Depression
By: Vianey Salazar
What is depression?
Types of depression
Mayor Depression
Major depression is much less common than mild or moderate depression and is characterized by intense, relentless symptoms.
- Left untreated, major depression typically lasts for about six months
- Some people experience just a single depressive episode in their lifetime, but more commonly, major depression is a recurring disorder.
- There are effective steps you can take to support your mood and reduce the risk of recurrence.
Dysthymia is a type of chronic "low-grade" depression
- More days than not, you feel mildly or moderately depressed, although you may have brief periods of normal moods.
- Symptoms are not as strong as the symptoms of major depression, but they last a long time (at least two years)
- If you suffer from dysthymia, you may feel like you've always been depressed.
- Dysthymia can be treated, even if your symptoms have gone unrecognized or untreated for years.
Bipolar depression, also known as manic depression, is characterized by cycling mood changes.
- Episode of depression alternate with manic episodes, which can include impulsive behavior, hyperactivity, rapid speech, and little to no sleep.
- Every manic episode last for at least a week.
- The treatments of bipolar depression are very different. In fact, antidepressants can make bipolar depression even worse.
While the onset of winter can cause many of us to experience a drop in mood, some people actually develop SAD.
- SAD can make you feel like a different person to who you are in summer: hopeless, sad, tense, or stressed with no interest in friends or activities you normally love.
Depression suffered by a mother following childbirth, typically arising from the combination of hormonal changes, psychological adjustments to motherhood, or fatigue.
Psychological Depression
When major depression or bipolar disorder are accompanied by hallucinations, delusions, paranoia.
How does depression affect you?
Causes
- Biological Differences
- Hormones
- Inherited Traits
Other causes of depression are:
- Loneliness and isolation
- Lack of social support
- Recent stressful life experience
- Relationship problems
- Financial Strain
- Early childhood trauma or abuse
- Alcohol or drug abuse
- Unemployment or underemployment
- Health problems or chronic pain
Symptoms
- Feeling of helplessness or hopelessness
- Loss of interest in daily interest
- Appetite or weight changes
- Sleep changes
- Anger or irritability
- Loss of energy
- Self-loathing
- Reckless behavior
- Concentration problems
- Unexplained aches and pains
Complications
Some complications may include:
- Excess weight or obesity, which can lead to heart disease and diabetes
- Pain and physical illness
- Alcohol or substance misuse
- Anxiety, panic disorder or social phobia
- Family conflicts, relationship difficulties, and work or school problems
- Social isolation
- Suicidal feelings, suicide attempts or suicide
- Self-mutilation, such as cutting
- Premature death from other medical conditions
Treatments
Medications
- Selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs)
- Serotonin-norepinephrine re-uptake inhibitors (SNRIs)
- Atypical Antidepressants
- Tryciclic Antidepressants
Is a procedure, done under general anesthesia, in which small electric currents are passed through the brain, intentionally triggering a brief seizure. ECT seems to cause changes in brain chemistry that can quickly reverse symptoms of certain mental illness.
Facts
- 20% of people with major depressive disorder develop psychotic symptoms
- 10-15% of women develop postpartum depression
- 350 million: number of people worldwide who suffer from depression (that's 5% of the world's population
- 16 million: number of U.S adults who had at least one major depressive episode in 2012
- Women are most likely to be diagnosed with depression that men
- Blacks and Hispanic Americans are more likely to be depressed
- Dogs can also get depression
Work Cited
http://www.helpguide.org/articles/depression/depression-signs-and-symptoms.htm
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/depression/basics/complications/con-20032977
http://www.everydayhealth.com/depression/facts-about-depression-whos-at-risk.aspx
http://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/electroconvulsive-therapy/basics/definition/prc-20014161