Does Depression Often Occur With Grief
Grief is a common, normal response to loss. Losses that may lead to grief include the death or separation of a loved one, loss of a job, death or loss of a beloved pet, or any number of other changes in life, such as divorce, becoming an “empty nester,” or retirement.
Anyone can experience grief and loss, but not everyone will experience clinical depression, which differs from grief in that depression involves a range of other symptoms such as feelings of low self-worth, negative thoughts about the future, and suicide, whereas grief involves feelings of emptiness, loss and longing for a loved one, with an intact capacity to feel pleasure. Each person is unique in how they cope with these feelings.
How Is Biology Related To Depression
Researchers have noted differences in the brains of people who have clinical depression compared with those who do not. For instance, the hippocampus, a small part of the brain that is vital to the storage of memories, appears to be smaller in some people with a history of depression than in those who’ve never been depressed. A smaller hippocampus has fewer serotonin receptors. Serotonin is one of many brain chemicals known as neurotransmitters that allow communication across circuits that connect the brain regions involved in processing emotions.
Scientists do not know why the hippocampus may be smaller in some people with depression. Some researchers have found that the stress hormone cortisol is produced in excess in depressed people. These investigators believe that cortisol has a toxic or “shrinking” effect on the development of the hippocampus. Some experts think depressed people may be simply born with a smaller hippocampus and are thus inclined to have depression. There are many other brain regions, and pathways between specific regions, thought to be involved with depression, and likely, no single brain structure or pathway fully accounts for clinical depression.
How To Tell The Difference Between Sadness And Depression
It can be difficult to tell the difference between sadness and depression. After all, both of these emotions can make you feel down and unhappy.
But there are some key differences. With sadness, you might feel a sense of loss or emptiness. You might cry easily, or have a hard time enjoying things that used to give you pleasure. But after some time, the emotion subsides.
With depression, on the other hand, symptoms can be much more severe. You might feel like you’re in a dark hole with no way out. You might have trouble sleeping, eating, or concentrating. You might even feel like hurting yourself or harming others. This feeling is also persistent – it just wont go away.
Sadness may go away with lifestyle changes and self-care. Depression is also treatable but simple lifestyle changes may not be enough to help you recover. Youll likely need to take part in therapy. You might also take medication to help treat your symptoms.
If you’re not sure whether you’re experiencing sadness or depression, it’s important to talk to a psychiatrist or therapist. They can help you figure out what’s going on and how to get the help you need.
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Electroconvulsive Therapy Electric Shock Treatment
If you have severe depression and other treatments, like medication, haven’t worked, ECT might be recommended for you.
When receiving ECT, you will be given an anaesthetic and medication that relaxes your muscles to begin with. Electrodes will be placed on your head that give an electrical “shock” to your brain.
ECT is given over a series of sessions, normally twice a week for three to six weeks.
ECT can cause side effects including nausea, headaches, aches in the muscles and memory problems.
Most people find that ECT is good for relieving severe depression, but the beneficial effects tend to wear off when several months have passed.
Depression Getting The Right Diagnosis
Listons research is concerned with figuring out what exactly is going on inside the brain during depression. Traditionally, psychiatrists have diagnosed mental disorders in patients by adding up a number of symptomsbased on a version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders first developed in the 1970s. While this diagnostic system has been the foundation to psychiatry for years and has been of great benefit to patients and their doctors, Liston says that it, too, has become a hindrance to scientific progress in the field.
For example, patients with varying symptoms receive the same catchall diagnosis. With depression, many symptoms contain opposites. It stands to reason that someone who comes to me in my office describing four hours of sleep, anxiety, and weight loss does not have the same biological problem as someone who is describing the opposite symptoms of 20 hours sleep and weight gain, says Liston. These two people are opposites in so many ways and yet they get the same diagnostic label and treatments. It’s fortuitous and surprising that our existing treatments work as well as they do.
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Difficulty Concentrating Remembering And Making Decisions
Depression can interfere with a persons cognitive abilities. They may have trouble focusing or concentrating on personal or professional matters. Additionally, they may find it difficult to make decisions, even those involving seemingly minor, everyday choices.
People with depression may also find that they cannot remember things as well as they did previously. They might forget appointments or commitments and not recall things that they said or did recently.
Causes Of The Great Depression
There are many theories about what caused the Great Depression. Some common theories include the speculation and buying on margin that led to the stock market crash of 1929, the Smoot-Hawley tariff and the resulting freeze in international trade, the Fed raising interest rates, and the gold standard, which led nervous investors to trade their dollars in for gold.
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Is Depression Linked To Chronic Pain
When pain lingers for weeks to months, it’s called “chronic.” Not only does chronic pain hurt, it disturbs your sleep, your ability to exercise and be active, your relationships, and your productivity at work. Can you see how chronic pain may also leave you feeling sad, isolated, and depressed?
There is help for chronic pain and depression. A multifaceted program of medicine, psychotherapy, support groups, and more can help you manage your pain, ease your depression, and get your life back on track.
Symptoms And Causes Of Depression
Symptoms of depression can be very different from person to person. However, as a general rule, if you are depressed you feel hopeless, sad and lacking interest in things that used to make you feel happy.
Depression symptoms are bad enough to interfere with work, social life and family life, and can persist for weeks or months.
Doctors describe depression in one of three ways, depending on how serious it is:
- mild depression it has some impact on daily life
- moderate depression it has a significant impact on your daily life
- severe depression this makes it nearly impossible to get through your life day to day
A few people with severe depression may have symptoms of psychotic depression.
Below is a list of depression symptoms it’s unlikely that one person would have all of them.
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Does The Duration Of Untreated Depression Affect The Outcome
So you might be wondering: does the duration of untreated depression affect the outcome? The answer is yes, it does.
If depression is left untreated, it can get worse over time. This is partly because the brain changes as depression continues. Leaving depression untreated for a long period may lead to neurodegenerative levels of inflammation in the brain. The hippocampus, which is responsible for memory and emotion, can shrink during long-term depression. That’s according to a first-of-its-kind study showing evidence of lasting biological changes in the brain for those suffering from depression for more than a decade. The evidence confirms that depression truly is a biologically based disorder of the brain, and left unchecked, it may run a degenerative course that damages brain tissue in ways similar to other neurodegenerative diseases.
This is why it’s so important to get help as soon as possible if you think you might be suffering from depression. The earlier you start treatment, the better the outcome is likely to be.
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What Causes Cns Depression
Certain drugs affect the neurotransmitters in your brain, causing brain activity to slow. That, in turn, makes your breathing slower and shallower. It also makes your heart beat slower.
Common causes of CNS depression include the use of medications, drugs, or alcohol. Initially, they may cause a mild stimulant effect or even a feeling of euphoria. But make no mistake about it, these substances are CNS depressants. Some specific depressant drugs include:
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Feeling Tired And Having A Lack Of Energy
Some people with depression may find it hard to get up in the morning because they feel exhausted and run down. They may feel too fatigued to do everyday tasks, such as going to work and cooking meals. As a result, they may spend a lot of time at home resting or sleeping.
The fatigue of depression can make a person feel as though they are always tired, even if they are getting enough sleep. However, sleep disturbances are also a symptom of depression, and a person who experiences these can feel even more tired.
How To Tell If You Have Depression
Depression affects people in different ways and can cause a wide variety of symptoms.
They range from lasting feelings of unhappiness and hopelessness, to losing interest in the things you used to enjoy and feeling very tearful. Many people with depression also have symptoms of anxiety.
There can be physical symptoms too, such as feeling constantly tired, sleeping badly, having no appetite or sex drive, and various aches and pains.
The symptoms of depression range from mild to severe. At its mildest, you may simply feel persistently low in spirit, while severe depression can make you feel suicidal, that life is no longer worth living.
Most people experience feelings of stress, anxiety or low mood during difficult times. A low mood may improve after a short period of time, rather than being a sign of depression.
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Common Causes And Risk Factors
Several factors can cause depression. Though depression may not have one single cause, experts recognize the following as possible risk factors:
- Genetics: Depression and other mood disorders can run in families, though family history alone does not mean a person will get depression.
- Life events: Major life changes and stressful events may trigger depression. These events include divorce, the death of a loved one, job loss, or financial problems.
- Hormonal changes: Research
This section looks at the different types of depression.
Are The Signs Of Untreated Depression In Men Different From Those In Women
Men who have untreated clinical depression may exhibit more anger, frustration, and violent behavior than women. In addition, men with untreated depression may take dangerous risks such as reckless driving and having unsafe sex. Men are not aware that physical symptoms, such as headaches, digestive disorders and chronic pain, can be symptoms of depression.
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What Is An Economic Depression
An economic depression is an occurrence wherein an economy is in a state of financial turmoil, often the result of a period of negative activity based on the countrys Gross Domestic Product rate. It is a lot worse than a recession, with GDP falling significantly, and usually lasts for many years. In the US, the Great Depression lasted for a decade, with the unemployment rate reaching 25% and wages falling by 42%.
Can Certain Drugs Cause Depression
In certain people, drugs may lead to depression. For example, medications such as barbiturates, benzodiazepines, and the acne drug isotretinoin have sometimes been linked with depression, especially in older people. Likewise, medications such as corticosteroids, opioids , and anticholinergics taken to relieve stomach cramping can sometimes cause changes and fluctuations in mood. Even blood pressure medications called beta-blockers have been linked to depression.
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Breathe Deeply And Relax The Muscles
Deep breathing techniques are an effective way to calm anxiety and soothe the bodys stress response. Slowly inhaling and exhaling has physical and psychological benefits, especially when done on a daily basis.
Anyone can practice deep breathing, whether in the car, at work, or in the grocery store. Plenty of smartphone apps offer guided deep breathing activities, and many are free to download.
Progressive muscle relaxation is another helpful tool for those experiencing depression and anxiety. It involves tensing and relaxing the muscles in the body to reduce stress. Again, many smartphone apps offer guided progressive muscle relaxation exercises.
We have reviewed some meditation apps that can help with depression and anxiety.
Take Care Of Yourself
You can also improve symptoms of depression by taking care of yourself. This includes getting plenty of sleep, eating a healthy diet, avoiding negative people, and participating in enjoyable activities.
Sometimes depression doesnt respond to medication. Your healthcare professional may recommend other treatment options if your symptoms dont improve.
These options include electroconvulsive therapy or repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation to treat depression and improve your mood.
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Recognize The Importance Of Self
Self-care is essential for good physical and mental health. Self-care activities are any actions that help people look after their wellbeing.
Self-care means taking time to relax, recharge, and connect with the self and others. It also means saying no to others when overwhelmed and taking space to calm and soothe oneself.
Basic self-care activities include eating a healthful diet, engaging in creative activities, and taking a soothing bath. But any action that enhances mental, emotional, and physical health can be considered a self-care activity.
Shrinkage Of Several Brain Regions
One of the most common changes seen in a depressed patients brain is shrinkage, especially in the hippocampus, thalamus, frontal cortex, and prefrontal cortex. How much these brain areas shrink depends on the length and severity of your depression.
A chemical imbalance caused by the hormone cortisol a.k.a. the stress hormone is what triggers this shrinkage. Depression causes the hippocampus to raise its cortisol levels, impeding the development of neurons in your brain. The shrinkage of brain circuits is closely connected to the reduction of the affected parts function.
While other cerebral areas shrink due to high levels of cortisol, the amygdala enlarges. The amygdala controls emotion, so this may cause issues like sleep disturbances, mood swings, and other hormone-related problems. An enlarged amygdala is also linked to the development of bipolar disorder.
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Psychological Depression Symptoms Include:
- doing poorly at work
- difficulties with your family or home life
It’s not always possible to tell that you’re having symptoms of depression right away it can start and progress gradually. A lot of people don’t realise they’re ill and try to carry on and cope with their symptoms. Sometimes it takes a friend or family member to notice that there’s a problem.
How Is Genetics Linked To The Risk Of Depression
We know that depression can sometimes run in families. This suggests that there’s at least a partial genetic link to depression. Children, siblings, and parents of people with severe depression are somewhat more likely to have depression than are members of the general population. Multiple genes interacting with one another in special ways probably contribute to the various types of depression that run in families. Yet despite the evidence of a family link to depression, it is unlikely that there is a single “depression” gene, but rather, many genes that each contribute small effects toward depression when they interact with the environment.
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What Is A Depression
A depression is a severe and prolonged downturn in economic activity. In economics, a depression is commonly defined as an extreme recessionthat lasts three or more years or which leads to a decline in real gross domestic product of at least 10%. in a given year. Depressions are relatively less frequent than milder recessions, and tend to be accompanied by high unemployment and low inflation.
Example Of A Depression
The Great Depression lasted roughly a decade and is widely considered to be the worst economic downturn in the history of the industrialized world. It began shortly after the Oct. 24, 1929, U.S. stock market crash known as Black Thursday. After years of reckless investing and speculation the stock market bubble burst and a huge sell-off began, with a record 12.9 million .
The United States was already in a recession, and the following Tuesday, on Oct. 29, 1929, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 12% in another mass sell-off, triggering the start of the Great Depression.
Although the Great Depression began in the United States, the economic impact was felt worldwide for more than a decade. The Great Depression was characterized by a drop in consumer spending and investment, and by catastrophic unemployment, poverty, hunger, and political unrest. In the U.S., unemployment climbed to nearly 25% in 1933, remaining in the double-digits until 1941, when it finally receded to 9.66%.
During the Great Depression, unemployment rose to 24.9%, wages slid 42%, real estate prices declined 25%, total U.S. economic output fell by 30%, and many investors’ portfolios became completely worthless when stock prices dropped to 10% of their previous highs.
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