Depressive disorders are usually a process caused by the protective mechanism of the psyche and designed to stop a person's negative emotions with complete frustration - lack of interest in life, inertia, apathy. But there are forms of depression, the symptoms of which are radically different from the classical clinical picture. For example, agitated anxious depression proceeds in a completely different way. And everyone who does not want to face such a pathology should know about this disease.
What is agitated depression?
With agitated depression, a person falls not only into melancholy and indifference, but is also permanently in a state of "agitation" - in other words, excitement. The main problem with this condition is that depression, accompanied by an active state, can end in a person's suicide.
The disease is one of the reactive, that is, a reaction to an external stimulus, and not an organic one. On the one hand, this greatly facilitates the process of therapy, on the other hand, it makes diagnosis difficult.
Howrecognize agitated depression?
In order to talk about agitated depression, first of all, it is necessary to establish the fact of the presence of the depressive state itself, and only then differentiate its type.
Thus, the basis of the clinical picture is a feeling of depression, low mood, interpretation of all events in a negative way. At the same time, increased excitation of the nervous system complements the human condition with such characteristics as anxiety, emotional lability, pathological motor activity, which accompanies many mental disorders. Symptoms in women are usually more pronounced than in men. This is due to the gender characteristics of the human mental apparatus and the cultural aspect.
Who is prone to disease?
It is very difficult to talk about what can lead to agitated depression or depression in general. The human psyche is a very complex mechanism in which both reactions to external events and processes caused by changes in the hormonal background, the production of neurotransmitters occur.
But the agitated type of depression is rarely based on an organic lesion. The most common factor for the development of this disease is senile age. According to statistics, people who have retired, who have lost professional authority, who have changed the rhythm of life, most often face the disease.
That is why psychologists recommend that loved ones carefullyconsider the retirement of an elderly family member. At this time, it is important to make it clear to the person that his opinion is still important, and help is in demand. Otherwise, there is a serious risk of depression.
Symptoms
Agitated depression, with symptoms different from classical depression, should be considered in two focuses: as a normal depressive disorder and as a psychological state of hyperarousal.
The depressive factor is usually expressed in the general mood of a person: he is not able to experience joy, relax, he is dominated by a pessimistic mood. In depression, a person usually wakes up in a bad mood, often in the morning there may be causeless tears, tantrums, and nervous breakdowns.
But if a person suffering from classical depression is inert and inactive, has poor facial expressions and does not seek to communicate, then a patient with an agitated form of depression, on the contrary, is mobile, nervous.
In order to see the clinical picture of the disease more precisely, it is necessary to consider 5 conditional stages through which the patient passes.
Stages
- The first stage of agitated depression is very difficult to diagnose. At this stage, the prevailing symptom is anxiety, but the person still retains the ability to reason sensibly, so his anxious thoughts do not look like a manifestation of delirium. He may be afraid of a common illness, loss of savings. But as the disease progressesanxiety begins to spread to all areas of life and even be vague: for example, it may seem to a person that something terrible will happen to someone close to them soon.
- In the second stage, external signs of the disease begin to appear, for example, anxious verbigeration. This term characterizes the speech of a person who is permanently in a state of anxiety. Firstly, a person does not want to discuss things that go beyond his fears, so any conversation is reduced to a problematic topic and goes in circles. Secondly, the patient's speech itself is lexically poor, clamped, he speaks in short phrases, constantly repeating the same words.
- At the third stage, a period of motor agitation begins. A person is active, he feels a desire to constantly move, walk, move his arms, change positions. It is caused by chronic muscle tension due to the constantly activated sympathetic system. Causing a person to want to move, the body thereby tries to “relieve” the pathological tension from the body.
- At the fourth stage, suicide attempts are most often noted. Anxiety grows, along with it, muscle tension grows and, accordingly, the desire to move. In this state, a person is able to knowingly or not inflict bodily harm on himself and even kill himself.
- With incomplete suicide attempts at the previous stage, a person develops delirium in various forms.
Psychotherapeutic treatment
In the early stages, depression can be treated with psychotherapy sessions. The main task at this stage isrelieve a person’s stress, teach him how to deal with stress correctly, distract him to classes that will cause him positive emotions. Taking into account the fact that old age is the most common factor for the development of the disease, the specialist must help the patient adapt to life in a new mode.
In order for agitated depression, which is treated without antidepressants, to be cured, the support of loved ones is very important. The atmosphere in the house, involving the patient in solving important problems and tasks - all this allows a person to rehabilitate and get out of a depressive state faster.
At the same time, doctors do not recommend protecting a person from stress. On the contrary, such an approach can aggravate depression, so it is important to help the patient cope with problems in the right way from a psychological point of view.
Medicated treatment
Protracted depression cannot be eliminated without the use of antidepressants. This is because when the disease occurs, an imbalance of neurotransmitters occurs. But with agitated depression, it is important to choose drugs with a calming, anti-anxiety effect. Sometimes antidepressants can be supplemented with tranquilizers for good sleep, vegetative stabilizers to eliminate panic attacks.
The patient's treatment plan requires the competence of the doctor, especially if the elderly patient has chronic diseases that limit the list of drugs that he canaccept. Otherwise, cured prolonged depression will cause serious functional disorders in the liver, kidneys, and heart.
Prevention
Reactive depression is much easier to prevent than to treat. The best defense against this disease is "psychological immunity." It gives a person the opportunity to be distracted from problems that cannot be solved at the moment, and to solve those tasks that require attention.
But this immunity takes years to develop, so the second way to save yourself from the risk of depression is to be active after retirement. Communication with family, friends, hobbies, travel - all this will direct the activity of the nervous system in the right direction.
Knowing what age-related mental disorders are, symptoms in women, men, stages and method of treatment, it will be much easier to cope with the ailment that has arisen and avoid it.
