Depression Signs, Symptoms, Latest Treatments, Tests, and More

While everyone has experienced depression, not everyone has experienced depression. In fact, if you’ve never been depressed, chances are you won’t have the grip of living with this complex mental illness.

Depression is hypocritical. It not only affects your mood, but also your ability to feel, think and act. It destroys feelings of happiness, disconnects, suppresses creativity, and, at worst, destroys hope. This often causes not only deep emotional distress to the person, but also to the person’s close family and friends.

Depression Statistics: Disturbing Trends, Helpful Treatment

Unfortunately, there are many people who, like Kashuk, know exactly what depression means. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, an estimated 17.3 million or 7% of adults in the United States last year had at least one major depressive disorder, making it one of the most common mental illnesses in the United States. Is one of (1)

What’s more, a recent report from Mental Health America, a non-profit organization founded in 1909, provides startling statistics on one of the most disturbing symptoms of depression: suicidal thoughts.

According to the US State of Mental Health report released in 2020, the suicide rate among adults increased from 3.77% in 2012 to 4.19% in 2017, the current year for which statistics are available. (2) This means that more than 10.3 million adults in the United States are affected by negative thoughts or emotions.

There is a bright side. Although not a single size of depression can fit, there are many effective treatment options, one of which is committed to helping you cope with your illness. According to a journal published online in the journal Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment on February 22, 2019, nearly two-thirds of people with depression cannot be stressed enough because they do not receive the care they need. (3)

Signs and Symptoms: How to Identify Depression

If depression alone is not a good form of depression, then what is? According to the American Psychiatric Association’s Current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual Mental Disorder (DSM-5), which is a diagnostic guide used by most mental health professionals, if you spend more than a day There are five of the following symptoms. Every day, for at least two weeks, you may be diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD), also called clinical depression. (4)

can you:

Feel the constant tears, empty, or useless?
Do you have a little interest or pleasure in your work, hobbies, friends, family, and other things that you once enjoyed?
See dramatic changes in your appetite up or down or is your weight not related to dieting?
Feeling overwhelmed or tired often for no apparent reason?
Having trouble paying attention or making decisions?
Find yourself on twisting, packing, or showing other signs of restlessness. Or, conversely, walk or talk more slowly than usual?
Struggling with insomnia or sleeping too much?
Do you often have thoughts about suicide or death?
To diagnose MDD, one of your symptoms must be a permanent low mood or interest or pleasure, the DSM-5 states. Your symptoms should also not be due to substance abuse or a medical condition, such as thyroid problems, brain tumors, or vitamin deficiencies.

However, it is normal to have one or all of these symptoms temporarily (for hours or days) from time to time. The difference with depression is that the symptoms persist and make it difficult to work normally.

If you suspect you may be depressed, the first step is to see your primary care physician, a psychiatrist, or a psychiatrist. If you are reluctant to consult a professional, type “depression” or “medical stress” into Google on your cell phone or computer and you will find a link to a medically validated depression test The HQ9 is known as the Patient Health Questionnaire. Although designed to be administered by a healthcare professional, the test is short and straightforward. Take it and you can immediately see if your score indicates that you may be depressed.

Important: If you suspect you are depressed, or if you are bothered by your symptoms, are committing suicide, just need to talk, seek some advice, or need a referral for treatment So, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 or the National Drug Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Helpline at 800-662-4357. Both are free and available 24/7, 365 days a year.

What Are the Different Types of Depression?

In addition to MDD, there are many other types of depression, including:

Chronic depression can fluctuate between severe and less severe symptoms, and both PDD and MDD can occur at the same time, a condition called double depression. ()) People with PDD are often perceived as irritated, smelly, changeable, or frustrated, rather than identified as a treatment disorder.
Bipolar disorder, formerly known as Manic Depression, is characterized by mood swings that cycle between extremes (mania) and lows (depression), often with intermittent normal moods. Bipolar disorder affects 2.8% of American adults, or more than 6 million people. (7)
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a depression that occurs at the same time each year, usually beginning in the fall and continuing into the winter. SAD is associated with changes in sunlight, and is often accompanied by a desire for sleep, weight gain, and foods high in carbohydrates. (8)
Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) is a more serious form of pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS). PMDD usually develops a week or two before a woman’s period and two or three days after the onset of menstruation. (9)
Postpartum (or perinatal) depression (PPD) is diagnosed in mothers who experience symptoms of major depression for up to a year after birth. (10) PPD is usually related to a combination of factors, including rapid changes in hormone levels after birth. Feelings of intense grief, anxiety or fatigue are much stronger and longer than “baby blues”. Relatively mild symptoms of depression and anxiety that many new mothers experience.

Depression: Recognizing Unusual Symptoms

Depression is difficult to diagnose. Its symptoms can vary from person to person and are sometimes masked by symptomatic symptoms. For example, some people who are depressed may show it by showing anger, resentment, and irritability. In fact, aggression – including acts of sheer violence – could be a sign of “hidden” depression, according to a February 28, 2017 report in the Psychological Times. (11) Anger and frustration may come as a surprise at first, but not when you realize that there are a number of underlying factors, including alcohol or substance abuse and childhood trauma.

Similarly, although it is not clear why, a person who suffers from anxiety is at higher risk of developing depression, and vice versa. The National Coalition for Mental Illness reports that up to 60% of people will also have symptoms of anxiety. The same thing applies with anxiety in people with depression. (12) Some researchers even suspect that depression and anxiety are in fact interconnected perceptions of the same underlying psychological disorder. (13)

Depression can also be psychological, meaning that, according to the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, the predominant symptom, instead of presenting first as a mood disorder, is vague pain, dizziness, headache, digestive system, Or things like back pain. ۔

What Causes Depression?

No one knows for sure why some people are depressed and why others are not. Like Alzheimer’s disease, there is an underlying cause. Stress can be pointless, for no apparent reason. And it’s well documented that once you find a traumatic event, you run the risk of having another one later in life. For example, a study in Psychological Medicine found that more than 13% of people who recover from their first major depression experience another event within five years. 23% within 10 years. And 42% within 20 years. (15)

Psychologists today commonly refer to depression as “biopsychosocial”, meaning that they see it as a complex condition that is likely to be caused by biological, psychological and social factors (also called environmental). Is caused by factors. (16)

Depression helpers include:

Genetics Numerous studies have shown that depression can be caused by genetic stress, including an international study involving more than two million people. (17) However, it is not believed that only genes determine your destiny. Scientists believe that while some genes may be at increased risk, other factors are needed to trigger the symptoms.
Neurotransmitters It has long been thought that depression is caused by certain neurotransmitters (chemical messengers that communicate between neurons). And yet it is clear that neurotransmitters play a role. The new thinking is that depression can sometimes be triggered by nerve cell connections in the brain, the growth of nerve cells, or when the function of nerve circuits is impaired. (18)
Inflammation Numerous studies have shown that disease-related or stress-related inflammation can cause chemical changes in the brain that can exacerbate or worsen depression in some people and affect how a person takes drugs. Responds to therapy. (19)
Difficulties According to the World Health Organization, there is growing evidence that psychological and social factors such as history abuse, poor health and malnutrition, unemployment, social isolation or loneliness, low economic status, or stressful life events (divorce) Or for money worries). For example) can play a decisive role in the onset of depression. (20) For example, adults with MDD are twice as likely to experience childhood trauma as people without MDD, according to a May 3, 2016, issue of the journal Translucent Psychiatry. (21)
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) Another common cause of stress is traumatic brain injury (TBI). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly three million people are admitted to the U.S. emergency room for TBI each year after being hit or hit in the head by falling, assault, car accidents, and work-related and sports-related injuries. Aka seizure) is treated. Disease control and prevention. (22) And more than half of these patients will meet the criteria for major depression three months after their injury, according to a study published in the Journal of Brain Injury on November 30, 2017. (23)

Depression Signs, Symptoms, Latest Treatments, Tests, and More
Depression Signs, Symptoms, Latest Treatments, Tests, and More

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