What are the symptoms?
Depression can cause different symptoms in different people, and
they may be hard to notice at first. For example, a child may seem
grouchy and irritable. An older adult may be forgetful. If you think
a loved one is depressed, learn more about what symptoms to look
for, and urge the person to get help if needed.
People who are depressed may:
- Think and speak more slowly than
normal
- Have trouble concentrating,
remembering and making decisions
- Display changes in their eating
and sleeping habits
- Lose interest in things they
enjoyed before they were depressed
- Have feelings of guilt and
hopelessness, wondering if life is worth living
- Think a lot about death or
suicide
- Complain about problems that
don’t have a physical cause
All of these symptoms can cause a
problem with your quality of life. If you have had a few of these
symptoms for at least 2 weeks, talk to your doctor. You may have
depression that requires treatment. Depression may give one or more
of these symptoms:
- Low mood level or sadness
- Lack of joy or interest in activities
that were joyful before
- Pessimism
- Feel of guilt of something without any
substantial reason to feel so
- Inferiority thoughts
- Irritability
- Slowness in the thought process and in
interpreting sensorial stimuli
- Slowness of digestion or other internal
physical processes, and symptoms caused by this slowness, for
example inflated stomach, constipation or difficulties by
urination
- Slow physical reactions
Depression can be a mild disease that only causes some annoyance in
the daily life, but can also get very serious and make a person
totally unable to work and unable to participate in social life. By
depression of some severity, there is also a greater risk of
suicide. It can occur in all age classes. In teenagers lack of
interest in school work, withdrawal from social life and difficult
mood can be signs of depression.
TYPES OF DEPRESSION
Depression is often divided into subtypes according to exhibited
symptoms:
- Mono-polar depression and dysthymic disorder.
By mono-polar depression there are pure depressive symptoms. Mild
cases of mono-polar disorder that do not affect a persons ability to
work and to participate in social activities are often called
dysthymic disorder
- Bipolar disorder (manic-depressive disease) and cyclothymic
disorder
In this condition there are periods with symptoms of depression -
the depressive phase, alternating with periods of elevated mood
level with increased mental and physical activity - the manic phase.
In the manic phase, the affected person also sleeps poorly and has
concentration difficulties. A mild form of this disease is called
cyclothymic disorder
- Manic disorder is characterized by abnormally elevated mood, by
unrealistic optimism, by lack of sleep and by hyperactive behaviour.
Many psychiatrists think that this disorder is simply the same
disease as bipolar disorder where the depressive face has not yet
occurred.
- Depression with mainly physical symptoms.
Sometimes the physical symptoms of depression are alone or
dominant, as for example: Digestive problems, constipation,
difficulties with urination, slow response to sensorial
stimuli or slow physical reactions
CAUSES OF DEPRESSION Two
or more factors can have an effect simultaneously to cause
depression. Depression can be an independent disease, or a
part of other disease. Depression is also divided into
different subtypes according to cause:
- Reactive depression
This disease is simply a result from psychological stress, physical
struggle or mental straining without proper rest or sleep over a
long time period. The straining will simply wear out the nervous
system or deplete the organism from nutrient necessary for the
nervous system to work properly.
- Endogenous depression
When there has not been any period of stress, straining
or lack of rest that can explain the condition, the
condition is often called endogenous depression.
Inheritance is thought to be a part of the cause
- Depression by physical disease
Depression or depressive symptoms may be a symptom of physical
disease. This is perhaps the most common cause of depression.
Diseases often associated with depression are: Heart disease,
Parkinson's disease, stroke, hypertension or Cushing's syndrome. Mononucleosis
or flu may trigger depression that continues after the
infection has gone. By lack of thyroid hormones,
hypothyroidism, the metabolism in the whole body is
slowed down, including the production of
neurotransmitters in the brain. Therefore depression is
an important symptom of hypothyroidism
- Depressive symptoms as a consequence of unsound lifestyle
A general unsound lifestyle with too less exercise, too
much of stimulants like alcohol, coffee or tea, too less
of important nutrient and too much of sugar and fat may
give depressive symptoms, as well as physical problems
- Postnatal depression
Women will often have a period of depression after pregnancy and
berth of the baby Pregnancy and berth is physically and mentally
exhausting, and may drain the body for nutrient. This in turn can
cause depressive symptoms
- Seasonal affective disorder
Depression can occur in cold and dark periods of the
year and go away in warm and light periods. Light
stimulates brain activity, and lack of light is a
causative factor
Source: www.kokkada.com
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