Symptoms and duration. Disclosure of depressed emotional state and decreased activity
Depression is an illness characterized by a depressed emotional state, lowered mood, loss of pleasure and interests, reduced energy leading to increased fatigue and decreased overall activity, lasting for at least two weeks.
Statistical Data:
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), depression is the most common mental disorder affecting nearly 300 million people worldwide. Depression can lead to suicide, and approximately 800,000 people die by suicide each year, making it the second leading cause of death among individuals aged 15 to 29.
Symptoms of Depression
The main symptoms are related to the depressive triad:
- low mood: A feeling of sadness, heaviness, and sorrow accompanied by a loss of joy and interest in various aspects of life;
- reduced physical activity and energy levels: Decreased movement and vitality;
- slowed cognitive activity: Impaired cognitive function and a decrease in mental alertness.
Additional Symptoms:
- decreased ability to concentrate: Difficulty focusing, constant desire to be distracted by something, such as social media, etc.;
- lowered self-esteem and confidence: Reduction in self-worth and confidence;
- self-blame: Self-accusation and an increase in feelings of guilt;
- pessimistic view of the future: Perceiving a lack of happiness and a sense of hopelessness;
- self-harming or self-destructive behavior: Increased alcohol consumption, substance abuse, self-harm, suicidal thoughts, intentions, or actions;
- sleep disturbances: Insomnia, shallow and short-lived sleep, early awakening in anxiety, or conversely, an increase in the number of hours slept up to 16-20 hours per day, inability to wake up fully, night terrors;
- changes in appetite: Decreased appetite, aversion to food, loss of pleasure from eating, or conversely, increased appetite, overeating that cannot be stopped by willpower, eating to alleviate suffering;
- depersonalization: Feeling as if “I am not myself”, “I have changed, don’t recognize myself in the mirror, my body seems not mine”;
- derealization: Feeling that “the world is different, not the same, as if the colors have faded, the world has become somehow unreal”;
- changes in vegetative activity: This can lead to various unpleasant sensations and somatic symptoms in internal organs, including periodic changes in bowel movements, nausea, dizziness, headaches, increased or intensified heartbeat, sweating, body aches, and muscle pains.
Types of Depression
Based on the severity:
- subdepression;
- mild depression;
- moderate depression;
- severe depression;
The determination of the severity level of the illness and the diagnosis is made by the doctor during the examination.
Based on key manifestations:
- Apathetic Depression: When there is a lack of interest in everything, a feeling of laziness, and a sense of not seeing the point in doing anything. The predominant emotion is boredom, with moderate irritation towards the surrounding world;
- Anxious Depression: When it is challenging to sit still, a constant sense that something is about to happen, but the specific cause is unclear, and a constant feeling of threat is present;
- Masked Depression: “In public, I smile, but I constantly feel exhausted. When alone, I cry incessantly and suffer”;
- Somatic Depression: Pain in the body, chest discomfort, various somatic complaints that clients try to treat with clinicians of clinical specialties. After treatment, symptoms may disappear briefly but often return, or new somatic manifestations may arise.
By course:
- reactive Depression – the onset of the aforementioned symptoms after some time following a traumatic event, such as the death of a loved one, loss of home, business, etc.;
- recurrent Depression – the one that returns after a certain period;
- bipolar Affective Disorder – when episodes of depression alternate with opposite states of increased activity;
- depression due to somatic illness – when the above symptoms accompany or result from conditions such as oncology, post-COVID, postoperative states, diabetes, head injuries, severe infectious diseases, etc.
Why you shouldn’t ignore the symptoms of depression?
During depression, a series of biochemical changes occur in the nervous system, leading to a gradual deepening of symptoms. Ignoring the presence of its symptoms is dangerous. Firstly, the risk of suicide increases, and secondly, all systems of the body become exhausted, existing as if in a constant internal struggle. In prolonged untreated depression, the risk of dementia, cardiovascular, and endocrine disorders significantly increases.
Treatment of depression
The treatment of depression is comprehensive and involves the work of a psychiatrist who, after proper diagnosis, prescribes medications for correction: antidepressants, anxiolytics, and antipsychotics. Sometimes, other specialists may need to be involved, depending on somatic manifestations and the overall condition of the body. Working with a psychotherapist is also essential, as together, you can find a way out of this difficult condition.”
Article by: Maliovana Olga – psychologist, psychiatrist.