Most people tend to think that depression has spread among society relatively recently. This opinion is erroneous, since even in antiquity, people suffered from similar symptoms. The only difference is that they called the disease not depression, but melancholy.
It is very important to notice and recognize depression in time, as this disease can lead to a severe mental disorder. How to understand that you have depression, because it can sometimes be confused with a depressed mood or poor he alth? Often depression occurs in people due to severe or prolonged stress, excessive emotionality and excitement. And yet, what are the symptoms of depression?
Symptoms of depression
First of all, the occurrence of depression is associated with human emotions. All of them can manifest themselves individually. Some tend to experience a sense of anxiety, completely joyful emotions disappear, pessimistic views appear on any event that occurs. Some tend to feel deep despair and low self-esteem in this state.
How to understand that a person has depression, by his behavior? The concentration of attention is lost, motor retardation, isolation and lack of communication are observed. There is a love for loneliness, alcohol, in some cases addiction to drugs.
Another symptom of depression can be called a change in a person's thinking. All interest in life and previous activities is lost, thoughts often appear about one’s own uselessness, that he is superfluous, that he burdens relatives with his presence.
How to understand that depression begins by physiological manifestations? This is manifested in sleep disturbances and the appearance of insomnia, the normal rhythm of life is lost. A person does not want to sleep when it is needed, that is, at night, or sleep comes to him very late. Ultimately, fatigue quickly sets in, both with mental and physical exertion, even slight.
Main factors and forms of depression
The main factor in which depression may occur is excessive brain load due to extreme stress. It may be based, for example, on some psychosocial factors. The resulting depression is called reactive depression. How to understand that you are depressed? If a person has two or more symptoms of depression for at least two weeks, then this is already a reason to contact a specialist.
Depression is distinguished by its main forms, depending on the severity andthe duration of the disease. Resistant depression is a form of depression in which, after two treatment courses of antidepressants, full recovery does not occur or the clinical effect is partially achieved.
Atypical depression is manifested not only by the main symptoms, but also accompanied by an increase in body weight, great sleepiness, the so-called "brutal" appetite and emotional reactivity. Postnatal depression can occur in women after childbirth. The short recurrent form is so named because of its duration. With this depression, people experience the symptoms of this disease once or twice a month, they can last for about a week or less.
Female form of depression
Very often you can come across information that the female body is more prone to depression than the male. In addition, in men and women, you can observe different symptoms of the onset of the disease. The question of how to understand that you have depression torments many women. You just need to analyze the symptoms that have appeared. Women of the weaker sex can often experience seasonal depression. During this period of time, they will benefit from light therapy, massage, etc. It is also common for women to experience symptoms such as indigestion, hormonal changes, anxiety and fear of exacerbation of chronic pain.
Male form
In men, the symptoms of depression can be completely different. "How do I know if I'm depressed?" -they are interested. Firstly, it appears spontaneously and quite abruptly, an oppressed emotional state can arise for others for no apparent reason, thereby a clear underestimation of self-esteem occurs. As a result, there may be an attraction to alcohol or some psychotropic drugs.
Signs of deep and chronic depression
Some patients may show signs of deep depression. So how do you know if you're depressed? Such people feel completely useless and unnecessary, they lose their vital interest, they constantly experience overwhelming melancholy. But all this, fortunately, is treated with therapy, drugs. If deep depression is not eliminated in time, it can develop into chronic depression. Symptoms of such a disease can manifest themselves over several years:
- the emergence of a feeling of sadness, a pessimistic mood towards life;
- manifestations of sleep disorders, and sometimes its partial or complete absence;
- headaches that do not stop after taking painkillers;
- frequent joint and muscle pain, feeling of weakness;
- deterioration of the entire digestive system.
Chronic depression should be treated with drug therapy in combination with a special diet that can increase the level of serotonin in the blood to the desired levels. This hormone is also called the hormone of joy.
But even scarierchronic depression may be a latent form. And how to recognize it, how to understand that you have depression? As a rule, not all patients immediately seek help from a doctor, thinking that they are just tired. But later, all the same symptoms inherent in depression are found out (pain in various parts of the body, loss of appetite and body weight, sleep disturbance and reduced libido). A person with a latent form of the disease may feel constant headaches, muscle or bone pain, he always looks restless and nervous, etc. The most popular way to treat latent depression is medication.
Signs of teen depression
Unfortunately, even teenagers can suffer from such a disease as depression, and there can be many reasons. This is his lack of friends, indifference and misunderstanding of his own parents, sometimes reaching psychological violence against the child. Even hormonal changes or low self-esteem due to poor school performance or disgust with one's own body can be the cause of teenage depression.
How do you know if a teenager is depressed and needs help? Firstly, appetite disappears, a breakdown appears, which is accompanied by headaches and a weakened immune system. The teenager begins to suffer from drowsiness or lack of sleep. Can constantly cry, talk about his own uselessness, take everything to heart, begins to lead a closed, uncommunicative lifestyle.
Treatment for depression
To save a child from depression,I need the help of a child psychotherapist. It will help to find its causes, strengthen self-esteem. For the treatment of mild forms of depression, you may need only soothing herbs and the elimination of the cause that started the disease. Parents, in turn, should improve relationships, both with the child and with each other.
Antidepressants are rarely prescribed for children to treat depression. They are mostly prescribed for adults. In adults, for the treatment of severe forms of depression, pharmacotherapy may be prescribed in combination with psychotherapy. Physical exercise in some cases of treatment can have a positive effect. In individual cases, depression is treated with music therapy, dance therapy, aromatherapy, magnetotherapy, etc.
