Depression. The Main Symptoms

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Video: Depression. The Main Symptoms

Video: Depression. The Main Symptoms
Video: Symptoms of Major Depressive Disorder 2024, May
Depression. The Main Symptoms
Depression. The Main Symptoms
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Depression. The main symptoms

"Depression is like a lady in black. If she comes, do not drive her away, but invite her to the table as a guest, and listen to what she intends to say." Carl Gustav Jung

Recently, you can often hear from someone: "I (he) has depression." We use this word quite often, in the clinical and everyday sense, but we do not always know exactly the definition, manifestations and symptoms of this disease. It is likely that what we used to call depression is not, and vice versa. Everyone, sometimes or often, experiences sadness, sadness, longing, depressed mood, different situations occur in life, we somehow react to them, for some time we are at the mercy of these experiences - this is normal. But it is important to know when this condition ceases to be the norm and develops into depression.

A person cannot be in melancholy and sadness for a long time, sooner or later he will get angry, happy or scared, his emotional state will change, his mood will change. The state becomes abnormal when the emotions experienced by a person cease to correspond to events taking place outside, when the usual adaptive mechanisms for some reason do not work. Depression involves giving up behavior.

Depression (from lat. deprimo - to press, to suppress) is a condition characterized by depressed mood, slowing down of thinking and weakened or disappearing motor activity. It is combined with a variety of somatic disorders, such as loss of appetite, weight loss, heart rhythm disturbances, feeling of physical weakness, etc. Symptoms are observed for at least two weeks and lead to disruption of a person's daily life. Depression in women is more common than in men, the average age of onset is 40 years, but it can occur at any age.

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DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for a depressive episode (American Manual of Diagnosis and Statistics of Mental Disorders).

Five or more of the following symptoms persist over 2 weeks, causing disruption to normal activities. At least one of them is a depressed mood, or a loss of interest in the environment and a loss of pleasure. This does not include symptoms due to medical conditions. Symptoms are not directly related to substance exposure (for example, drug or drug abuse).

1. Depressed mood persists for most of the day and is present almost daily (eg, feelings of sadness or emptiness, tears). Irritability is possible in children and adolescents.

2. Marked decrease in interest or loss of pleasure in doing all or nearly all activities most of the day and almost daily.

3. Significant weight loss unrelated to diet, weight gain (for example, 5% per month), or decreased or increased appetite almost every day. In children, attention should be paid to the lack of normal weight gain.

4. Insomnia or sleepiness almost daily.

5. Psychomotor agitation or psychomotor retardation almost every day (from the point of view of others, and not from a subjective feeling of restlessness or lethargy).

6. Fatigue or loss of energy almost daily.

7. Feeling worthless, or excessive or unreasonable guilt (which can be delusional) almost daily.

8. Decreased ability to think and focus, or hesitancy almost every day (as judged subjectively or by others).

9. Recurrent thoughts of death (not only fear of death), recurrent thoughts of suicide or attempts to commit suicide without a definite plan, or suicidal attempts with such a plan.

Depressive disorder is characterized by sleep disturbance, which can manifest as insomnia or excessive sleepiness, and is associated with asthenia. Early awakening and a large number of hours of daytime sleep are characteristic. A more serious condition is observed in the morning, because during the day a person is somehow distracted. General weakness and loss of strength are of a mental nature, because the body can be physically healthy.

For mild depression, overeating can be characteristic, because eating and eating is the simplest pleasure, a person begins to encourage himself by eating. With an increase in the severity of the manifestations of depression, the extinction of hunger appears, the refusal of pleasures and of food as well.

The main treatments for depression

The most effective treatment strategy is a combination of medication and psychotherapy. Drug treatment with antidepressants should take place solely as directed and under the supervision of a psychiatrist, because the choice of drugs depends on the individual characteristics of the course and symptoms of the disease.

Psychotherapy is both a preventive measure and a treatment for pre-existing depression. Regular work with a psychotherapist helps to significantly reduce the risk of relapse, helps to understand WHAT led to this state, restore the adaptive mechanisms of functioning, teach to recognize your experiences and feelings and find environmentally friendly ways to deal with them, as well as understand WHY you have this disease, what is the secondary benefit.

If you have doubts about the presence or absence of depression, do not delay, contact a specialist.

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