Depression: Triggers, warning signals, treatment

Depression is a serious mental disorder. It expresses itself mainly in despondency, listlessness, and loss of interest. It is true that every person experiences phases in life in which he is sad or listless. However, this is usually a normal reaction to mental stress and not depression. It is different when serious negative feelings persist for a long time. How is it and what can you do? Read all the important information about depression here.

Depression

Depression: Description

what is depression? Depression is counted as one of the mood disorders. This is what psychologists call disturbances that affect feelings. In the case of depression, sufferers suffer from a depressed and depressed mood. Unlike sadness and listlessness, which are part of life, depression does not disappear after some time by itself or improves by encouragement. Depression is a serious and serious mental illness that should be treated professionally.

Acute depression often makes it impossible for people to cope with their everyday tasks. Everything seems so hopeless to them that some lose the will to live.

Depressive Episode

Some people experience only one depressive episode in their lives. But this is rarely the case: about 75 percent of patients who have already experienced a depressive episode, relapse within ten years. The sooner a depressive episode is treated, the lower the risk.

Recurrent Depressive Disorder

Recurrent depressive disorder, in which sufferers experience recurring depressive episodes, is the most common form of depression.

For women, the likelihood of developing recurrent depression is higher than for men. The risk is also increased for patients who develop depression at a young or older age. The recurring depressive episodes cause strong suffering. The life of those affected is very limited by the disease. Often they can no longer practice their profession. The social relationships are also burdened by the depressive phases and can break.

Chronic Depression

In some people, depression does not progress in phases, but they suffer continuously from depressive symptoms. In such chronic depression, the depressive symptoms are usually less pronounced than in an episodic course. Physicians then call this as Dysthymia. This type of depression is often not recognized - even the affected ones often experience their depressed mood as normal. Nevertheless, even less severe chronic depression significantly affects patients' quality of life, performance, and social relationships.

Bipolar disorder

As soon as manic phases appear next to the depressive ones, there is a bipolar disorder. Those affected then commute between two emotional poles: dejection and lack of motivation on the one hand, and extreme euphoria, overconfidence, and over-action on the other. Previously, this form was also referred to as a manic-depressive disorder.

A classic depression, on the other hand, is also called "unipolar depression" because it has only one emotional "pole" with depressive symptoms.

Depression and other Diseases

Depression often occurs in combination with various other mental disorders. Thus, depressive people often show symptoms of anxiety, some even suffer from a panic disorder. Other illnesses that are often present are addictions, eating disorders, personality disorders or dementia. It is important to recognize other mental illnesses in the depressive because the therapy can be successful only if the other mental problems are treated.

Some physical illnesses are more often associated with depression. Dau includes, for example, cardiovascular diseases but also diabetes. Physical and mental stress seem to reinforce each other.

Who suffers from depression?

People can develop depression at any age, both in childhood and in old age. According to the Federal Health Survey, around three million people in Germany are currently suffering from depression. Depression is one common mental illnesses. According to health insurance, the number of diagnoses increases each year. That does not mean that actually more people get sick. It could also be due, at least in part, to the fact that today's patients are more likely to seek help, or that their family doctors have become more attentive.

Depression is a major problem not only in Germany but worldwide. Of particular concern is the increased suicide rate of depressed people. About ten to fifteen percent of those affected take their own lives.

Depression in children and adolescents

To read how depression in children and adolescents and how to help them, read in the article depression in children and adolescents. Age depression How depression manifests itself in old people and how to help them, read in the contribution age depression.

More women get sick than men

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that depression will be the second most common disease by 2020. Women are about twice as likely to be affected by depression as men. Experts disagree on why there is such a big difference between men and women.

One hypothesis is that women are more likely to become ill due to hormonal fluctuations - women are more prone to depressive disorders before menstruation or after birth. Low socioeconomic status is also a risk factor for depression - and more women live in poverty than men.

Others suggest that depression is more rarely detected in men - for example, because they are more reluctant to show weakness and seek help. But also because they show other symptoms - such as aggressive and excessive behavior.

Depression: Symptoms

Three major symptoms and seven minor symptoms are typical of depression. Read how to “recognize depression”.

Depression: causes and risk factors

It is believed, however, that in the onset of depression more and more factors play together - both internal and external. These include biological, genetic and psychosocial factors. The size of the influence of the different factors varies from case to case.

Prone to depression?

The vulnerability stress model is also based on this hypothesis. Vulnerability (vulnerability) describes how vulnerable a person is because of genetic, biological and psychological foundations for a mental disorder. In people of high vulnerability, even low stress can cause severe depression. If the vulnerability is low, even very stressful events can be managed. Some people thus develop depressive symptoms even with light psychological stress, others can withstand very high levels of stress without becoming ill. Such people are called resilient (resistant).

Decisive influence also has the genetic disposition of a person and also, which difficult experiences he already had to cope with and which skills he has acquired to cope with stressful situations.

Genetic influences

The risk of developing depression is increased if the disease has already occurred in the family. For example, children whose parents both suffer from depression have a disease risk of approximately 55 percent. When depression develops early in life, the risk to relatives is particularly high. Accordingly, the predisposition for depression is inheritable. The environmental factors are also among the causes: Depression is favored by difficult living conditions.

Biological influences Disturbed messenger metabolism in the brain

There is evidence that brain activity or brain metabolism is altered during depression. Nerve cells are active with every sensation, every feeling and every thought. They communicate with each other via electrical impulses and messenger substances, so-called neurotransmitters. Some experts believe that low levels of noradrenaline or serotonin are also responsible for depression. As a result, the exchange between the nerve cells is disturbed. This is also reflected in feelings and thoughts and promotes listlessness, lack of appetite or insomnia.

An indication of the influence of neurotransmitters provides the successful effect of appropriate drugs. For example, serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are currently used to treat depression. They cause the level of serotonin to increase, thus improving the symptoms of a depressive episode. However, this hypothesis does not explain why it usually takes days and weeks for the drugs to work.

Depression: examinations and diagnosis

If you are suspected of having depression, you should urgently contact a doctor, psychiatrist or psychotherapist. Depression is a serious condition that usually needs to be treated. The earlier the mental disorder is recognized, the better the chances of recovery.

Studies on depression

As the first point of contact, you can visit your family doctor if you suspect depression. This can check the suspicion due to physical examinations and a detailed conversation. The family doctor could ask you the following questions in a first interview:

• Was your mood often depressed or depressed in the last few weeks?
• Have you often felt joyless lately?
• Have you been drunk and tired lately?
• Have you recently had self-doubt, guilt or negative thoughts?
• Do you suffer from sleep disorders?
• Have you had trouble concentrating lately?
• Has your appetite changed lately?

These questions are aimed at symptoms typical of depression. The diagnosis is especially difficult when the physical symptoms are in the foreground. Many patients complain of headache or abdominal pain as well as cardiovascular problems. Talking about physical ailments is easier for many because they are more socially accepted than mental illness. Men, in particular, often emphasize the physical signs and respond less to their emotional symptoms.

To rule out a physical cause of the symptoms, physical examinations are important for clarification. These include a blood test, possibly a computed tomography (CT) of the brain. Because even low blood sugar, vitamin B12 deficiency, dementia, hypothyroidism (more rarely, hyperthyroidism) and brain changes are considered causes of depressive symptoms.

cancer symptoms

If the suspicion of depression is confirmed, the doctor will refer the patient to a specialized clinic or outpatient psychiatrist or psychotherapist. These can create a customized treatment plan for the patient.

Depression: treatment

Depression is a serious mental disorder that causes great suffering. How to treat them, read in the article Depression Therapy.

Depression: Relatives

Relatives are important pillars for people with depression. Read here how they can help and how they prevent themselves from burning themselves out.

Depression: Disease course and prognosis

The course of depression is individually very different and dependent on the severity of the depression. Duration and course can be positively influenced by early therapy. Without treatment, the risk of relapse is over 50 percent. If the depression is adequately treated, the duration of the depressive phase is also reduced in most cases.

One-third of those affected only experience a depressive phase once in their lives. Two-thirds of patients are repeatedly affected by depression. The more frequently depressive phases occur, the more likely a further relapse will be. Depression can also become chronic. Long-lasting depression that does not respond to therapy is an enormous burden for those affected and relatives. Often, however, the symptoms of chronic depression are not as pronounced as in other types of depression.

People with chronic or particularly severe depression have a high risk of suicide. About 15 percent of depressive people take their own lives. According to estimates, about half of those affected commit suicide attempts.

Comorbidity often complicates the treatment of depression. Patients who also have an anxiety disorder often develop unfavorable conditions. It is equally unfavorable when depression occurs at a young age and when the patient does not have sufficient social support.

Is Depression Curable?

Most people who suffer from depression can be helped well by consistent treatment. The therapy ensures that depressive episodes are broken or completely subside. Untreated, there is a high probability that depression will persist for months or years. The sooner the treatment is started after the onset of symptoms, the better the depression is curable.