Depressive state: methods of dealing with the "disease of the soul", why depression is dangerous and how to diagnose

Depression is a mental disorder that has become a real scourge in modern society. The disease is diagnosed more and more often, according to statistics, 30% of the female population and 15% of men have some form and stage of the disease.

But often a sick person denies the very fact that he has a disorder, therefore only half of those who need it seek professional help. The disease can reduce the quality of human life and worsen overall health.

The reasons for the development of the disease

The reasons for the onset of a depressive state have a gender identity, and differ significantly between representatives of both sexes. It's all to blame for the difference in the way of thinking, social orientation and many other factors. In men, the disorder often occurs against the background of failures in the professional sphere, in women - with stress associated with the family.

We list the main root causes of the disease:

• social factor. It includes the loss of a job, the lack of regular earnings, the loss of a loved one, or a serious traumatic event;
• burdened heredity;
• side effects of certain types of drugs. For example, cyclosporins, corticosteroids, trihexyphenidil;
• diseases: neurological origin (dementia, epilepsy, narcolepsy, multiple sclerosis), somatic pathologies (cancer of any organ, cirrhosis of the liver, celiac disease), endocrine disorders (diabetes mellitus and diabetes insipidus, Addison's disease). Hormonal changes. The lack of serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine is especially affected.

Among the many forms and types of depression, we will single out only those that are most common. For instance:

• Neurotic. It develops after exposure to a traumatic factor. Most often it proceeds as a protracted form of psychosis.
• Psychogenic or reactive. Becomes a response pathological reaction of the body for a long period of stress.
• Postpartum. Typical for women in the postpartum period. It manifests itself as a feeling of depression, unconscious anxiety, internal devastation, loss of interest in life, up to the alienation of your newborn child.
• Somatogenic. This type of depressive state occurs against the background of severe somatic pathologies.
• Circular or cyclical. This is a chronic course of depression, which is characterized by periods of exacerbation and subsidence of the pathological symptomatic picture. For example, seasonal apathy.

Depression: risk group, symptomatology

The risk group for depression primarily includes people who have been diagnosed with a serious oncological process, HIV infection, stroke

Depressive states are a common companion of patients with disabilities and helplessness. American scientists, through years of observation and analysis of statistical data, have identified a risk group of people prone to developing this condition.

It included:

• creative personalities;
• transsexuals (transgender people);
• people who have recently experienced or are going through a divorce;
• war veterans and their children and adolescents;
• over 45 years old;
• African Americans.

It is believed that Virginia Woolf, Charles Dickens, Ernest Hemingway, Russian writer Leo Tolstoy had typical symptoms of chronic depression.

Early and late signs

Early signs include the so-called bipolar "crushing triad", which is expressed in a significant decrease in performance, depressed mood and disorders associated with thinking.

Later symptoms can be divided into groups:

• psychological manifestations. They are expressed in a sharp and significant decrease in self-esteem, self-flagellation. A person loses interest in his favorite activities, because the ability to rejoice at the results achieved is lost. Communication in society is minimized due to a loss of interest in others;
• physical manifestations. Patients complain of changes in appetite. Moreover, not only its increase can manifest itself, but also a complete loss of desire to eat. Sleep is disturbed, problems falling asleep occur, drowsiness is uncomfortable, or insomnia worsens the condition. Pain in the epigastric region and heart, decreased performance and sexual desire, and weakness interfere with leading a normal life.

Depression is triggered by changes in thinking and confusion. For example, the process of memorizing a new amount of information is significantly reduced, the opportunity is lost independently and in a timely manner. make decisions, it's hard to deal with the persistent feeling of helplessness, uselessness, lack of faith in the normalization of life in the near the future.

Diagnosis of depression: methods of modern diagnostics and briefly about the features of the course

Set after detailed diagnostics. Various tests and questionnaires are chosen as diagnostic methods. The most widely used is the Beck Depression Inventory, the accuracy of which has been confirmed by renowned psychologists and psychotherapists.

The average patient takes 10-14 minutes to complete the survey, the technique consists of 21 groups of statements, but it allows you to identify masked signs of the disorder.

The “visual psychological test # 4 for depression” is gaining popularity. Testing can be carried out online and you can get a quick answer to the question about the presence / absence of this disorder in you. Doctors use specially designed scales to analyze the depth of the disorder.

Instrumental diagnostic measures are in demand. For example, changes in the bioelectrical activity of the brain are recorded, especially during the period when the patient is asleep. The overwhelming majority of patients with this disorder have dilated and asymmetric lateral ventricles of the brain. Sometimes laboratory tests for hormones are required to verify the diagnosis.

In children and adolescents, diagnosis consists in a physical examination of the patient, conducting and evaluating the results of psychological tests, laboratory tests. Conversations not only with the child, but also with his parents are of great diagnostic value. In a confidential form of communication, the doctor identifies intrafamilial problems - the most common root causes of the onset of the disease in childhood and adolescence.

Features of the pathological condition in neurology and neurosurgery

According to statistics from the Russian Ministry of Health, a record 47% of neurological patients have depressive disorders, and major depression - 27%. Patients who have had a stroke are particularly at risk of getting sick. If the disorder could not be avoided, then suicidal tendencies are added to the main symptoms of the post-stroke state, cognitive functions and overall quality of life deteriorate. The positive results of rehabilitation are not so noticeable, and the disability is often aggravated.

Depression in traumatic brain injury usually appears in the long term. In terms of duration, they last from several weeks to several long years. They are manifested by affective psychoses, which are replaced by manic disorders. Dysphoria (depressed mood), hypochondria and tearfulness are the most striking and frequent symptoms characteristic of depression after TBI.

Most frequently asked questions from patients

A person who suspects he is diagnosed with chronic depression is traditionally asked several questions:

• Do I need to see a doctor? The answer is unequivocal - yes, you need to go for medical help at the first suspicion and the appearance of the first symptoms of the disorder. The sooner the treatment takes effect, the lower the risk to your body.
• Which doctor should I go to? First of all, you should go to an appointment with a psychologist at a district clinic. If such a specialist is absent, then his functions are performed not only by a neuropathologist and psychiatrist, but also by a neurologist. A clinical psychologist will develop a medical program incorporating traditional medical methods into the therapeutic scheme. Social psychologist - will draw up a program for getting out of a crisis situation. Clinical and social psychologist work on the basis of large clinics and crisis centers, where they will provide comprehensive assistance to each person.
• What treatment methods will the specialist prescribe? After assessing the severity of the course and the degree of neglect of the disease, the specialist will decide on the appointment of drug and drug-free therapy. Many treatment interventions do not require a lot of time and / or significant expenditures.

Why depression is dangerous and how to treat it with vitamins, minerals, the right diet

Pharmacotherapy for depression can include antidepressants of various mechanisms of action: tricyclic and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. Antidepressants, as a means of drug therapy for depression, are prescribed only by the attending doctor. Many medicines in this group are capable of developing addiction, which is quite difficult to get rid of. Therefore, they are implemented according to the doctor's prescription.

It is quite possible that the treatment regimen will require the appointment of tranquilizers, antipsychotics, vitamin complexes, hormones. Antioxidants and lithium salts will be of great benefit. Drugs are selected that qualitatively improve cellular metabolism, especially of GM cells. They monitor the state of the body's defenses, preventing the fall of immunity.

Vitamins and minerals

It is good to take vitamin C. This connection is especially valuable in periods of life with frequent stress, if heavy physical exertion, long flights and travel are coming. Lack of vitamin C will come back to haunt with rapid fatigue or a feeling of persistent fatigue, sad thoughts and sad mood.

Vitamin B. Pyridoxine is able to significantly increase irritation and feelings of unconscious anxiety, positively affect nerve cells, strengthen immunity, restore the cardiovascular system, help in assimilation of food.

Folic acid. Vitamin 9 is involved in the synthesis of serotonin - the most important hormone "responsible" for the feeling of happiness. Serotonin "kills" melancholy, depression, sadness. Vitamin B9 also has the ability to prevent the development of the oncological process, improves cognitive abilities and human memory, especially in the elderly age group.

Trace element zinc. It is with the lack of this substance that many doctors associate the onset of the development of depression as a painful state of the body. Zinc plays a leading role in the well-coordinated work of nerve synapses. Its deficiency often leads to substance abuse, bulimia, alcoholism, anorexia.

Magnesium. It is necessary for the harmonious work of the nervous system, because its lack in the body is fraught with the appearance of serious problems with sleep, unconsciousness anxiety, hyperactivity, panic attacks, the appearance of serious fears, up to the development of phobias, a significant drop stress resistance.

Psychotherapy

The method of removing the patient from such conditions is selected individually, depending on the type of ailment. Therapeutic results for the treatment of depression with psychotherapy largely depend on the patient's desire to have productive contact with the doctor. And the doctor's task is to develop the patient's desire and understanding to be cured. Although such a task becomes impossible when working with some patients.

• Cognitive-behavioral. The technique provides for the identification of negative attitudes in the mind of a person with a demonstration of the erroneousness of his own beliefs. The doctor, in an attempt to activate the process of change, pushes the patient to think more correctly and look at the problem differently. Thus, getting rid of pathology occurs by changing the approach to the root cause of the depressive state;
• Interpersonal. In this case, the specialist teaches how to get rid of isolation in society, establish harmonious ties in modern society, increase communication, and adapt expectations from relationships.

Less commonly used psychodynamic therapy. It involves identifying inconsistencies in an internal conflict and ways to eliminate it. The patient is taught the techniques of auto-training.

Food

Nutrition plays a huge role in the life of not only a healthy, but also a sick person.

Let's list the most important vitamins that can improve the condition of a depressed patient:

• vitamin C. It is abundant in broccoli, the peels of most citrus fruits, bell peppers, and spinach leaves.
• vitamin B. The storehouse of pyridoxine is potato skins, meat, it is not chicken skins, fish fillets, beans, whole wheat grain products;
• folic acid. We eat liver and dishes from it in sufficient quantity, vegetables with green skin, asparagus, ripe melon, avocado fruit;
• zinc. The maximum amount of this element is found in oysters (60 mg per 100 grams), slightly less in dark chocolate, chicken hearts, liver, sunflower seeds;
• magnesium. Contained in seafood, caviar, hard cheeses, whole milk, red fish, amaranth.

This food should be in sufficient quantities in the menu, then it will be much easier to fight pathologies. Scientists point out that chocolate, ripe bananas, red caviar and oysters, quail eggs, nutmeg are natural antidepressants that can even cope with prolonged depression.

What usually prevents seeking psychotherapy

For many decades in our country, psychotherapy was not practiced widely enough, then today there are many obstacles to seeking help from a psychotherapist or psychologist. For example, few people believe that a professionally built dialogue brings real moral relief and really heals a person.

The second factor of fear of the psychotherapist's office is the fear of publicizing purely personal information. Not everyone considers it necessary to dedicate a stranger and “bare the soul”, fearing leakage of important data. In this case, we advise you to contact a crisis center or a separate practitioner on an anonymous basis.

Let's debunk another myth. Many people don't see much of a difference between mental health and psychological care. Therefore, "being branded as a psycho" is another non-existent "horror story". And instead of getting adequate help, the person only wastes time and deepens in a depressive state.

Forecast

The prognosis of recovery largely depends on the patient himself and his desire to defeat the disease. With the provision of timely professional assistance, the symptoms of the disease disappear without a trace and the person returns to normal life. In most cases, much of the recovery depends on close relatives and strong family ties.

Most often, the prognosis for depression is favorable. Religious principles in Russia are categorically against suicide, which minimizes the risk of such a formidable complication of the disease. The first step to recovery is the desire to fight and improve the quality of your life.