Regions That Affect Mood
Increasingly sophisticated forms of brain imaging such as positron emission tomography , single-photon emission computed tomography , and functional magnetic resonance imaging permit a much closer look at the working brain than was possible in the past. An fMRI scan, for example, can track changes that take place when a region of the brain responds during various tasks. A PET or SPECT scan can map the brain by measuring the distribution and density of neurotransmitter receptors in certain areas.
Use of this technology has led to a better understanding of which brain regions regulate mood and how other functions, such as memory, may be affected by depression. Areas that play a significant role in depression are the amygdala, the thalamus, and the hippocampus .
Research shows that the hippocampus is smaller in some depressed people. For example, in one fMRI study published in The Journal of Neuroscience, investigators studied 24 women who had a history of depression. On average, the hippocampus was 9% to 13% smaller in depressed women compared with those who were not depressed. The more bouts of depression a woman had, the smaller the hippocampus. Stress, which plays a role in depression, may be a key factor here, since experts believe stress can suppress the production of new neurons in the hippocampus.
How Is Depression Syndrome Diagnosed
Everyone may feel sad or down from time to time. However, clinical depression has more intense symptoms that last two weeks or longer.
To determine whether you have clinical depression, your healthcare provider will ask questions. You may complete a questionnaire and provide a family history. Your healthcare provider may also perform an exam or order lab tests to see if you have another medical condition.
Small Steps Big Impact
Depression can drain your energy, leaving you feeling empty and fatigued. This can make it difficult to muster the strength or desire to seek treatment.
However, there are small steps you can take to help you feel more in control and improve your overall sense of well-being.
Read on to learn how to incorporate these strategies in a way that makes sense for you.
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Omicron Symptoms Patients Complain About Most
For many of us, the Omicron variant of COVID-19 made 2021 end on a bum note, disrupting holiday plans, snarling travel and making hundreds of thousands of Americans who contracted the virus feel just plain miserable. Thankfully, experts say that Omicron is, by and large, causing relatively mild symptoms if you’re vaccinated. But it’s crucial to know what the common symptoms are so you can take steps to limit the spread of the disease. Read on to find out more about the Omicron symptoms patients complain about mostand to ensure your health and the health of others, don’t miss these Sure Signs You’ve Already Had COVID.
What Can Cause Ssdi Benefits To Cancel
While receiving SSDI benefits, your treatment continues simultaneously.
Once recovery is met, people opt for more stable jobs.
Reasons for the cancellation are:
- Medical Improvement
- Going about the Income or Asset Limits
- Turning 18 if one was on the benefits of the parents
- Changes in life situations
You can also secure your SSID benefits along with your work, but to do that, you are required to follow certain rules:
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What Causes Depression
Sometimes there’s a trigger for depression. Life-changing events, such as bereavement, losing your job or giving birth, can bring it on.
People with a family history of depression are more likely to experience it themselves. But you can also become depressed for no obvious reason.
How To Find Them
The Mental Health Foundation has useful information on how to access a health professional as well as how to get help if you feel you or someone else is in crisis or unsafe.
The Family Services Directory helps you create your own list of providers based on where you live, what youre going through and what sort of help you need. It gives you numbers to call for free or places to visit online.
Some health services are free of charge or subsidised. The cost of visiting health professionals varies, and its good to find out what they charge when making an appointment. Many medical practices now have access to free or subsidised talking therapies. Workplaces often have access to employment assistance programmes. Ask a workmate or employer if youre not sure if your workplace has one. ACC may pay for therapy for a sensitive claim for sexual assault.
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Is Depression A Disability
The Social Security Administration considers depression a disability when it is severe enough to make you unable to work and earn a living.
To qualify for disability benefits, you must have supporting medical evidence that shows you meet the criteria of the Blue Book listing, you are unable to work for at least 12 months, and you have earned enough credits to qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance . In general, you must have worked the equivalent of 5 years full-time out of the last 10 years.
You will need a detailed work history, your drivers license or other photo identification, your Social Security card, and other documentation, such as a birth certificate, to confirm your identity and to prove that you do qualify for benefits from the SSA.
You will need documentation to support your claim, such as a residual functional capacity form completed by your physician. The RFC will fully detail what you can and cannot do, so the disability examiner will be able to determine if you can work, and if you are capable of work, what kind of work you can do.
You should continue receiving medical care and provide a list of healthcare providers to support your claim. Records from doctors, therapists, psychiatrists, and so forth can all be helpful in supporting your disability claim for depression.
Depressed Spouse: How To Help Your Partner Webmd
Depressed Spouse: How to Help Your Partner.
If you have physical symptoms like these and also locate yourself really feeling depressed a lot of the moment for days or weeks, see your physician. Its a regular reaction to loss, lifes struggles, or wounded self-confidence. Yet when these feelings come to be overwhelming, cause physical signs and symptoms, and last for extended periods of time, they can keep can you overcome clinical depression you from leading a normal, active life. They can analyze your symptoms and assist develop a clinical treatment plan customized to your demands. This might include typical choices, such as drug and therapy, or alternative actions, such as acupuncture.
Read Also: What Do Anxiety And Depression Have In Common
Try These Five Tips For Decreasing Depression
There isnt a quick fix as in Boom, youre cured and will never again be beset by the blues. But, there are techniques that can help lift the emotional paralysis and ruminating that often accompany depression. Both of which make it much more difficult to focus on the behavioral changes that are necessary to prevent a relapse. Luckily, there are ways to punch holes in the curtain of unrelenting darkness.
When Is Depression A Disability You Can Be A Victim Too
Depression will get your mood low or blue for hours or days, or even longer. Being depressed daily will have you not enjoying the activities you would normally have fun doing. The fact that depression cripples your average productivity is a disability.
There is that feeling of hopelessness and reduces self-worth. You may sleep for longer hours and lack the strength to get out of bed and face the world. In other instances, you experience insomnia and constant headaches.
One symptom of depression will elicit after another, from low energy to lack of enthusiasm. All these symptoms may be chronic or can be experienced in cyclic episodes of highs and lows. Depression will lower your performance generally. Causes can be attributed to environmental and genetic factors. Having a history of alcohol and or drug use can be the cause of depression.
The depression may start from certain painful and heartbreaking situations that will lead to episodes of sadness. The attacks may be short at first, but as your condition worsens, you will deteriorate mentally and physically. Clinical depression will cripple your normal daily productivity due to the inability to cope with stress. Depression can render you functionless with the inability to work, perform a routine task, or even make rational decisions.
Some of the symptoms you can present include:
- Low concentration
- Inability to complete tasks
- Suicidal thoughts
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Listen To Upbeat Music
There’s no doubt that music can have an impact on how you feel, so choosing the right music when you’re feeling down might be an effective way of lifting your mood.
Research has found people who are depressed may have a tendency to choose music that intensifies rumination, sadness, and emotion-focused coping. So while you might be tempted to turn to somber tearjerkers when you’re feeling down, consider listening to more upbeat songs to boost your mood and inspire positive feelings.
What You Eat And Drink Can Also Affect How You Feel
Theres no magic diet that will treat depression. But what you put into your body can have a real and significant impact on the way you feel.
Eating a diet rich in lean meats, vegetables, and grains may be a great place to start. Try to limit stimulants like caffeine, coffee, and soda, and depressants like alcohol.
Some people also and have more energy when they avoid sugar, preservatives, and processed foods.
If you have the means, consider meeting with a doctor or registered dietitian for guidance.
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What Is Treatment Resistant Depression And Is There Any Help For It
If youve tried at least two different antidepressants and your depression hasnt improved, you may be diagnosed with treatment resistant depression . TRD is a serious condition that has been highly associated with suicidal ideation and suicide attempts. Nearly 33 percent of people with TRD attempt suicide in their lifetime, more than double the rate of their treatment-responsive peers, according to a recent report in Psychiatry Advisor. It is not, however, a hopeless condition. A number of alternative treatment approaches are available, including:
Recommended Reading: Can Someone With Depression Be Happy Sometimes
What Risks And Complications Can Depression Cause
Having depression can cause other problems. It can affect your mental health as well as your physical health, and it may affect other areas of your life too. For example, depression may cause:
- disturbed sleep,
- difficulties with work and your hobbies,
- difficulties keeping contact with friends and families, or
- suicidal thoughts or thoughts of self-harming.
Some people might also drink more alcohol to try and relieve depression. However, as we said in the previous section above, this can actually make depression worse.
If you have any of these problems, speak to your GP.
Depression: Recognizing Unusual Symptoms
One reason depression can be hard to identify is that its signs can vary widely from person to person and sometimes be masked by atypical symptoms. For example, some people who are depressed may show it by acting disgruntled, resentful, or irritable. In fact, aggression including outright acts of violence can be indicative of hidden depression, according to a February 28, 2017, report in Psychiatric Times. Depression masquerading as anger may seem surprising at first, but not when you consider that several underlying factors, including alcohol or substance abuse and childhood trauma, have been linked to both.
Similarly, although its not clear why, a person who experiences anxiety is at high risk for developing depression, and vice versa. The National Alliance on Mental Illness reports that as many as 60 percent of people with anxiety will also have symptoms of depression the same goes for people with depression having . Experts say there is often a genetic predisposition for these co-occurring disorders.
Depression may also manifest psychosomatically, meaning that instead of presenting first and foremost as a mood disorder, the dominant symptom may be things like vague aches, dizziness, headaches, , or , according to the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. Complicating matters is that its often hard to know whether depression is causing the physical symptoms, or if the physical symptoms are causing depression.
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Should You Worry About Antidepressant Withdrawal
No, but its easy to see why some people might think so, because of a medical condition called antidepressant discontinuation syndrome , which can occur if you abruptly stop taking medication rather than tapering off as is generally advised. ADS is marked by a wide range of responses, including but not limited to flu-like symptoms, insomnia, worsening mood, and stomach distress, according to a March 11, 2019, report in Psychiatric Times.
Current estimates are that about 20 percent of patients whove taken an antidepressant for at least a month will experience ADS symptoms if they abruptly stop their medication instead of lowering their dose gradually. Tapering under the care of a doctor can prevent ADS by allowing the brain to adjust to changes in neurotransmitter levels.
More to the point, while you should slowly stop your antidepressant with the help of your doctor, antidepressants do not cause dependence and withdrawal like other substances. Unlike substances that are known to cause addiction, such as alcohol, , and , people don’t crave antidepressants. You dont get high from them, and they arent intentionally or compulsively overused. Serious reactions like the seizures and agitation that can follow sudden withdrawal from addictive substances are unheard of when these antidepressants are tapered gradually, note the authors of the Psychiatric Times report.
What Are The Three Types Of Depression Which Are Eligible For Ssdi
Psychiatrists will classify the severity of the depression as mild, moderate, or severe forms. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder is among the bodies determining the qualification for the benefits. Either way, the states of depression that are eligible for the SSDI are only three and are dependent on your productivity at work, the capability to attend school, and how you interact with others. The disorders are
1. Major Depressive Disorder This form of depression occurs when you are experiencing persistent sadness for prolonged periods occasionally. Normal episodes of sadness are normally a part of being human, but the mood changes are severe when you suffer from a major depressive disorder.
This conditions trigger may occur following life events like the death of a loved one, divorce, or diagnosis of a chronic illness. Clinical depression will have led to a significant deterioration of your moods and behavior, affecting your social life, work, or school. Studies done in 2017 show that about 7% of adults in the U.S have experienced an MDD episode. Some individuals never seek out professional help, but most do. They learn how to overcome, function, and heal from the disorder.
Talk to an expert physician at Mango Clinic for mental health issues or click the banner below to book your appointment.
Treatment can be by the use of antidepressants and psychotherapy. To improve symptoms:
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Ok Im Feeling Depressed So Now What
Now that you know the symptoms of depression, some positive coping skills can be useful. All of the following techniques are supported by scientific research and medication prescribers like psychiatrists and these skills are frequently recommended as important parts of treatment even for patients who continue to take antidepressant medications.
WARNING: Do not suddenly go off your prescribed antidepressant medications without first talking to your medical provider. Discuss any questions or concerns about the side effects of your medications with your provider.
Gift Set Of Essential Oils For Depression Sufferers
Essential oils are super popular right now , and this one includes single oils as well as blends like Uplift and Stress Relief.
I have a bunch of essential oils and rollerballs that I use on a regular basis for relaxing and unwinding, etc, and it can be a nice natural addition to your life.
Lavender is a great essential oil for relaxing, so I have a big bottle of lavender and I like to take a few dropper-fulls and sprinkle it on fabric items like curtains and pillows to sneak in the scent of lavender everywhere.
Read Also: University Of Utah Depression Study
What Do The Results Mean
If you are diagnosed with depression, it’s important to get treatment as soon as possible. The sooner you get treatment, the better chance you have of recovery. Treatment for depression may take a long time, but most people who get treated eventually feel better.
If your primary care provider diagnosed you, he or she may refer you to a mental health provider. If a mental health provider diagnosed you, he or she will recommend a treatment plan based on the type of depression you have and how serious it is.