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Archive for April, 2006

Types of Depression

Posted by Blog Master on 28th April 2006

Depression manifests itself in different forms. When a patient is diagnosed with depression, the psychiatrist uses several terms, such as clinical, bipolar, major, seasonal affective or unipolar to describe the illness. This may be confusing for people who don’t know that depression forms often overlap. In addition, individuals who suffer from depression may receive other diagnosis too, because depression is linked with alcoholism, drug abuse, eating disorders, anxiety disorders and several other problems.


Major Depression

Major depression refers to a severe form of depression that needs professional treatment. A serious depressed mood during a single period is usually called an episode of major depression. Many psychiatrist think that you can approximate how severe the depression is by measuring the intensity of the changes in the patient’s lifestyle. The more severe the illness is, the greater impact it has on the sufferer’s life.


Dysthymia

Individuals who suffer from this type of depression do not have only a severe episode,  but seem to suffer from mild symptoms almost all the time. They are also prone to be hit by a major episode at some point. This situation is called “double depression” and demands special treatment and care.


Bipolar Depression

Bipolar depression, also known as manic depression, is characterized by an oscillation of extremely highs and lows. Scientists claim that this type of depression is caused by an imbalance in brain chemicals. This imbalance can be treated successfully with medication in about 80 percent of all cases.


Atypical Depression

This type of depression is more common in women. The feeling of sadness gets better for a while and then worsens again. Common symptoms include overeating, oversleeping, exaggerated sensitivity to romantic rejection and panic attacks. It usually begins during teen years and if left untreated, usually continues throughout life.


Psychotic Depression

About 15% of patients who suffer from major depression show some symptoms of psychotic depression as well. Common symptoms include hearing voices, seeing people that are not actually there and delusional thinking. This type of depression is extremely serious and requires immediate treatment. People who suffer from it are not aware of the consequences of their actions, so there is a high risk of suicidal behavior.


Postpartum Depression

Postpartum depression is often considered a form of major depression, because the symptoms are very similar. This type of depression affects about 10% of all new mothers and it is more common with those who have suffered from another form of depression before. Most women feel down a few days after birth. However, in postpartum depression, the symptoms are long lasting. If untreated, it can last for months or even years.


Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PDD)

This type of depression affects about four percent of all menstruating women. It is different from premenstrual syndrome, where the symptoms are milder and last for only a few days. Women who suffer from premenstrual dysphoric disorder experience serious depression and irritability for a week or a couple of weeks before or during menstruation.


Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)

Seasonal affective disorder is yet another type of depression. Experts claim that it is caused by some individuals’ sensitivity to changes in the amount of daylight from one season to another. For example, some people feel sad when winter comes and the day is shorter, feeling the need to sleep and eat more. When spring comes, they feel better and get their energy back.

There are significant variations not only between different forms of depression, but also in the number and severity of the symptoms experienced by different individuals all suffering from the same type of depression. While for some people they are easier to treat and less persistent, others experience them from a long period of time and respond less to medication or psychotherapy.

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7 Steps To A Depression Free Life - an Easy to Follow, Step-By-Step, Roadmap for Beating Depression No Matter What Your Past Experience . . .

 

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Clinical Depression

Posted by Blog Master on 27th April 2006

Also known as unipolar depression or major depressive disorder, clinical depression is a very serious mental illness that affects individuals who suffer from it in a variety of ways. People who suffer from clinical depression feel constantly sad and lose interest and pleasure in the activities they used to enjoy. Other symptoms include sleep disorders, loss of appetite, inability to focus, physical pains and memory problems. Those who are depressed feel helpless and worthless about their ability to make things right. They welcome sleep and view their waking life as a nightmare. Though they might try hard to snap out of it, they feel falling into it deeper and deeper and have nothing to hold on to.

Although clinical depression can affect anyone at any age, it is more common in people between the ages of 25 and 44. In some cases, even if untreated, it goes away by itself. Doctors attribute this to the tendency of our body to recover from abnormal situations.

What Causes Clinical Depression

As antidepressant medicines are so effective in dealing with clinical depression, many scientists have started to wonder whether it has a biological, rather than psychological basis. However, further research has shown that both genetics and stress play an important part in clinical depression.

Stress has been proved to play an important part in the first two stages of major depression, but not later on. Genetics and temperament are more important in later episodes.

It seems that clinical depression often needs stress in order to get the ball rolling. However, after a couple of episodes, it keeps rolling by itself and no longer needs stress. This pattern is common to most cases of mental illness. A treatment for clinical depression should consider the role that stress, genetics and temperament play. Unfortunately, many of the current therapies lack this complex approach.

Symptoms Of Clinical Depression

Individuals who suffer from depression experience five or more of the following symptoms for more than a couple of weeks. One of the symptoms is either a depressed mood or loss of interest and pleasure:

  • Depressed mood for most of the day, almost every day, either reported by the patient himself or observed by others. In children or teenagers, it can be an irritable mood.
  • Decreased interest and pleasure in the usual activities, almost every day
  • Significant weight loss or weight gain (more than 5% of body weight) or changes in appetite
  • Insomnia or exaggerated sleep
  • Agitation or retardation almost every day
  • Feelings of worthlessness or exaggerated guilt
  • Decreased ability to think or focus or indecisiveness, almost every day
  • Suicidal or death thoughts, plans to or attempts to commit suicide

These symptoms interfere with everyday activities and important areas of the patient’s life. They are not the direct effect of certain substances, such as medication or drugs, or caused by a medical condition, such as hypothyroidism. They are not experienced only soon after traumatic events, such as the loss of a loved one, but last for several months. During this period, the patient shows excessive preoccupation with worthlessness, suicidal intentions, psychotic symptoms or psychomotor retardation. Clinical depression can be diagnosed and treated only by a professional therapist.

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Sign Of Depression Checklist

Posted by Blog Master on 26th April 2006

Recognizing a sign of depression is the first step to getting professional help and manage to overcome it. However, as depression and Attention Deficit syndrome share a a lot of symptoms, distingushing between the two can sometimes be very difficult.


  1. Clinical Depression & Attention Deficit


When noticing a sign of depression, many patients may mistake it for an Attention Deficit symptom and therefore pass it off. To add more to the problem, Attention Deficit medications have some side effects that are very similar to depression symptoms.

However, as about 30% of those who suffer from attention deficit also develop depression, it is recommended for all individuals who have been diagnosed with attention deficit to have psychological evaluation for depression as well.


  1. Signs of Depression


While you read through the sign of depression checklist, keep in mind that some Read through the clinical depression symptom checklist, keeping in mind that some of these symptoms may actually be caused by attention deficit. To suffer from depression, you don’t have to be noticing every single one of these symptoms. Having five or six symptoms for a longer period might be a sign of depression.



  • Having a sad, anxious or “empty” feeling almost all the time
  • Sleep disorders (sleeping too little or too much).
  • Changes in eating behavior (either a decreased appetite and weight loss or a higher appetite and weight gain).
  • Decreased interest in activities that you used to enjoyed.
  • Agitation or irritability.
  • Physical symptoms (such as chronic pain, headaches or digestive disorders) that do not respond to treatment.
  • Decreased ability to focus, remember or make decisions
  • Fatigue or low energy level
  • Feeling of guilt, worthlessness or hopelessness
  • Preoccupation with suicide or death


It is important to distinguish between sadness and clinical depression. Everyone feels sad from time to time in response of unfortunate life events. However, depression is more powerful than a period of sadness or unhappiness. In depression, the feelings of sadness last for several months or even years, not just for a few days or weeks. If such feelings are not linked to a specific life event and make you feel hopeless and worthless, it might be a sign of depression.


Depression may manifest in various ways. Your house might become a mess, with unfinished chores everywhere. Errands that used to take a few hours can now take several days. Most sufferers avoid being with friends and family and involving in social activities. Some stop worrying about the way they look and may even skip on personal hygiene. They wear sweat pants and mostly dark clothing. Others even start drinking and using drugs to get rid of the pain.


Depression needs to be treated by a professional. There are treatments for all kinds of depression, whether they consist of psychotherapy, prescription medication or the two combined. When deciding on a treatment, it is important to be honest and let the psychiatrist know all the particularities and illness history, as well as your personal preferences for one type of treatment or another.

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7 Steps To A Depression Free Life - an Easy to Follow, Step-By-Step, Roadmap for Beating Depression No Matter What Your Past Experience . . .

 

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