Once in a while, people experience depression for their own reasons. It may be problems concerning family, work, friends, romance or any other reason. Though depression would look the same through the eyes of a lot of people, there are different types of depression, and each type is handled accordingly to best help the patient. Note that it is a serious ailment that can lead to several health problems if not properly treated.
Major Depression
Also called clinical depression, unipolar depression or major depressive disorder, major depression is one of the more common types of depression and can be brought on by grief depression. Feeling of sadness or loss is persistently connected to this. Individuals who experience major depression often lose pleasure on doing things they used to find enjoyable. They tend to lose their appetite, have problems with sleeping and concentrating, and experience headaches and pain. They also feel worthless with their lives and feel hopeless to fix their own problems. The thought of suicide is not an uncommon symptom to people experiencing this.
Major depression is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. It can also be triggered by personal problems such as drug/alcohol abuse. Several illnesses such as cancer can also start major depression. Also, recent research showed that some people are genetically predisposed to having this.
Dysthymia
Dysthymia is a milder version of major depression but longer lasting. While major depression can last for several months, dysthymia, which is also known as minor depression, sticks around for at least two years. It is a recurring illness in which a person can still do things like go to work but will experience sadness, loss of appetite or overeating, lack of sleep or oversleeping, tendency to be irritable, lack of concentration, difficulty in making decisions and the feeling of hopelessness. There would also be a period of time when the individual would feel happiness, only to disappear when dysthymia strikes again.
Dysthymia often occurs during childhood and adolescent stages. If left untreated, it will continue throughout a person’s life. And people diagnosed with dysthymia often have other disorders such as personality disorder, phobias, shyness, or anxiety disorders.
Bipolar Depression
Bipolar depression (also known as bipolar depression, manic-depression or manic-depressive disorder) is the type of depression in which a person experiences both poles of moods: the extreme lows (depressive episodes) and extreme highs (manic episodes). The cause of bipolar depression may come from childhood or early adulthood. There are different types of bipolar depressions, each with significant traits:
- Bipolar I – one or more manic episodes is experienced with or without any major depressive episodes.
- Bipolar II – hypomanic episodes (similar to manic episodes but without any psychotic symptoms and is less severe) is present, as well as at least one major depressive episode.
- Cyclotymia – numerous hypomanic episodes are present with several depressive ones not considered major
- Bipolar NOS (Not Otherwise Specified) – any bipolar illnesses that does not fit in any of the first three mentioned. It could be a mixture of each or something totally different.
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
SAD is a disorder that occurs only seasonally, usually at winter. An individual would experience the same kinds of symptoms related to other types of depression, but they would only occur only once a year. The cause of SAD is the nature of his or her environment, with each season sprucing up a distinct mood, which can be connected to a previous experience, often unfavourable. If a person is on a high altitude and it is winter time, it is more likely that person will experience SAD than someone who is on level ground and it is summer.
Psychotic Depression
A severe form of major depression, an individual who has psychotic depression experiences delusions, auditory hallucinations or visual hallucinations. There will be tendencies to hear voices in their head and see things that are not there. Delusional thinking is also common to psychotic depression. Thus, suicide is likely to happen if this kind of depression is left untreated because a person cannot think rationally. This is the reason why insanity is a plausible excuse for crimes, in a courtroom setting.
Post Partum Depression (PPD)
Another form of major depression, PPD happens after a mother gives birth. Once afflicted, a feeling of sadness occurs days after giving birth, which could extend to months/years. Its symptoms can be very severe, if not given proper treatment early. PPD is most common to mothers who already have a history of depressive illness.
Treating PPD is rather complicated, since its medication can affect the production of breast milk. Proper evaluation is needed in order to weigh the possible risks and benefits of the medicine prescribed for breastfeeding.
Put a Halt to Depression, Fast
The different types of depression, as you can see, have many forms and can manifest in quite a number of ways. The moment you feel that you’re getting too troubled about your problems, even if you already have the resolutions, you might as well test for depressiveness. Chances are, you might prevent a serious psychological concern from materializing.
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I read something about depression because I need some help I feel like I do have a depression . thank you for let the people know how they can avoid it.