How to determine what depression. People can be under the guise of a cheerful mood

If earlier the help of a psychotherapist was mainly required for the economic and creative elite, today the number of those in need of such competent support continues to increase.

How to recognize that people in your environment have depression, and not a bad mood? Does this person need the support of loved ones or the professional help of a psychotherapist?

Each depression is formed by three main components - a mood disorder, fatigue and autonomic disorders.

The first component is directly related to changes in a person's mood - when a depressed, sad state lasts longer than 2 weeks. Depression leads to a dull perception of the world. One gets the impression that there is only uninteresting and everyday around. In one day, there can be significant mood swings - if in the morning it was good enough, it worsens noticeably in the evening. Or vice versa, in the morning a person’s mood is terrible, in the evening it gradually returns to normal. Sometimes a person may not experience such changes in their mood at all, just being depressed, sad and tearful.

There can be various shades of depressed mood. Sometimes there is a shade of anxiety or longing, despair, irritability or indifference. A sad mood is not always realized by a person, but depression leads to some bodily manifestations. For example, intense heat in the chest area, or "a heavy stone pressing on the heart." More rare cases are manifestations of chronic pain in a certain part of the body, although doctors cannot establish organic causes.

With prolonged stress, depression often occurs with a touch of anxiety. At the same time, anxiety is felt by each person individually. There may be a fear of falling asleep, various nightmares, a constant fear for relatives and friends. In some cases, excessive nervousness is characteristic, a person cannot be in one place due to constant anxiety. In such cases, it is not possible to find a place for oneself, a person is simply not able to stay on a chair for more than 2-3 minutes. After shifting a little in his chair, he simply gets up and walks around the room.

The cause of very strong anxiety (from 57 points on the Sheehan scale) may be a full-blown depression. Panic attacks occur in a person when there is not enough air, a feeling of heat and trembling in the body is formed. The appearance of severe anxiety indicates a huge internal component of depression, an anxiety disorder is only the top of the whole problem.

If a person with anxious depression is not able to stay in one place, then other types of depression can lead to movement problems. When a person sleeps hours a day, but does not feel cheerful in the morning, and the usual, everyday tasks for him seem meaningless and often overwhelming. A similar situation may arise as a result of apathetic depression.

With depression, the processes of inhibition affect the whole organism as a whole, problems arise with thinking, perception of the world, attention and memory suffer, therefore, working capacity is sharply reduced. Concentration problems become noticeable in a person when reading a few pages of an exciting book or watching TV for a short time leads to fatigue. A person can sit at a computer for a long time, but still cannot concentrate on work.

Autonomic disorders are the second component of depression. In cases where, according to the results of the examination of the therapist and cardiologist, organic diseases are not identified, problems in the form of false urges, frequent urination, dizziness, headaches, fluctuations in temperature and blood pressure can be considered additional autonomic signs of depression.

Depression in a certain way affects the gastrointestinal tract, leading to a sharp decrease in appetite, the duration of constipation can be 4-5 days. Much less likely to increase appetite, the appearance of false urges and diarrhea - an atypical form of depression.

Depression also affects the reproductive system. In men and women, depression will dull sexual sensations. Less commonly, a manifestation of depression becomes obsessive masturbation, constant promiscuity. Men may experience problems with potency, a manifestation of depression for women is a delay in menstruation - regularly over a period of six months.

The asthenic component of depression manifests itself in the form of sensitivity to weather changes, fatigue, constant irritability. At the same time, loud sounds, touches of strangers, loud bright lights are especially annoying. Sometimes tears may appear due to internal irritation.

Depression is accompanied by sleep problems: it is difficult for a person to fall asleep, sleep is restless and superficial, often interrupted by awakenings. Or a person wakes up too early - wants to fall asleep again, but cannot.

Depression develops according to certain characteristic laws. There are signs that reflect the severity of the depression. Reflections about the senseless waste of one's life, sometimes about a possible suicide, may indicate a significant increase.

A person with severe depression is faced with an unwillingness to live, begins to think about the general meaninglessness of his existence, suicidal intentions appear more clearly. Similar symptoms in you or loved ones may indicate the need to seek help from a psychotherapist. In such situations, the urgency and timeliness of competent treatment of the problem is important.

Treatment of depression with drugs in situations where its level is from 48 points on the Zung scale. The drug affects the serotonin system (hormones of pleasure and happiness), norepinephrine and others. If a stable mood is maintained, the solution of psychological problems is provided much more effectively, it is possible to avoid conflict situations.

Often there is a fear of using antidepressants, because people fear dependence on the drug. But the situation is different - addiction to antidepressants does not develop at all. The reason for addiction can only be the use of strong hypnotics or sedatives included in the category of benzodiazepines (tranquilizers). To treat depression, antidepressants are used, completely different means.

The psychotherapist, given the specific shade of depressed mood, is determined with suitable antidepressants. There are antidepressants recommended for depression with a touch of anxiety, or special drugs for shades of indifference, apathy, and others. A well-formed dosage of drugs contributes to the regression of depression after 3-4 weeks - getting rid of a feeling of constant anxiety, suicidal ideas, improves, mood stabilizes, a person awakens again the desire for action.

The action of antidepressants begins at the end of the second or during the third week. People with the slightest improvement stop taking drugs in the fourth week, so the problem of depression will return again in a couple of weeks. To completely get rid of depression, it is necessary to strictly adhere to the indicated treatment course from a psychotherapist.

The duration of the treatment course is set in each case by a psychotherapist individually, taking into account the characteristics of the problem. Usually the duration is 4-12 months, in some cases it can be longer. After completing the basic course of treatment, the specialist can prescribe a maintenance course to consolidate the achieved result. Depression lasting less than 6 months is much easier to treat effectively. If a person postpones the solution of the problem, for 2-3 years, sometimes even for 8-10 years, the duration of the required course increases significantly. Sometimes it may take 1.5 years of treatment, and another year and a half to consolidate the effect.

In psychotherapy, the attitude towards depression should be similar to the factor high temperature among common diseases. After all, a high temperature in itself is not a diagnosis, it simply tells us about a person’s bodily problems. When the temperature rises, the person goes to the doctor to determine the exact cause of the problem. Made a diagnosis. The appearance of depression leads to a bad mental state of a person who also needs the help of a specialist. A psychotherapist prescribes an antidepressant, and then, using psychotherapeutic methods, helps to identify and eliminate the cause of depression.

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Studies around the world show that depression is becoming the most common ailment of our time. According to various researchers, up to 20% of the population of developed countries suffer from depression (symptoms have been identified or are being treated).

Typical signs of depression:

Symptoms of depression are very diverse and vary depending on the form of the disease. We list the most typical signs of this disorder:

anxiety, feeling of inner tension, expectation of trouble

guilt, frequent self-blame

dissatisfaction with oneself, decreased self-confidence, decreased self-esteem

a decrease or loss of the ability to experience pleasure from previously pleasurable activities

decreased interest in the environment

loss of the ability to experience any feelings (in cases of deep depression)

depression is often combined with anxiety about the health and fate of loved ones, as well as with the fear of appearing incompetent in public places

changes in appetite (loss or overeating)

bowel dysfunction (constipation)

decreased sexual desires

decreased energy, increased fatigue during normal physical and intellectual stress, weakness

pain and various discomforts in the body (for example, in the heart, in the stomach, in the muscles)

avoidance of contact (tendency to solitude, loss of interest in other people)

giving up entertainment

alcoholism and substance abuse providing temporary relief

difficulty concentrating, concentrating

decision making difficulties

the predominance of gloomy, negative thoughts about yourself, about your life, about the world as a whole

a gloomy, pessimistic vision of the future with no perspective, thoughts about the meaninglessness of life

thoughts of suicide (in severe cases of depression)

the presence of thoughts about one's own uselessness, insignificance, helplessness

Another great step

how to live happily

How to spot signs of depression and get help

People who feel depressed, who are severely depressed, are usually quite easy to see: they are gloomy, sad, sometimes even lethargic. But let's turn our attention to those who do not betray their sadness at all, who hide their depression. They may not show a bad mood, they can be a great company, and at the same time hide their feelings under the guise of fun. This is a very deep problem - the problem of hidden depression, because these people are experts in masking their inner state. Let's ask a question and help with the answer to it, as we can identify hidden depression in a loved one or friend, and how can we help?

After all, any person can find himself in a world that has shaken for him - absolutely anyone can have depression: a man, a woman, a teenager. Our world is now very burdening a person with various emotions, a huge flow of negative information from a zombie man, from the Internet and unresolved personal problems can lead to a corner of their own experiences. How can we identify, identify people with hidden depression and help them cope with it?

Signs of depression:

People can be under the guise of a cheerful mood

We must understand that a cheerful and outgoing person can also be vulnerable to depression. Of course, not always a person can hide his feelings like that, we just have to distinguish the real fun from the ostentatious mask in time. To do this, you need to communicate more with a person, know the latest news about his life and be an empathetic listener when they want to open up to you. And at the right moment to help, somewhere in a word, somewhere in deed, without letting me fall into the abyss of despair.

Can quietly hide their depression without drawing attention

Many do not show their negative mood, they keep all experiences inside, preventing anyone from penetrating into their world. Such individuals are afraid of publicity of their psychological state, they are afraid of the stigma of a psychopath, they are embarrassed and embarrassed to talk about their personal experiences to anyone. Such secretive personalities are the most difficult to understand, the primary problem here is to reveal a person so that he makes contact and trusts, tells his feelings so that you can make the right decision to alleviate the sadness of a loved one.

Can hide past trauma under confidence and happiness

These people change their eating habits.

Most experts believe that there may be a strong link between depression and eating disorders. It is clear that these are two separate diseases, but they may be related. An eating disorder can manifest itself as severe overeating, which can later lead to obesity, and vice versa, refusal of food, which will lead to anorexia. In this case, anything could influence a person: various kinds of problems, media pressure, depression. If you notice that a loved one or friend is experiencing a change in appetite, try to talk to him/her about their concerns that may be causing this behavior and encourage them to get treatment. Hidden depression in this case turns out to be a trigger on the way to other serious diseases.

Physical and psychological health are closely related. A healthy mind is in a healthy body, so do not neglect the basics of a healthy lifestyle, both in nutrition and in sports, follow the advice from articles and depression will not catch up with you:

Stop doing what you used to love

Very often, people with covert depression show a lack of enthusiasm for things they used to enjoy doing. From such a person it may not be visible that he is upset or depressed, he simply became not interested in what he used to love very much. This can act as a sign that something is going wrong, that the person is sinking deeper into his depression.

They may show irritation and anger

We usually associate depression with apathy, helplessness, melancholy thoughts and screaming. But there are other symptoms of depression that are often not detected by us, because they are simply not noticed or dismissed as temporary outbreaks in a person. They are simply ignored by us, thinking that it will not cause harm, but in fact, frequent angry outbursts or irritation in a person are manifestations of depression. Many men express their depression in this way. But when such a person can talk about their problems with family or friends, this is usually the first step towards treatment and recovery.

May suffer from insomnia

Sleep problems and depression are very often closely related. If your loved one complains of insomnia (or even a difficult awakening), this may be a sign that there are some problems either with the physical condition or with the mental state. You need to find out, very carefully and gently, so as not to cause even more frustration, what is the cause of insomnia, if of course the person is ready to open up. If he is not ready to talk about his problems to you, then you need to send him to a specialist. And how to do this, how to convince him to go to the doctor, read below "How to help with depression."

How to help with depression

If you understood from the above signs that a loved one or friend has a hidden depression, and were able to recognize it, then first of all you do not need to put pressure on him. He is already depressed and upset, you need to carefully bring him to the conversation and try to listen. In some cases, a person might not have gone into his feelings yet, and even your participation in his problems, advice or just attention can help. But if everything is much more serious and you are not a specialist in this field (psychologist, psychotherapist), then you should not give life-affirming advice to a person.

Your main parting word, in this case, should be the main advice - contact a specialist.

At the same time, take into account that a lot of people are afraid of doctors, and in particular our Russian mentality has been hardened by such fear for years.

And here your main task is to convince your loved one that the doctor is not an enemy, that he should not be afraid.

A doctor is an expert in his field and he will help to cope with the problem better than a person who does not understand this. Our psychological state is a very important and subtle component of the body, so it, like everything else in it, must be healthy. Give an example of the fact that when a TV or computer breaks down in your house, and you take it to a repair shop where specialists in their field are doing repairs, for some reason you are not afraid of this, but rather want to fix the device as soon as possible. After all, not a single family can do without a TV or computer now, and we understand that it is specialists who can help us with repairs, people who know their business and understand it. So tell a person who has become lost in his wilds of longing that he should not be afraid to help his body be healthy, and for this you need to contact a knowledgeable specialist who can help solve his problem.

Don't forget to tell your friends about this article

Test: Are you depressed or just in a bad mood?

With this test, you will be able to find out with a 100% guarantee whether you have depression. If it turns out that it does not exist, read the article at least in order to know how to convincingly simulate this ailment in which case.

At all times, there have been diseases with beautiful names, which were not only prestigious to get sick - rather, it was fashionable to say that you have them, or to replace them with real ailments. It was worth saying “monstrous influenza” instead of “terrible snot” - and those around you immediately imbued with respect for you and your fine organization.

Today, depression has become such a disease that everyone talks about, often without understanding the original meaning of the name. It is customary to write off everything on it: impotence, wrecked jobs and unwillingness to go to the evening of the reunion of graduates. At the same time, few people know that depression is a very specific ailment caused by such complex biochemical changes in the nervous system that an ordinary person cannot cause them even for money. It is actually quite difficult to catch depression, and what is considered to be it is, as a rule, a depressive accentuation of the personality, a bad mood, or even ordinary hatred of people.

Do you want to know the whole truth about whether you have depression? You have two scenarios to choose from: either you go to a psychoanalyst, and he gives you a clinical test that diagnoses depression with an absolute guarantee; or you pass exactly the same clinical test that we took as a keepsake when we ourselves went to be tested.

Yes, and keep in mind: the causes of depression are usually very specific - prolonged mental stress, overwork, chronic brain injury, severe and long-term illnesses. internal organs, surgical operations, deficiency of blood supply to the brain and congenital neurochemical disorders. If you don’t have and didn’t have any of the above, it means that you probably don’t need any tests here. Just stop faking depression and it will pass!

What is depression

According to the international classification of diseases "ICD-10", depression is not even one disease, but seven different ones. In the sense that it is divided into groups.

Due to the occurrence

Neurotic D. due to internal conflict.

Reactive D., which is a reaction to mental trauma.

Endogenous D., which is generally easy to treat, since it has neurochemical causes.

By the nature of the flow

Of course, these types can be combined. For example, major depression can be both classic and reactive. But that's not all. For MAXIM readers only! Having caught a hidden depression, you get two more varieties of the disease as a gift!

Jokes aside. Latent depression can be somatized (this is when, in addition to a bad mood, you are tormented by some kind of bodily ailment like stomach disease or dystonia) or masked. In this case, you will have all the symptoms of another disease - for example, appendicitis. However, an autopsy will show you didn't have it.

Under what ailments does depression like to disguise itself?

Pain, heaviness, distension, cold or heat in the abdomen, nausea, loss of appetite. Of course, all the fault and the truth may be an expired mold on the cheese. However, depression often uses these symptoms to set doctors on the wrong track. The condition of the stomach worsens in the morning, and by the second half of the day you already start picking the contents of the plate with a sad look, feeling relieved. Patients are admitted to hospitals with suspected acute appendicitis and cholecystitis, but the intervention of surgeons does not bring relief.

2 Headache

To say where exactly it hurts, a person cannot. More often the pain appears to him in the form of iron hoops squeezing the skull, or something that crawls inside the head. The condition, as in the case of the abdomen, worsens in the morning, and by the evening passes. Such patients are diagnosed with "migraine" or "vegetovascular dystonia", and then they drink useless painkillers for years.

Cunning depression mimics trigeminal neuralgia (it runs from the ear to the eyebrow and lower jaw) and inflammation of the temporomandibular joint. Desperate patients ask dentists to extract perfectly healthy teeth, which sometimes, by the way, brings temporary relief. The mask of depression also causes a surprisingly vivid sensation of roughness and hairiness of the tongue.

Imitation of interruptions in the work of the heart, burning or cold behind the sternum. The results of the cardiogram do not correspond to the patient's complaints, but out of pity, the doctors prescribe heart medications for him. They reduce pain, but do not remove it completely.

You think that you have sciatica, joint diseases and neuralgia. But the doctors, after looking at your x-ray, twist their fingers to the temple. At the same time, your joints hurt not where they should, but a few centimeters higher.

Depression without sleep disorders is like Fedor Konyukhov without legs. Moreover, sometimes insomnia may be the only symptom of masked depression. In this case, you will wake up unrested, have breakfast with an aversion to food, and then come to work already tired and immediately fall for a cigarette or a cup of coffee. Peaks of activity are possible, but usually they occur at 10-12 am, and you are still sleeping at that time, because in the evening, despite being tired, you could not fall asleep and tossed and turned all night. And so every day.

You understand that there are no sharks in the soup, and aliens, for the most part, do not want to kill you. But this does not help to overcome baseless fear. However, exotic phobias of depression are rare. More often it causes fear of death from cessation of breathing, panic attacks. The phobia usually gets worse at night and in the morning.

8 Sexual disorders

Erectile dysfunction? Accelerated or, conversely, delayed ejaculation? Do not rush to bequeath your penis to science. Maybe it's the depression again. By the way, the famous "demon in the ribs" (and in scientific terms, the desire for ever stronger sexual stimuli) is also a sign of depression, and usually the earliest.

9 Drug addiction and alcoholism

Indulgence in bad habits brings short-term relief. Hangovers or withdrawals are accompanied by terribly violent symptoms taken from the previous eight points.

Clinical Test for Depression

You have 44 groups of statements in front of you. In each of them, choose one answer that best describes how you feel. Remember, your task is not to win, but to find out the truth. Answer sincerely. To make it easier for you to do this, we didn’t even obsessively “make fun” of the answers, as we usually do.

How to deal with depression

This part will be of interest primarily to people who have scored serious amounts in the test. If you do not have depression, according to the results, you can read this block with detached gloating. So, an independent way out of a sad state can take months and even years, and even then, provided that you protect yourself from stress - preferably, a monastery wall or a grove of palm trees. It's easier to see a doctor, because depression is curable. In fact, it is a failure in metabolism. Doctors will treat you not only with pills, but also with heart-to-heart conversations (the most unpleasant part). Without the simultaneous elimination of physiological and psychological factors, a person cannot be cured.

Your best friend for the next six months should be a psychotherapist. Experienced mental trauma, mental stress, quarrels with others and internal conflicts, severe worries about one's own health - all this can underlie depression. Treatment with only powerful pills (without psychotherapy), of course, helps, but after the drug is discontinued, the disease may visit you again.

What will they give you

Sometimes especially skilled psychotherapists bring their unfortunate patients out of depression without medication at all. Alas, in some cases, drugs are indispensable: a neglected disease destroys the brain so much that the balance of neurotransmitters does not restore itself.

The basis of any course of treatment. Side effects and doses may vary, but the purpose of the drugs is the same - to eliminate the biochemical basis of depression.

Vitamins and biostimulants

And these useful pills will help you to establish the supply of brain cells with energy and other little things useful in your work. Actually, these are not some secret substances, but the same vitamins that healthy people drink to increase stress resistance and immunity.

By themselves, these potent drugs do not cure depression. But they struggle with its symptoms (and sometimes even succeed in this): longing, fear, bodily manifestations. Antidepressants do not give an immediate effect, therefore, to make it more fun for you to wait for it, the doctor will probably prescribe “trunks” for you.

In fact, these are ordinary sedatives, but they are so strong that they can drive even an elephant into a calm state, which has just lost all relatives, both tusks and a share in the business. Antipsychotics reduce arousal and eliminate fears, bring the patient out of a mental impasse and reduce the bodily manifestations of masked depression.

However, the matter may not reach neuroleptics. Doctors usually start the course with a cocktail of antidepressants and biostimulants. And only if it did not work, two other components are added.

Why it might not help

Pills are almost useless unless the therapist has addressed the personal causes of depression—for example, forced you to quit.

Sheehan Anxiety Scale

If the first test is negative, move on to the second. The Sheehan test will help you find out if you even have anxiety, a condition that precedes depression. If here you do not score enough points, then, alas, you are a mentally healthy person who now only needs to come up with new excuses for his impotence and innate laziness.

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Depression, the symptoms of which can be detected by any person, regardless of profession, age and social status, is a rather serious psychological problem. What is depression and how to distinguish it from the usual bad mood?

Depression and its impact on health

When a person is overtaken by certain problems, for example, at work or in the family, the nervous system goes into a state of increased excitement, and after that, inhibition is a natural reaction. It is in this state that the nervous system is in a period of depression. However, the problem is that this inhibition lasts long enough - they talk about depression when its symptoms prevent a person from living for more than 2 weeks.

The most dangerous outcome of depression is suicide, which a person is often led to think about. general state hopelessness and uselessness. According to statistics, suicide is more often the result of depression in men, while women are less prone to suicidal thoughts. There are other, less global dangers, including health problems (problems with the cardiovascular system, an increased risk of cancer), as well as social problems (in the field of work, relationships with relatives and loved ones).

Signs of depression

Today, very often people say: “I have depression”, meaning only another bout of bad mood and blues. But a bad mood can easily go away on its own, without disturbing the quality of life, while signs of depression haunt a person for a long time. The main symptoms of depression include:

Negative mood. It seems to a person that there are no prospects ahead, there is no way out of the current situation that does not suit him, and he himself is not a worthy person who deserves attention and support. Hands drop, there is no desire to do something, and even hobbies that previously brought joy do not cause any emotional response.
Sleep disorders. In different patients, sleep disturbances manifest themselves in different ways: someone cannot fall asleep until the morning, someone, on the contrary, wants to sleep all the time. In both cases, the normal rhythm of life is disturbed, and the body's forces are depleted faster.
Appetite problems. They are also individual, and some people during a period of depression simply do not have any interest in food, and someone tries to "seize" a bad mood.
Lack of activity. It is very difficult to work during a period of depression - everything falls out of hand, it is difficult to make even the simplest decision, it is impossible to focus on one thing.

Often the stress and depression that follows it also leads to physical disorders, so vague pains may appear. And, although the set of symptoms for each person is different, one thing is clear: this is a real disease that requires treatment in order to prevent its development.

Depression Tests

Signs of depression are quite obvious, and if you are attentive to your own mental health, you can suspect something is wrong without contacting a psychotherapist. However, for an accurate determination, specially designed tests and questionnaires are used, some of which are available for independent use (including online).

A well-known test for depression is the Beck scale, which consists of 21 categories of statements. There are 4 or 5 statements in each category, and the subject chooses the one that best describes it from each group. In order to get the results, you need to add up all the points that are assigned to the selected statements, and analyze the sum. The less points the subject scored, the less pronounced his depression. At the same time, it is possible to separately evaluate what exactly depression managed to affect: if a person scored a lot of points according to statements from 1 to 13, then depression affects the psyche more, and if from 14 a psychological disorder managed to affect the physical sphere.

Of course, this is not the only test for depression, as there are many more options:

an easy-to-use Zunga jackal, designed primarily to identify anxious depression;
a questionnaire for depressive states, which distinguishes neurotic states from endogenous ones;
Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, designed to detect postpartum depression, and other methods.

When to visit a specialist

Not always, having suspected signs of depression, a person seeks professional help - in most cases, because he does not consider “prolonged bad mood” a disease as such. However, if you can still manage mild forms of depression on your own (especially if you know how to act), then severe cases require complex therapy, including the participation of a specialist who uses appropriate tests for depression to accurately determine its type, severity and on the basis of this prescribe treatment.

Constant anxiety, the inability to force yourself to do even the most basic things, great problems with controlling your own emotions and reactions - all this, as well as other characteristic signs of depression such as insomnia and loss of appetite, is already a reason to consult a psychotherapist in order to determine a depression treatment program. At the same time, the approach to treating the disease may differ depending on what understanding of depression the psychotherapist to whom you have addressed adheres to. The cognitive-behavioral concept is aimed at the formation of correct attitudes and beliefs. Interpersonal comes from the relationship of the patient and his connections with other people. Psychodynamic aims to find and eliminate the internal unconscious conflict.

Often, experts recommend including various medications in the treatment of depression. This often causes a negative in most patients who believe that such drugs are addictive and if you stop taking them, the signs of depression will return with renewed vigor. However, this is nothing more than a myth, since modern antidepressants and other drugs, in the first place, help the brain return to normal and provide it with a base so that it can cope in the future without the support of medications.

An illness diagnosed in the early stages is always easier and faster to cure, and depression is no exception in this case. It is recommended to be more attentive to your own mental health and seek support when needed.

Sometimes a person has a bad mood for a long time, he is not interested in life, does not communicate with friends. How to understand that you have depression, and not just a bad mood? It is necessary to carefully analyze the behavior and compare its features with the symptoms of a depressive state. If the situation is serious, you should seek medical help.

Depression is a mental disorder, a pathology of emotions. People suffering from this disease have an inadequately pessimistic view of what is happening around them. The disease is also characterized by impaired thinking and motor retardation. People who become depressed have low self-esteem, a loss of taste for life and interest in their work. A person begins to abuse alcohol, take drugs.

Depression is often perceived as a manifestation of laziness, a spiteful disposition, prolonged pessimism, or even selfishness. In fact, this is a serious psychosomatic disease that requires treatment. The disease manifests itself in different ways, it all depends on the severity of the disease.

Emotional signs of depression:

depressed mood, grief;
causeless suffering, sadness and longing;
dissatisfaction with their appearance, life, work;
apathy;
irritability;
self-flagellation about the illness or death of a loved one;
constant overwhelming fear.

Physiological symptoms of the disease:

sleep problems;
sexual dysfunction;
loss of appetite or, conversely, a feeling of constant hunger;
problems with the gastrointestinal tract;
weakness, fatigue.

Behavioral signs:

refusal of any entertainment;
a tendency to seclusion;
lack of motivation;
social passivity;
alcoholism, drug use.

Signs of depression associated with the thought process:

the predominance of gloomy, negative thoughts;
difficulty concentrating;
loss of attention;
thoughts of suicide;
difficulty making important decisions.

Important! If many symptoms persist for a long period of time, then a person has depression. The disease can be detected independently, if you carefully analyze your condition. It is important to understand that you have depression and get out of it as soon as possible.

Thoughts and feelings

To understand that you have depression, you should dig a little in yourself. People often feel overwhelmed. They are constantly sad, any troubles in life unbalance them, they lack the strength to get out of their stupor, to do something new. Emotionally - complete stagnation. They do not feel joy from any activity, they are not interested in communicating with friends, nothing amuses them, they have only negative thoughts in their minds, they perceive everything that happens in black. A person may be haunted by guilt for the death or illness of a close relative.

In a depressed state, they often break down over trifles, shout at others, constantly conflict and argue with someone. A sharp surge of emotions replaces a feeling of apathy and impotence. The patient does not go in for sports, gets tired of any physical activity. If you need to make some important decision for yourself, he hesitates. A person cannot gather his thoughts for a long time and understand what to do, how best to act.

Depressed people stop talking to their friends. They try to isolate themselves from everyone, do not attend mass events and public institutions, do not go to concerts, theaters, do not like to go to restaurants and cafes. In addition to voluntary isolation, patients often have suicidal thoughts. It seems to them that they are at an impasse and there is no way to change their lives.

Important! If all these thoughts and actions seem familiar, then it is depression. It is urgent to seek help from a specialist.

A sign of depression can be a violation of sleep and appetite, while a person quickly loses weight. Sometimes a prolonged illness leads to a constant feeling of hunger, in which case the patient eats a lot and gains excess weight. A sure sign of illness is a change in appearance.

The patient can abruptly engage in extreme sports. He ceases to fear for his life, he is attracted by danger, and only in it he sees the purpose of his existence. At this time, a person can be reckless on the road, abuse alcohol, make dubious acquaintances, and have promiscuity.

A person wants to cry all the time, even if there is no reason. He sheds tears over a broken cup if he watches a sad movie, and sometimes he just lies on the bed, thinks about something and cries. Tearfulness is often accompanied by a desire to drink alcohol, lie down on the sofa and cover yourself with a blanket. Women are especially vulnerable, they can cry if the husband does not understand.

During depression, people feel pain in the heart (they describe their condition with the expressions “stone on the heart”, “heart pinched”), liver or stomach. These feelings can be symptoms of various chronic diseases and only increase the morbid state of a person. It is necessary not only to identify symptoms similar to the life situation, but also to find out what is the cause of depression. The factors that led to the disease must be taken into account and try to overcome them.

Causes of depression

Many people perceive depression as a synonym for bad mood. In fact, it is a serious illness. It may be reactive or endogenous in origin. The reason for the appearance of the reactive form is some kind of difficult situation in which the person is, or a sad event that traumatizes the psyche. Heavy blows of fate incapacitate a perfectly healthy person.

Causes of a reactive state:

death of a child or loved one;
loss of earnings;
trial;
divorce;
deterioration in health.

With the endogenous origin of the disease, a gloomy mood, slowness of movements, and mental retardation are noted in a person. Emotional distress can be genetically determined. The start to the development of an endogenous state can be a psychological trauma, a disease of the internal organs, taking drugs or neurological diseases.

Many people are interested in how to understand the cause of the disease, because not only sad life situations can lead a person into a state of despondency and complete indifference to everything that happens. Sometimes the cause of the disease becomes such a joyful event as the birth of a child. After giving birth, a mother may experience mood swings, sometimes she wants to kill herself and her baby, hallucinations appear. This condition is associated with hormonal disorders after childbirth. What to do if postpartum depression has begun? In this case, you should immediately seek help from a specialist.

Important! The patient may have suicidal thoughts. In this case, a person needs not only treatment, but also the help of relatives and friends.

Signs of major and chronic depression

Major depression is a severe disorder of the human psyche, when the usual symptoms become chronic. The reasons may be psychological, endogenous or somatic.

Psychological reasons include difficult situations, for example, the death of a loved one, prison, fire. With an endogenous disease, the patient does not fully produce the necessary hormones. The somatic form of the disease is typical for people suffering from a severe, often incurable disease: AIDS, cancer, diabetes, cirrhosis of the liver.

Signs of a deep depression:

sad mood for a long period of time;
lack of interest in life;
weakness and fatigue.

A person suffers from low self-esteem, he becomes indecisive, he is visited by thoughts of suicide. Sleeps poorly, wakes up too early. Some people who are in a chronically depressed state do not cope with their professional tasks, they cannot think logically and speak correctly.

Signs of teenage depression

During puberty, children behave aggressively, conflict with others, often withdraw into themselves and are in a depressed mood. They may experience teenage depression. This condition is associated with hormonal changes.

How do you know if a teenager has depression? You need to pay close attention to his behavior. If a teenager is closed in on himself, does not communicate with friends, is too aggressive, quickly gets annoyed by any trifles, constantly gets tired - this is a reason to seek help from a specialist.

How to treat depression

It is necessary to consult a doctor, undergo an examination and find out your diagnosis. Depressive states are treated by psychotherapists or psychiatrists. Depending on the cause of the disease and the severity of the condition, the doctor prescribes drugs.

It is important to have a talk with a psychotherapist and tell him about your problems. It can be difficult to cope with the disease on your own. Positive changes do not always come instantly; not only time is needed, but also the desire of the patient himself to be cured. You can understand that depression is receding if the following symptoms appear: a person is no longer tormented by sad thoughts, he has no desire to retire, he wants to work, have fun and communicate with friends.

Depression and its impact on health

The most dangerous outcome of depression is suicide, thoughts about which a person is often led to by a general state of hopelessness and uselessness. According to statistics, suicide is more often the result of depression in men, while women are less prone to suicidal thoughts. There are other, less global dangers, including health problems (problems with the cardiovascular system, an increased risk of cancer), as well as social problems (in the field of work, relationships with relatives and loved ones).

Negative mood. It seems to a person that there are no prospects ahead, there is no way out of the current situation that does not suit him, and he himself is not a worthy person who deserves attention and support. Hands drop, there is no desire to do something, and even hobbies that previously brought joy do not cause any emotional response.
Sleep disorders. In different patients, sleep disturbances manifest themselves in different ways: someone cannot fall asleep until the morning, someone, on the contrary, wants to sleep all the time. In both cases, the normal rhythm of life is disturbed, and the body's forces are depleted faster.
Appetite problems. They are also individual, and some people during a period of depression simply do not have any interest in food, and someone tries to "seize" a bad mood.
Lack of activity. It is very difficult to work during a period of depression - everything falls out of hand, it is difficult to make even the simplest decision, it is impossible to focus on one thing.

Depression Tests

A well-known test for depression is the Beck scale, which consists of 21 categories of statements. There are 4 or 5 statements in each category, and the subject chooses the one that best describes it from each group. In order to get the results, you need to add up all the points that are assigned to the selected statements, and analyze the sum. The less points the subject scored, the less pronounced his depression. At the same time, it is possible to separately assess what exactly depression managed to affect: if a person scored a lot of points on statements from 1 to 13, then depression affects the psyche more, and if from 14 to 21, a psychological disorder managed to affect the physical sphere.

Of course, this is not the only test for depression, as there are many more options:

an easy-to-use Zunga jackal, designed primarily to identify anxious depression;
a questionnaire for depressive states, which distinguishes neurotic states from endogenous ones;
Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, designed to detect postpartum depression, and other methods.

Sadness and slight sadness is not a reason to seek help from a specialist. Negative emotions are experienced by all people from time to time. But, if depression for a long time prevents you from living normally, working, enjoying simple things, then a real illness can be the cause. In this article, you will learn how to self-diagnose depression. Also on this page you will find a useful test that will help make a preliminary diagnosis.

Attention! To accurately identify the disease, it is not enough to pass tests on your own. Be sure to contact a professional psychologist.

Women are more emotional and prone to sudden mood swings, so you should not immediately mistake any weekly blues for a mental disorder. When apathy and a feeling of sadness are pronounced, not leaving you for more than two weeks, this may already be a sign of depression.

Main symptoms:

Depressed mood, melancholy.
Feeling of despair, loss of taste and meaning of life.
Significant exacerbation of fears, feelings of shame.
Anxiety, apprehension, tension.
Irritability, a sharp change of emotions, for example, from despondency to aggression.
Self-flagellation, continuous guilt.
Uncertainty, low self-esteem, dissatisfaction with oneself. Constant search for flaws in yourself. Fear of making mistakes.
Hobbies, favorite food, series or music - everything that previously brought pleasure ceases to please.
Dullness of feelings, periodic apathy.

Physiological manifestations

An important sign of depression is the presence of the following health problems:

Sleep disturbance. Excessive sleepiness or insomnia.
Failure in work digestive system. Most often it is constipation.
Excessively increased appetite or its complete absence.
Problems with libido: complete lack of interest in sex.
Increased fatigue. Habitual loads cause impotence.
There are discomfort or even pain in the muscles of the skeleton, stomach, heart.

behavioral signs

Usually a woman tries to eliminate physical discomfort, but the disease continues to develop. Even if the physiological symptoms disappear, depression can be identified by the following behaviors:

Apathy, lack of initiative, unwillingness to set goals and actively achieve them.
A woman loses interest in communicating with friends, prefers solitude, avoids contact with society.
Conscious rejection of entertainment.
Tendency to use intoxicating substances: alcohol, drugs, various stimulants.
Sloppiness appears, the woman ceases to strive to look attractive, even neglects the observance of the general rules of hygiene.

Several symptoms relate to the peculiarities of thinking. The following cognitive signs indicate that the patient is suffering from depression:

often have suicidal thoughts;
awareness of one's own uselessness, insignificance, impotence;
thinking slows down, there is a lack of attention;
negative perception of oneself and others prevails.

Types of depression

If you are wondering what forms this disease can take, check out this table:

Type of	Peculiarities	Treatment
Light form	Symptoms are mild and rarely appear. May be chronic. If a woman suffers from the disease for several years, then this may serve as the basis for the diagnosis of "dysthymia"	Therapeutic and preventive measures are desirable. Medications are usually not used
moderate depression	Low labor productivity, performing many actions automatically. The woman seems to be half asleep, deeply immersed in her bleak thoughts.	Regular sessions of psychotherapy are shown. You need to take a course of antidepressants. Gradually, the use of medications is replaced by the enrichment of the diet with foods that stimulate the production of serotonin.
Severe form	The typical symptoms of depression are extremely pronounced. Possible suicide attempts, delusions, hallucinations	You need to undergo a long course of treatment in a hospital

The main causes of depression in women

The development of the disease is usually preceded by tragic events. This may be the death of loved ones or problems in personal life, followed by a whole range of unsuccessful circumstances.

Attention! There are people whose personality has already developed with a predisposition to depression due to psychological trauma received in childhood. In such individuals, one small amount of stress can trigger the disease mechanism.

Most often, the appearance of depression in a woman is caused by the presence of one of the following factors:

Don't forget about old age: in old age, women have to experience the death of close friends, acquaintances, often - husbands. Loneliness is followed by a feeling of helplessness, uselessness, abandonment.

Video - What is depression and how it manifests itself

Test for determining depression in women

Try to take a questionnaire created by the famous American psychotherapist Aaron Beck. The test consists of 21 items, below them are several statements. You must choose for each item one statement with which you agree.

For each selected first statement, you get 0 points. The second - 1 point, the third and fourth - 2 and 3 points, respectively.

Attention! The test results should not be interpreted as an axiom. They can only serve as a hint in deciding whether to visit a specialist.

№	Answer #1	Answer #2	Answer #3	Answer #4
Question 1. How do you feel	I feel myself good	I am disappointed	I feel sad all the time, I can't calm down	I'm unbearably unhappy
Question 2. What do you think about the future	Everything will be alright in the future	The future makes you wonder	I have no future everything will be the same	My fate is hopeless, it can only get worse
Question 3. Do you feel like a failure	I don't feel like a failure	I've always had less luck than others	I've had a lot of failures	I'm a complete loser
Question 4. Your attitude to life	Life is just as good as before	Less pleasure in life	I feel dissatisfied	I am dissatisfied with nothing
Question 5. Do you often get irritated	Now I don't get annoyed more than before.	I became more irritable recent times	I constantly feel irritated	I don't care now
Question 6. Your attitude towards other people	I'm interested in other people	People used to be more interesting to me	Everyone is almost indifferent to me	Not interested in others at all
Question 7. How do you make decisions?	Sometimes I don't make decisions right away.	I used to make decisions faster	It became more difficult for me to decide on something	I can't decide anymore
Question 8. How do you feel about your appearance	I look good as always	It worries me that I'm older and not as attractive anymore	I know for sure that it has become uglier	I look really awful
Question 9. Your performance level	Working as productively as always	To do something, I need to force myself	It's hard for me to force myself to work	I can't do anything
Question 10. How do you sleep	I have a perfectly normal dream.	I used to sleep better	I sleep less and it's harder to fall asleep	I wake up much earlier than usual, and then - insomnia. Or, on the contrary, I sleep 15 hours a day or more
Question 11. How quickly do you get tired	Tired no more than usual	Now I get tired faster	Everything I do makes me very tired	I can't do anything because I feel tired all the time
Question 12. Has your appetite changed?	My appetite hasn't changed	Eating worse than before	To eat something, you have to make an effort on yourself	I can't force myself to eat.
Question 13. Do you often feel guilty	Haven't felt guilty in a long time	Often I feel guilty	Remorse makes me uncomfortable	Guilt never leaves me
Question 14. Do you feel punished	I can't be punished	Someone can give me what I deserve	Soon I will be punished	I'm already punished
Question 15. Are you satisfied with yourself	I am satisfied with myself	I feel disappointed	I feel disgusted with myself	I hate and despise myself
Question 16. Do you feel inferior to others	I'm definitely not worse than everyone	More often than others I make mistakes and show weakness	I do everything wrong	I'm to blame for everything negative
Question 17. Did you want to commit suicide	It never crossed my mind to commit suicide	Sometimes I think about suicide, but I won't hurt myself	I would like to lose my life	Destroy myself when the opportunity presents itself
Question 18. Do you often cry	I'm no more whiny than ever	I became weepier	I'm completely broken, I cry every day	I can't even bring myself to cry to feel better.
Question 19. Are you losing weight	Lately I haven't lost any weight	Lost 2 kg	Lost 5 kg	I began to weigh less by 7 kg
Question 20. Do you have health problems	I have no more health problems than ever	I suffer from pain, diarrhea, constipation	I am very worried about my health and it is difficult for me to switch my thoughts to something else	Can't think of anything else but my physical condition
Question 21. What is your attitude towards sex?	I don't feel like I'm less interested in sex than I used to be	I used to be more interested in intimacy	I'm not interested in sex right now.	I absolutely do not feel the need for intimacy

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One in eight of us have experienced clinical depression at least once in our lives, and absolutely all experience symptoms of mild depression from time to time. How do you know when to sound the alarm? And is it possible to get out of depression, if it did happen? And what are the symptoms of depression? Psychotherapists Derek Draper and Cecilia D "Felice (Cecılıa d'Felice) about one of the most common ailments of our century.

Depression slows down thoughts and movements, takes away dreams, turning everything black. Life seems hopeless. You feel immense loneliness, as if you were on a desert island - no one can hear you, much less help. You are cut off from friends, you do not feel interested in work, you are not happy with hobbies and hobbies, although they may still be present in your life. If you are familiar with this condition, you may have come under the influence of one of the most terrible epidemics of the 21st century. Here are a few symptoms that will help you recognize depression and distinguish it from depressive experiences - a short-term condition that you can manage on your own, without the help of a specialist.

Apathy and impotence

Lack of energy is one of the symptoms of depression. It is hard for people who have not gone through it to believe that sometimes apathy reaches such proportions that it takes a huge effort for a person to even just get dressed, brush his teeth and put himself in order. Depression brings with it a decrease in energy levels, severe fatigue.

negative thoughts

Research by cognitive-behavioral psychologists shows that depression is based on persistent negative beliefs about oneself or relationships with others. They may include feelings of guilt and feelings of worthlessness. Many talk about unrealistic negative beliefs about themselves, feel guilty or anxious about what happened in the past, and endlessly reflect on their own mistakes and failures.

Sleep and appetite disturbance

Depression pervades all areas, undermining the foundations of life, so any changes in diet, sleep, and rest can help make a diagnosis. Insomnia or early awakenings is a disturbing, although not the only symptom. Lack of appetite and refusal to eat is often a symbolic expression of giving up on life, just as excessive sleepiness can sometimes be a way to detach from an unsatisfactory reality.

Loss of attention

Being depressed reduces our ability to concentrate. For some people, reading books becomes an impossible task - they instantly lose the thread of what is happening, often being distracted by their negative thoughts. Many also complain that they find it difficult to make even the simplest decisions.

Thoughts of suicide

We all from time to time think about what kind of life outcome awaits us, and thoughts of suicide visit everyone at least once. But if they are accompanied by apathy, unwillingness to get out of bed and go outside and / or you are considering a specific plan of action for leaving life, this is a serious reason to seek help.

If you have two or more of the symptoms listed above, you may need professional help. Depression is quite successfully treatable if it is taken up in time.

Also, remember that no matter how lonely and lost you feel, you are not alone. You have friends, family, acquaintances who are able to support you in difficult times and something else more valuable - a healthy, strong and cheerful part of your personality, not affected by depression. Even if right now it is very difficult to realize, your task is to remember it and allow it to manifest. The more often it will make itself felt, the sooner it will help you get out of depression.

“Most of my life I lived with manic-depressive disorder - suffered from it, but did not know that it was an illness. One day, 11 years ago, there was a crisis. I just started acting in a new theatrical production and immediately got bad reviews from the critics. After three performances, I left the play. Early the next morning, I went to my garage, plugged the door with a duvet, and got into the car. I sat there for two hours. When you physically feel that you can no longer, these are not just words, but reality. I would kill myself if I didn't have the opportunity to disappear for a while. I didn't see any other way.

When I'm depressed, my self-esteem drops to zero. I hear my inner voice, which inspires me that I am worthless and mediocre. Such periods of self-abasement and numbness happen to me 3-4 times a year and last from a week to 10 days. And yet I often rely on my manic part to give me a taste for life and adventure, and I think the best part of me is a consequence of and part and parcel of my mood swings.”

Portal for the student. Self-training

Comments

Another great step

How to spot signs of depression and get help

Signs of depression:

People can be under the guise of a cheerful mood

Can quietly hide their depression without drawing attention

Can hide past trauma under confidence and happiness

These people change their eating habits.

Stop doing what you used to love

They may show irritation and anger

May suffer from insomnia

How to help with depression

Don't forget to tell your friends about this article

More useful related articles:

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Depression and its impact on health

Signs of depression

Depression Tests

When to visit a specialist

Thoughts and feelings

Causes of depression

Signs of major and chronic depression

Signs of teenage depression

How to treat depression

Depression and its impact on health

Depression Tests

Physiological manifestations

behavioral signs

Types of depression

The main causes of depression in women

Video - What is depression and how it manifests itself

Test for determining depression in women

Apathy and impotence

negative thoughts

Sleep and appetite disturbance

Loss of attention

Thoughts of suicide

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