which means the vital nature of the disease with the presence of melancholy and anxiety, felt by the patient at the physical level. For example, melancholy is felt in the solar plexus area.
It is believed that vital depression develops cyclically and does not arise from external influences, but without cause and inexplicable for the patient himself. This course is typical for the disease bipolar or endogenous depression.
In a narrow sense, vital depression is called melancholy depression, in which melancholy and despair are manifested.
These types of diseases, despite their severity, are favorable because they can be successfully treated with antidepressants.
Vital depressions are also considered to be depressive states with cyclothymia with manifestations of pessimism, melancholy, despondency, depression, and dependence on the circadian rhythm.
The depressive state is initially accompanied by weak signals, manifested in problems with sleep, refusal to perform duties, and irritability. If symptoms intensify within two weeks, depression develops or relapses, but it fully manifests itself after two (or later) months. There are also one-time attacks. If left untreated, depression can lead to suicide attempts, refusal of many life functions, alienation, and family breakup.
Depression in neurology and neurosurgery
If the tumor is localized in the right hemisphere of the temporal lobe, melancholy depression with motor slowness and retardation is observed.
Melancholy depression can be combined with olfactory, as well as autonomic disorders and taste hallucinations. Patients are very critical of their condition and have a hard time experiencing their illness. Those suffering from this condition have reduced self-esteem, their voice is quiet, they are in a dejected state, the rate of speech is slow, patients quickly get tired, speak with pauses, complain of memory loss, but accurately reproduce events and dates.
Localization of the pathological process in the left temporal lobe is characterized by the following depressive states: anxiety, irritability, motor restlessness, tearfulness.
Symptoms of anxious depression are combined with aphasic disorders, as well as delusional hypochondriacal ideas with verbal auditory hallucinations. Sick people constantly change position, sit down, stand up, and get up again; They look around, sigh, and peer into the faces of their interlocutors. Patients talk about their fears of foreboding trouble, cannot relax voluntarily, and have poor sleep.
Depression in traumatic brain injury
When a traumatic brain injury occurs, melancholy depression occurs, which is characterized by slow speech, impaired speech rate, attention, and the appearance of asthenia.
When a moderate traumatic brain injury occurs, anxious depression occurs, which is characterized by motor restlessness, anxious statements, sighs, and tossing around.
With bruises of the frontal anterior parts of the brain, apathetic depression occurs, which is characterized by the presence of indifference with a tinge of sadness. Patients are characterized by passivity, monotony, loss of interest in others and in themselves. They look indifferent, lethargic, hypomimic, indifferent.
A concussion in the acute period is characterized by hypothymia (sustained decrease in mood). Often, 36% of patients in the acute period experience anxious subdepression, and asthenic subdepression in 11% of people.
Diagnostics
Early detection of cases of the disease is complicated by the fact that patients try to keep silent about the occurrence of symptoms, since most people are afraid of being prescribed antidepressants and their side effects. Some patients mistakenly believe that it is necessary to keep emotions under control, and not transfer them to the shoulders of the doctor. Some individuals fear that information about their condition will leak out at work, while others are terrified of being referred for consultation or treatment to a psychotherapist or psychiatrist.
Diagnosis of depression includes conducting questionnaire tests to identify symptoms: anxiety, anhedonia (loss of pleasure in life), suicidal tendencies.
Treatment
Scientific research have psychological factors, which help stop subdepressive states. To do this you need to remove negative thinking, stop dwelling on the negative moments in life and start seeing the good in the future. It is important to change the tone of communication in the family to be friendly, without critical judgment and conflict. Maintain and establish warm, trusting contacts that will act as emotional support for you.
Not every patient needs to be hospitalized; treatment is also carried out effectively on an outpatient basis. The main directions of therapy in treatment are psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy, social therapy.
Cooperation and trust in the doctor are noted as a necessary condition for the effectiveness of treatment. It is important to strictly follow the prescribed treatment regimen, visit your doctor regularly, and give a detailed report of your condition.
It is better to entrust the treatment of depression to a specialist; we recommend professionals from the Alliance mental health clinic (https://cmzmedical.ru/)
The support of your immediate environment is important for a speedy recovery, but you should not plunge into a depressive state together with the patient. Explain to the patient that depression is only an emotional state that will pass over time. Avoid criticism of patients, involve them in useful activities. With a protracted course, spontaneous recovery occurs very rarely and the percentage is up to 10% of all cases, while the return to a depressive state is very high.
Pharmacotherapy includes treatment with antidepressants, which are prescribed for their stimulating effect. In the treatment of melancholy, deep or apathetic depressive state, Imipramine, Clomipramine, Tsipramil, Paroxetine, Fluoxetine are prescribed. In the treatment of subpsychotic conditions, Pyrazidol and Desipramine are prescribed to relieve anxiety.
Anxious depression with moody irritability and constant restlessness is treated with sedative antidepressants. Severe anxious depression with suicidal intentions and thoughts is treated with Amitriptyline. Minor depression with anxiety is treated with Ludiomil, Azefen.
With poor tolerance to antidepressants, as well as with increased blood pressure Recommend Coaxil. For mild to moderate depression, herbal preparations, such as Hypericin, are used. All antidepressants have a very complex chemical composition and therefore act differently. Taking them reduces the feeling of fear and prevents the loss of serotonin.
Antidepressants are prescribed directly by a doctor and are not recommended to be taken on your own. The effect of many antidepressants appears two weeks after administration; their dosage for the patient is determined individually.
After the cessation of symptoms of the disease, the drug must be taken for 4 to 6 months, and according to recommendations, for several years in order to avoid relapses, as well as withdrawal syndrome. Incorrect selection of antidepressants can provoke a worsening of the condition. A combination of two antidepressants, as well as a potentiation strategy, including the addition of another substance (Lithium, thyroid hormones, anticonvulsants, estrogens, Buspirone, Pindolol, folic acid, etc.) can be effective in treatment. Treatment Research affective disorders Lithium has shown that suicide rates are reduced.
Psychotherapy in the treatment of depressive disorders has successfully proven itself in combination with psychotropic drugs. For patients with mild to moderate depression, psychotherapy is effective for psychosocial, as well as intrapersonal, interpersonal problems and related disorders.
Behavioral psychotherapy teaches patients to engage in enjoyable activities and eliminate unpleasant and painful ones. Cognitive psychotherapy is combined with behavioral techniques that identify cognitive distortions of a depressive nature, as well as thoughts that are overly pessimistic and painful, interfering with useful activity.
Interpersonal psychotherapy refers to depression as medical illness. Her goal is to teach patients social skills, as well as the ability to control mood. Researchers note the same effectiveness with interpersonal psychotherapy, as well as with cognitive therapy in comparison with pharmacotherapy.
Interpersonal therapy, as well as cognitive behavioral therapy, provide relapse prevention after acute period. After the use of cognitive therapy, those suffering from depression experience a relapse of the disorder much less frequently than after the use of antidepressants and are resistant to the decrease in tryptophan, which precedes serotonin. However, on the other hand, the effectiveness of psychoanalysis itself does not significantly exceed the effectiveness drug treatment.
Treatment of depression is also carried out by acupuncture, music therapy, hypnotherapy, art therapy, meditation, aromatherapy, magnetotherapy. These helper methods should be combined with rational pharmacotherapy. An effective treatment for any type of depression is light therapy. It is used for seasonal depression. The duration of treatment is from half an hour to one hour, preferably in the morning. In addition to artificial lighting, it is possible to use natural sunlight at sunrise.
For severe, prolonged and resistant depressive states, electroconvulsive therapy is used. Its purpose is to cause controlled seizures that occur by passing an electrical current through the brain for 2 seconds. Chemical changes in the brain release substances that improve mood. The procedure is carried out using anesthesia. In addition, to avoid injury, the patient receives medications that relax the muscles. The recommended number of sessions is 6-10. Negative aspects are temporary loss of memory, as well as orientation. Studies have shown that this method is 90% effective.
In a non-medicinal way Treatment of depression with apathy is sleep deprivation. Complete sleep deprivation is characterized by spending time without sleep all night, as well as the next day.
Partial night sleep deprivation involves waking the patient between 1 and 2 am, and then staying awake for the rest of the day. However, it has been noted that after a single sleep deprivation procedure, relapses are observed after the establishment of normal sleep.
The late 1990s and early 2000s were marked by new approaches to therapy. These include transcranial magnetic stimulation of the vagus nerve, deep brain stimulation and magnetic convulsive therapy.
Doctor of the Medical and Psychological Center "PsychoMed"
The information provided in this article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to substitute for professional advice and qualified advice. medical care. If you have the slightest suspicion of depression, be sure to consult your doctor!
