Depression

Depression is not a weakness or something easy to get rid of, and is defined as Severe depression disorder, or clinical depression.

 

Depression

It is a disease of the soul and the body. Depression affects the way you think and act and can lead to many emotional and physical problems.

Usually, people with depression cannot continue their daily lives as usual, as depression causes them to feel no desire to live.

Depression is one of the most common diseases in the world.

Dealing with depression

Today, most health workers treat depression as a chronic disease that requires long-term treatment, just as diabetes or hypertension are treated .

Some people with depression experience only one period of depression, but in most patients depression symptoms recur and last a lifetime.

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By proper diagnosis and treatment symptoms of depression can be minimized, even if the symptoms of depression are severe.

Proper treatment can improve the feeling of people with depression within a few weeks, usually, and enable them to return to normal life as they used to enjoy before depression.

Symptoms of depression

• Loss of desire to practice normal daily activities
• Sensation of nervousness and depression
• A sense of hopelessness
• Bouts of crying for no apparent reason
• Sleep disturbances
• Difficulties in concentration
• Difficulties in making decisions
• Inadvertently increase or decrease weight
• Nervous
• Anxiety and boredom
• Exessive sensitivity
• Feeling tired or weak
• A sense of undervaluation
• Loss of desire for sex
• Suicidal thoughts or attempts to commit suicide
• Unexplained physical problems, such as back or head aches.

The symptoms of depression are different and different because depression appears in different forms in different people.

For example, depression symptoms in a 25-year-old person with depression may differ from those in a 70-year-old.

Some people with depression may develop symptoms that are so severe that something is not well.

Others may feel "poor" in general, or "not happy", without knowing why.

Causes and risk factors for depression

The exact cause of depression is not yet known.

The prevailing belief, as with other psychiatric diseases, is that many biochemical (biological - chemical), genetic and environmental factors can be the cause of depression, including:

• Biochemical factors: Research using advanced imaging techniques confirms physical changes in the brains of people with depression. It is not yet known exactly what these changes are and how important they are, but clarifying this would ultimately help to identify and identify the causes of depression. The naturally occurring chemicals in the human brain, called neurotransmitter, and mood-related factors, are likely to play a role in causing depression. A hormonal imbalance in the body would also be the cause of depression.
• Genetic factors: Some research suggests that depression is more prevalent in people with biological relatives with depression. Researchers are still trying to uncover genes involved in the cause of depression.
• Environmental factors: To a certain extent, the environment is a cause of depression. Environmental factors are conditions in life that are difficult to cope with, such as the loss of a loved one, economic problems and acute stress.

It is true that there are no accurate statistical data, but depression is a very widespread disease.

Depression transcends all boundaries and differences, racial, ethnic and socio-economic. No one is immune from depression.

Depression generally begins in the late 20 years, but depression may appear at any age and can affect anyone, from young children to elderly adults.

The number of women diagnosed with depression is twice that of men. This may be due, in part, to the fact that women are more likely to seek treatment for depression.

The most important causes that lead to depression

The exact cause of depression is not known, but research suggests several factors that seem to increase or increase the risk of depression, including:

• The presence of biological relatives with depression
• Suicides in the family
• Stressful events in life, such as the death of a loved one
• Depressed mood in the morning
• Diseases such as cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer's or AIDS
• Long-term use of certain medications, such as certain medications for the treatment of hypertension, sleeping pills and pills in some cases.

Complications of depression

Depression is a severe and difficult disease that can be a heavy burden on individuals and families.

Untreated depression may worsen and deteriorate to the point of disability, want, dependence and even suicide. Depression can lead to severe emotional, behavioral, health and even judicial and economic problems that affect all areas of life.

Risk of depression

• Suicide
• Alcoholism
• Drug addiction
• Anxiety
• Heart disease and other diseases
• Problems at work or education
• Confrontations within the family
• Difficulties in marital relationship
• Social isolation

Diagnosis of depression

Doctors and therapists ask questions about mood and thoughts during regular therapeutic meetings. Sometimes a patient is asked to fill out a questionnaire to help them detect symptoms of depression.

When doctors suspect that a patient has depression, they perform a series of medical and psychological examinations.

These tests help to refute the possibility of other diseases that could cause symptoms, help diagnose and detect other complications related to the condition.

Tests to diagnose depression

• Physical examination
• Laboratory tests
• Psychological assessment

Criteria for the diagnosis of depression

The evaluation of the doctor or psychotherapist helps to determine whether the condition is severe depression or another illness that recalls acute depression, sometimes including:

• Adjustment Disorder: A severe emotional reaction to a painful event in life. It is a psychiatric illness associated with psychological stress that can affect emotions, thoughts and behavior.
• Bipolar disorder, formerly called Manic Depressive Psychosis, is characterized by a fluctuating mood from contrast to contrast.
• Cyclic Mood Disorder (Cyclothymia) is a type of schizophrenia.
• Partial depression (or: Dysthymia) is a less severe and difficult disease, but more chronic than depression.
• Postpartum depression is a depression that appears in some women after their newborns. It usually appears one month after birth.
• Psychotic depression is a severe and difficult depression accompanied by psychotic symptoms, such as hallucination.
• Schizoaffective disorder is a disease that includes the characteristics and symptoms of schizophrenia and mood disorders.
• Winter depression: This type of depression is associated with shifting seasons and insufficient sun exposure.

Acute depression differs from the diseases mentioned above, both in terms of symptoms and degree of difficulty.

Treatment of depression

• Pharmacotherapy
• Psychotherapy
• Electroconvulsive therapy (Electroconvulsive treatment Electroshock treatment - ECT)

There are also ways of treating depression that have not met research and experimentation such as the accepted methods mentioned above, including:

• Cerebral stimulation
• Complementary and alternative therapies.

There are certain cases in which a family doctor can treat depression himself.

In other cases, a qualified psychotherapist, psychiatrist, psychologist or social worker is needed.

It is very important to have an active role in the treatment of depression. With collaboration and joint action, the doctor (or therapist) can decide, together with the patient, which type of depression treatment is best and most appropriate for the patient's condition, taking into account what the symptoms and severity are, the patient's personal choice, the ability to pay for the treatment of depression, the side effects of depression and factors Other.

However, there are cases where depression is so difficult that a physician, a relative or someone else, has to follow and monitor the treatment of depression closely until the patient is recovering and is in a position to participate effectively in decision-making.

Methods of treating depression

The following are detailed descriptions of depression treatment methods:

1- Medicines

Dozens of drugs are available on the market for depression. The majority of people can relieve symptoms of depression by combining medications with psychotherapy.

The majority of antidepressants are equally effective and effective. But some may cause very severe and serious side effects.

Stages of depression treatment

• Typical Choice 1: Many doctors start treating depression with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).
• Typical Choice 2: A group of antidepressants known as tricyclic antidepressants (TCA - Tricyclic antidepressants)
• The latter is a group of antidepressants known as monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI) inhibitors.

Side effects of depression medications

All antidepressant medications can cause undesirable side effects.

Side effects are of varying severity in different patients. Sometimes these side effects are so mild that you do not need to stop taking the medicine.

In addition, these symptoms disappear or ease within a few weeks of starting treatment with antidepressant medications.

2- Psychotherapy

Sometimes psychotherapy is used in conjunction with drug therapy and in conjunction with it. Psychotherapy is a comprehensive name for treating depression through conversations with the psychotherapist about the situation and about the issues involved.

Psychotherapy is also called conversation therapy, counseling or psychosocial therapy.

3 - electrical discharge

An electric current is passed through the brain to cause a flood of feelings.

Healing from depression

Depression can sometimes be so severe that it requires hospitalization for treatment in the psychiatric department.

But even in cases of severe depression, it is not always easy to decide how to treat depression and whether it is appropriate. If you have the possibility of treating a patient outside the hospital with the same or more efficacy, your doctor will most likely not recommend admission.

Hospitalization in the psychiatric department is usually preferable in cases where the patient cannot properly care for himself, or when there is a serious fear of harming himself or anyone else.

Prevention of depression

There is no way to prevent depression. But doing some things can prevent or prevent the recurrence of symptoms, such as:

• Take measures to control stress, to raise the level of cheerfulness and the level of self-esteem that will help.
• Support from friends and family, especially in times of crisis, can help overcome depression.
• Early treatment of the problem as soon as the first signs or symptoms appear can help prevent the worsening of depression.
• Long-term prophylaxis also prevents the recurrence of depressive symptoms.

Alternative treatments

Some people use complementary or alternative medicine to relieve depressive symptoms. These methods include the use of food additives and body-self techniques.

The following are some of the common food additives used to treat depression:

• The herb of the Aran or herb of the heart (Hypericum, Hypericum perforatum) is also known as "Sidi Yahya wort" or "St. John's wort" (St. Johns wort).
• Adenosyl methionine (S - Adenosyl methionine / SAM, SAMe, SAM - e)
• Omega-3 fatty acids.

Body techniques - self circulating to relieve symptoms of depression

• Acupuncture
• Yoga
• Meditation
• Guided Imagination
• Massage Therapy