"Chronic Minor Depression" Or Dysthymia. Resource And Prevention

2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43

If you have been reading my notes for a long time, then most likely you have more than once come across an explanation of why "Depression" does not have mild forms, is considered a complex psychosomatic disorder and requires correction with the help of a specialist. Depression cannot be cured with jokes and chocolates, self-control, sports and entertainment. There are purely hormonal and physiological reasons for this, which I wrote about earlier, but I will not repeat myself now because the article is not about that.

At the same time, in psychotherapeutic practice, we can often meet clients who seem to really experience all the classic symptoms of depression, but at the same time, with a certain degree of ease, one way or another get rid of it on their own, until another psychosomatic symptomatology is connected.

How so? Why is it enough for someone to watch a movie with a friend, take a walk in the woods, prescribe a technique of introspection and life begins to improve, while for someone it is absolutely necessary only for antidepressants and a compulsory course of psychotherapy?

This happens because there are people who have a constitutional predisposition to all sorts of depression. For example, as with the fullness of the body - the physiology of some people will always strive to gain excess weight (by the word "our client"), while others easily get rid of unnecessary pounds, and sometimes even suffer from "underweight". In the same way, some people are faced with depression only sometimes due to severe stress, grief; part prone to cyclothymia or bipolar disorder; some of them are slowly but surely moving towards depressions with a chronic course. At the same time, life circumstances, environment, personal characteristics and other factors can influence whether this form of severe chronic depression or the so-called dysthymic disorder in medicine. Some researchers question the connection of such a state with a person's character. They believe that childhood trauma is to blame. This remark is both true and not, since it leads us into a discussion of concepts such as "true and situational psychosomatics", where it is the analysis of a person's constitution, his healthy psychosomatics, and not character traits as such that helps us to distinguish one from the other.

Dysthymic disordersometimes called "minor depression" is nothing more than a variant of the chronic form of mild depressive episodes (more common in women). When we find out that for 2 or more years (in children and adolescents of 1 year), our client periodically experiences classic depressive symptoms (sleep and appetite problems, loss of energy and strength, low self-esteem and feelings of hopelessness, memory impairment, attention, etc.).), but in a lightweight form. After several weeks, his mood evens out (without euphoria) and again a period of desolation and sadness sets in.

Why is this a problem? First, these conditions can be "diluted" by complex episodes of depression (this is called "double depression"). Of course, against the background of experienced severe depression, after dysthymia may even seem to be a normal state. But the problem is that, as has been said more than once, depression is a psychosomatic disorder - both the body and the psyche are involved in this problem. By changing only the neurochemistry of the brain with the help of antidepressants and without changing the patterns of behavior, attitudes, lifestyle and perceptions, we only give depression a respite so that each "small" episode is more and more at risk of becoming "clinical depression".

Secondly, why am I writing to you about this)? Because about 80% of such clients have organic psychosomatic and chronic diseases, social anxiety, panic attacks, anxiety, obsessions, somatoform dysfunctions and other psychosomatic pathologies. It is with this that they come to me in psychotherapy without even suspecting that the very mild and imperceptible dysthymia is to blame. So often the obvious symptoms of neurosis are nothing more than chronic minor depression (by the way, the term "dysthymia" itself has replaced the term "neurotic depression")). Alcoholism and drug addiction often become companions in men with a similar disorder. However, we look above - this is not a rule, but only applies to some constitutional types of people.

Sometimes when faced with a psychosomatic symptom, psychotherapists understand that it has developed on the basis of a depressive disorder, but if you do not take into account the fact that dysthymia is different from depression, their clients often go into a vicious circle. Because you can talk a lot about relationship problems, crises or childhood traumas, but what is stipulated by the constitution will never change.

It sounds pessimistic, perhaps that is why people experiencing chronic depression are in our special control, as prone to suicide. This is due to the fact that no matter how positive the result of drug therapy is, they understand that such a condition is temporary. Therefore, our task as psychotherapists is to prevent the transition of dysthymia to depression and to help make sure that not a state of improvement is temporary, but that the state of despondency passes with the least psycho-emotional cost. For specialists, this sounds, of course, angular, but for people with dysthymia it means something like the following: "If for several years you have noticed periodic episodes of severe depression with the symptoms noted above; if you already know what a" real "depressive episode (complicated by grief or PTSD); if you have a medical illness or psychosomatic disorders, including phobias, obsessions, anxiety, panic, etc. - this is a direct indication for depth psychotherapy. " It is important that the therapist understands the connection between your constitution and character, and that short-term therapy here will only hide the symptom.

As for prevention of depressive disorders, in addition to individual work with a psychotherapist, the recommendations below will help you.

Accepting the fact that dysthymic disorder is our reality, we focus on the basic components:

1 - we don't diagnose ourselves … It is very tempting to justify your chronic depression with minor depression, but it may not be small at all on the one hand (recurrent depressive disorder), and on the other, it may well be that the cause of our problems is in endocrine dysfunctions, incl. hypothyroidism. Let's start with a visit to an endocrinologist, and end with a specialist whose disease symptoms we have (remember that 80% of such people have somatic dysfunctions - which ones?).

2 - dysthymia is neither good nor bad, this is a feature that distinguishes us from other people, a fact that once happened. When a person is tall, he can become a successful athlete, but we do not seek to "shorten" him in order to accommodate him in a room with very low ceilings. People who are constitutionally prone to dysthymia have a wonderful synthetic mind and creativity, their natural kindness prompts them to choose helping professions, they are wonderful family men and friends. For society, these are absolutely irreplaceable people, although their frustration makes them constantly doubt their high value. However, the understanding that this is already facilitates our perception, and the acquired skills of introspection and self-help will help to weaken depressive symptoms and make the quality of life much higher.

3 - "keep our finger on the pulse" and we ask our loved ones, when they notice that our "bad mood" has dragged on, do not wink and cheer, but provide real help, including contacting a specialist. As a hypoglycemic person who carries candy in his pocket all the time, we must have your own conventional signto whom we will be able to inform loved ones that we are not coping and that this is not just the usual decline in mood as before.

4 - due to the fact that constitutionally conditioned dysthymia manifests itself already in adolescence, we pay special attention to the formation of self-esteem and self-worth in children, critical thinking and teach techniques of constructive introspection … The viscosity of thinking, the tendency to be overweight and acne, early menarche, will only intensify depressive moods.

5 - monitor nutrition (limiting direct sugar and wheat). Very often, such people become addicted to food, including carbohydrate. The reason is simple, since dysthymic people often have a "chronic" deficiency of seratonin, they intuitively try to absorb more glucose (the myth that sweets are uplifting). In fact, glucose is more helpful in converting tryptophan to serotonin. No tryptophan (read no meat, fish, cheese, beans, nuts, mushrooms with cabbage and eggplants, etc.), glucose will simply drive up yesterday's leftovers, leaving the bloodstream "empty". For a short time, it will seem to us that the mood rises, and as a result, the depression only intensifies. It is worth writing separately what is the danger of "chronic reserves" of complex carbohydrates.

6 - movement becomes mandatory for such people. As long as we are active, the body copes. But like no one else, we must remember about healthy sleep and rest, since our physical resource (energy) is depleted much faster than the resource of other people. In times of despondency, it can be dancing, cleaning and anything that will help you not to get stuck in emptiness.

7 - forming beneficial neurophysiological habits … Just as our emotions make us smile, so a smile on our face contributes to the production of seratonin) Read books with an active plot and watch humorous programs, movies. Learn foreign languages, master new sciences, solve problems and take part in quests, etc. Train your memory, attention and thinking. Attend events that resonate emotionally. The more interesting and positive things pass through our channels of perception, the more neural connections appear to process this information, and the more signals our brain receives about the need to produce certain hormones.

8 - actually filter your social circle … Interesting, cheerful, developing people infect with their desire to move forward. Eternal complainers and gossips are pulling us to the bottom. However, remember that sincerity is also an important condition, do not chase after "pictures", especially do not be guided by successful people of other psychotypes, your value and uniqueness are exceptional, do not see it - work it out with a psychologist. If you are in a helping profession and remember that burnout will happen to you faster than other types of coworkers, do not hesitate to ask for help.

9 - the earliest must-have is self-development, spiritual growth and the formation of a worldview through the prism of one's destiny … The question of the meaning of life should not take us by surprise. We can doubt anything and periodically adjust our picture of the universe, but the global vision that you are value and there is a specific meaning in your existence (what?) Is knowledge that helps to move in the most difficult moments and remember that blues is temporary …

10 - must-have number 2 is ours hobby … A hobby can be original or the most common, taken from circles and school years - it is not so important. The main thing is that this hobby brings us pleasure and awakens joy in our hearts. A hobby is a resource that will help us survive in times of discouragement.

11 - forget about popular positive thinking. Everything that we have read before is rather a method of self-deception - looking at black and saying white. As I have written many times, the function of a positive interpretation is to accept the position as a given, which should not be avoided and not afraid, but to set a positive goal of change and work on its implementation. Another question is the emphasis on positive events in our life. This is how our brain is arranged that we take the good for granted, often not noticing and not giving it a special place (such a mechanism helps not to miss the trouble and respond to it adequately and in time). Sooner or later, it begins to seem to us that life consists of some problems and misfortunes, although this is not true, there is much more positive. There are many positive piggy bank technician, you need to choose your own (someone sums up written positive results every day, someone folds up pieces of paper describing good moments and reads them at the end of the month or year, etc.).

12 - doing charity work or volunteering, help the weak and defenseless, take care of someone. However, we remember that our mental and physical resources are a priori in short supply - it is important not to overdo it, to be able to stop in time and say "No". Why is this necessary and why without it in any way, everyone will feel for himself, but once having felt it, he will no longer be able to stop)

Sounds easy but hard to do? Yes it is. However, one has only to start and you will immediately notice how many people are around who can support and help you.