Severe depression causes
Severe depression usually occurs for two reasons: psychological and physiological.
For psychological reasons, depression can develop as a result of stress or any traumatic situation. This could be the death of a loved one or relative, physical or moral violence, a terrible disaster in which a person became a participant, and many others. Usually, after two months, the depressive state can go away, but without proper help it drags on and severe depression can develop.
A number of seemingly insignificant unpleasant life situations present in a person’s life for quite a long time can become a source of constant stress. Lack of material resources; work that doesn't bring you joy; forced living with unpleasant people; deterioration in the quality of life due to any chronic disease - all this can be attributed to a constant stressful situation.
Severe depression can develop due to frustration - a condition in which a person constantly feels that his desires are impossible to fulfill.
An existential crisis can simultaneously act as both a cause and a manifestation of depression. It is expressed in the loss of life goals, a feeling of the meaninglessness of existence, and an imbalance of harmony.
The physiological causes of depression have completely different roots. Alcohol and drug use, menopause, cerebrovascular accidents, severe fatigue, chronic diseases, lack of proper nutrition - this is just a small list of physiological disorders that can lead to severe depression. An important fact is that depression rarely develops for any one reason; often several factors lead to it. And successful treatment is only possible if all the causes of this mental disorder are taken into account.
Where to look for help
Remember that even though the disease may seem unserious, only a highly qualified psychiatrist with sufficient practical experience can cure it. If you find these symptoms in yourself or your loved ones, we recommend that you contact a specialist.
It is important to convince the patient that help will be effective if the specialist’s recommendations are fully followed. CELT employs doctors who will help you quickly cope with any manifestation of depression. Treatment will always give a positive result if you start working with the patient in a timely manner.
Depersonalization-derealization syndrome is a fairly serious mental disorder that can easily be corrected. If you find these symptoms in yourself or your loved ones, we recommend that you consult a specialist. To clarify the diagnosis and receive qualified medical care, you can contact CELT. This is one of those conditions in the treatment of which our psychoneurologists achieve good results.
Make an appointment through the application or by calling +7 +7 We work every day:
- Monday—Friday: 8.00—20.00
- Saturday: 8.00–18.00
- Sunday is a day off
The nearest metro and MCC stations to the clinic:
- Highway of Enthusiasts or Perovo
- Partisan
- Enthusiast Highway
Driving directions
Severe depression symptoms
The fact that a person is severely depressed is determined by the following symptoms: depressed mood, decreased performance and activity, constant feeling of fatigue, inability to concentrate on anything, constant self-flagellation and guilt, low self-esteem, thoughts of suicide, a gloomy and hopeless look for your future, insomnia or, conversely, severe drowsiness, loss of appetite.
The clinical picture of severe depression is as follows: a person experiences a persistent feeling of melancholy every day; his mood is depressive; signs of psychomotor retardation are observed; he cannot concentrate his attention on anything; sexual desire decreases; in the morning the patient feels tired and exhausted due to the fact that he cannot sleep normally at night. Manifestations of severe depression also include a feeling of suffocation and discomfort in the chest, complete apathy, pessimistic views of one’s future (a person always expects an accident to happen), lack of will, inability to make any decisions, constant drowsiness and a feeling of laziness.
Types of depression
- Neurotic – people with low self-esteem, insecure, and straightforward people often suffer. They constantly experience a sense of injustice, and this is where apathy arises.
- Clinical – bad mood, loss of energy, problems with appetite and sleep. Suicidal tendencies are often observed. This clinical picture can last at least 2 weeks.
- Vegetative – manifested by such symptoms as tachycardia, drop in blood pressure, tinnitus.
- Psychogenic - develops after severe psychological trauma - divorce, loss of a loved one, dismissal from work, betrayal, etc. Accompanied by mood swings, anxiety, and excessive sensitivity.
- Masked - often the disease manifests itself secretly. Apathy, solitude and decreased interest in life can only appear as negativity and fatigue accumulate.
- Asthenic – the condition is manifested by fatigue, sleep disturbance, emotional imbalance due to accumulated difficulties, stress, physical and psychological stress.
- Postpartum – usually occurs 10-14 days after delivery. The young mother shows an increased sense of excitement for the baby, and constant lack of sleep and fatigue further worsens the situation. In addition, the mother's condition is also affected by hormonal levels.
- Somatogenic – attacks occur due to disturbances in the endocrine system, the formation and proliferation of neoplasms, both benign and malignant.
- Alcoholic depression – depression is accompanied by excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages. The post-alcoholic state is accompanied by an uncontrollable craving for alcohol and an increase in withdrawal symptoms when giving up alcohol.
- Bipolar – the patient experiences a change from euphoria to a depressive, manic disorder. But in the period between these phenomena, caused by various factors: stress, loss of means of popularity, etc., a person lives a normal life and does not show symptoms of the disease.
Severe depression signs
If a person does not have the strength and desire to do anything, if he cannot force himself to do anything, and at the same time is constantly in a bad, depressed mood, then this indicates signs of a depressive state. Manifestations of depression also include constant laziness, which disguises apathy. The fact is that during severe depression, a person’s brain begins to work differently - its biochemical processes change, which leads to laziness. There are three main brain transmitters that are responsible for a person’s mood, energy and performance - dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin. And when their work is disrupted, complete apathy sets in and there is a lack of energy to engage in any activity. In such cases, it is necessary to start treatment with special drugs on time, otherwise the person simply will not want to get out of bed in the morning and will completely lose interest in life. The consequences of severe depression can be very serious and negative for the patient - a constant feeling of fear and anxiety develops, eventually acquiring manic forms.
The course of severe depression in pregnant women deserves special attention. Since it often causes miscarriage. Therefore, at the slightest sign of depression, a woman needs to seek help from a specialist.
Myth No. 5: “People shouldn’t be put on antidepressants, it’s dangerous”
This phrase can often be heard from doctors of other specialties. Not psychiatrists, but, for example, therapists. So, in case of serious depression, the patient must be prescribed antidepressants, otherwise his condition may worsen greatly. Moreover, the course of treatment will take at least six months for the disease to go away. Modern antidepressants, no matter how many people, even doctors, fear and demonize them, are no more dangerous than the medications that therapists use in their practice.
Severe depression and suicide
Severe depression is dangerous because the patient completely loses the instinct of self-preservation. A persistent feeling of melancholy, as well as constant pain tormenting his soul, makes him think about suicide. An overwhelming feeling of guilt, a feeling that he deserves punishment, a desire to free his loved ones, often push a person to commit suicide. According to statistics, 15% of people with mental disorders of unknown etymology become victims of suicide.
At the onset of the disease, the person is so weak, exhausted by severe depression, that he is unable to take any steps to take his own life. But as soon as this condition goes away, the patient may attempt to commit suicide. He will think through the suicide plan in detail, develop it, and try to create a deceptive impression that he has gotten better, without leaving the thought of committing suicide.
The most common cases of suicide are among lonely people with a history of somatic illnesses and people with a history of suicide in their family.
What should a person do if he has all the signs of severe depression? There is only one answer to this question: seek help immediately. If depression is not treated, it will become chronic, and this is fraught with very dangerous consequences.
Remission
The human psyche has an amazing property - it can self-heal as long as the body lives and breathes. With the right approach and treatment for depression, you can quickly learn to live and breathe again. At first hesitantly, then more and more confidently. Then the understanding will come that the “winter of the soul” was needed in order to bring spring and summer back into life, learn to listen to your heart, love simple things, smile at the sun and every new day, enjoy food and communication with your loved ones. Enjoy the little things that you simply didn’t have time for before. Love life in all its manifestations.
Source: posta-magazine.ru
Treatment options
UD does not require special treatment. Taking sedatives or antidepressants, supplemented by a frank conversation with loved ones or a psychologist, helps speed up the normalization of the patient’s emotional state, but even without this, the severity of negative experiences usually passes within a few weeks.
The situation with CD is completely different. The isolation of the patient and the addition of somatic pathologies does not allow treating this condition only with medication or only with psychotherapeutic methods, and therefore a set of therapeutic measures is always applied to patients with CD:
- taking antidepressants with stimulating or sedative action, depending on the form of depression;
- a course of therapy with a psychologist or psychotherapist - individually or as part of a group;
- carrying out special-purpose physiotherapeutic procedures: electroconvulsive therapy, transcranial magnetic stimulation, etc.
It is noteworthy that early detection of CD does not always improve clinical prognosis, since in this case the patient has not yet had time to “get tired of the meaninglessness of his own life.”
Prevention measures
Depression, like any other disease, is much easier to prevent than to then treat it itself and the somatic disorders caused by it. This can only be done in one way - by increasing your own stress resistance and developing the skills of rethinking (reevaluating) a negative situation. This does not provide 100% protection against depression, but it still reduces the likelihood of developing it.
All that remains is to figure out how to make yourself more resistant to everyday troubles and “blows of fate,” but this is a topic for a completely separate conversation.
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