What is Depression? it’s Symptoms and Prevention
Depression is also a Disease that can harm you mentally. To know "what is Depression" or anything about depression you can read the whole article, in this article we provided the whole detailed information about depression....
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What is Depression?
Depression is a mental health disorder. Specifically, it is a mood disorder characterized by the persistently low mood in which there is a feeling of sadness and loss of interest.
Depression is different from the fluctuations in mood that we all experience as a part of a normal and healthy life. Temporary emotional responses to the challenges of everyday life do not constitute depression.
Likewise, even the feeling of grief resulting from the death of someone close is not itself depression if it does not persist. Depression can, however, be related to bereavement - when depression follows a loss, psychologists call it a "complicated bereavement."
Symptoms of Depression:
Symptoms of depression can include:
- Depressed mood
- Reduced interest or pleasure in activities previously enjoyed, loss of sexual desire
- Unintentional weight loss (without dieting) or low appetite
- Insomnia(difficulty sleeping) or hypersomnia (excessive sleeping)
- Psychomotor agitation (for example, restlessness, pacing up and down), or psychomotor retardation (slowed movements and speech)
- Fatigue or loss of energy
- Feelings of worthlessness or guilt
- Worsened ability to think, concentrate, or make decisions
- Recurrent thoughts of death or suicide, or attempt at suicide
Causes of Depression:
The causes of depression are not fully understood and may not be down to a single source. Depression is likely to be due to a complex combination of factors that include:
- Genetics
- Biological - changes in neurotransmitter levels
- Environmental
- Psychological and social/psychosocial
Some people are at higher risk of depression than others; risk factors include:
- Life events - for example, bereavement, divorce, and poverty
- Personality - less successful coping strategies, for instance
- Genetic factors - first-degree relatives of depressed patients are at higher risk
- Childhood trauma
- Some prescription drugs - including corticosteroids, some beta-blockers, interferon, and reserpine
- Abuse of recreational drugs (including alcohol and amphetamines) - can accompany depression or result in it. There are strong links between drug abuse and depression
- A past head injury
- People who have had an episode of major depression are at higher risk of a subsequent one
- Chronic pain syndromes in particular, but also other chronic conditions, such as diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and cardiovascular disease.
Types of Depression:
Major Depression:
An individual with major depression, or major depressive disorder, feels a profound and constant sense of hopelessness and despair.
Major depression is marked by a combination of symptoms that interfere with the person's ability to work, study, sleep, eat, and enjoy once-pleasurable activities. Major depression may occur only once but more commonly occurs several times in a lifetime.
Symptoms of Major Depression:
- Sadness
- Irritability
- Loss of interest in activities once enjoyed
- Withdrawal from social activities
- Inability to concentrate
- Disrupted
- Fatigue or loss of energy
- Appetite changes
- Thoughts of suicide
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Psychotic Depression:
Roughly 25% of people who are admitted to the hospital for depression suffer from what is called psychotic depression. In addition to the symptoms of depression, people with psychotic depression may have:
- Hallucinations- seeing or hearing things that aren't really there.
- Delusions- irrational thoughts and fears.
Symptoms of Psychotic Depression:
- Anxiety- fear and nervousness
- Agitation
- Paranoia
- Insomnia- difficulty falling and staying asleep
- Physical immobility
- Intellectual impairment
- Hallucinations (false perceptions)
- Delusions (fixed, false beliefs)
Dysthymia:
Dysthymia, sometimes referred to as a form of chronic depression, is a less severe form of depression but the depression symptoms linger for a long period of time, typically years. Those who suffer from dysthymia are usually able to function normally, but seem consistently unhappy.
It is common for a person with dysthymia to also develop superimposed periods of depression, which then lessen without fully going away. This is called "double depression."
Symptoms of Dysthymia:
Symptoms of dysthymia include:
- Difficulty sleeping
- Loss of interest in activities or the ability to enjoy oneself
- Excessive feelings of guilt or worthlessness
- Loss of energy or fatigue Difficulty concentrating, thinking or making decisions
- Changes in appetite
- Thoughts of death or suicide
- Dysthymia differs from major depression in that dysthymia involves fewer of the above symptoms than occurs in major depression. To be diagnosed with dysthymia, symptoms must persist for at least two years in adults or one year in children or adolescents.
Depressive Disorder with Seasonal Pattern
Depressive Disorder with Seasonal Pattern, formerly called seasonal affective disorder (SAD), is a subtype of major depressive disorder that recurs each year at the same time, usually starting in fall or winter and ending in spring or early summer. It is more than just "the winter blues" or "cabin fever." A rare form of depressive disorder with seasonal pattern, known as "summer depression," begins in late spring or early summer and ends in fall.
Symptoms of Depressive Disorder with Seasonal Pattern
People who suffer from a depressive disorder with seasonal pattern have the symptoms of a major depressive episode. These can include sadness, irritability, loss of interest in their usual activities, withdrawal from social activities, and inability to concentrate. But some symptoms of a winter pattern may be more likely to occur than in a summer pattern.
Symptoms of depression with a winter pattern may include the seasonal occurrence of:
- Fatigue
- Increased need for sleep
- Decreased levels of energy
- Weight gain
- Increase in appetite
- Difficulty concentrating
- Increased desire to be alone
Symptoms of depression with a summer pattern may include the seasonal occurrence of:
- Weight loss
- Trouble sleeping
- Decreased appetite
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Prevention of Depression:
Although depression is a highly treatable condition, some forms of depression may not be preventable. That's because depression may be triggered by a chemical malfunctioning in the brain. However, the latest medical studies confirm that depression may often be alleviated or sometimes prevented with good health habits.
A healthy diet, regular exercise, taking time out for fun and relaxation, not overworking, and saving time to do things you enjoy may work together to prevent a depressed mood.
