Prolonged depression consequences. Causes of protracted depression

“Why do I live? Who needs me? Why do I take someone else’s place? Day after day everything is the same, all the same dullness, routine and a nagging feeling of melancholy somewhere in the chest area. It’s difficult to explain what is missing. It is impossible to express in words those feelings when you breathe incompletely, when you do not live, but exist. Your own worthlessness and insolvency are depressing. Even among friends, thoughts of loneliness do not leave you. Again and again you feel a chill of melancholy in your heart. Why go to work, move? Why live?

Such questions are alarming symptoms depression is a type of disorder characterized by depressive triad:

• Such questions are warning signs of depression, a type of disorder characterized by the depressive triad:
• slow thinking
• motor retardation.

They can appear in moments of spiritual crisis or difficult life situations, loss of loved ones, dramatic breakups. In these cases, depression (depressive reaction) is an acceptable, temporary reaction to life events. It can go away on its own when the problems that brought us into this state are resolved, or when the pain of mental wounds dulls. In these cases, a person can get rid of his blues without medical intervention, thanks to his internal reserve. However, appeal to a PSYCHIATRIST It is advisable to analyze the complexity and severity of the “depressive reaction”, to assess its dynamics - reduction or transition to depression, requiring assistance. It’s a completely different matter when anxious thoughts do not go away for weeks, months, when a person cannot cope with his experiences, when his vital functions are disrupted, and the suicidal motive becomes obsessive. In this case, neither medications chaotically used without a doctor’s recommendations, nor dope (alcohol or drugs), which only aggravate the disease, will help. Passive suicidal thoughts must not be allowed to give way to suicidal intentions. According to the World Health Organization, depression is recognized as a leading disease in both adults and adolescents and is one of the leading causes of disability. But the biggest danger is that in adolescence and old age it most often leads to suicide. We, adults, are responsible for the life of the sick person and do not have the right to remain aloof from his problems, not to notice changes in his condition. If you have not lost your self-criticism and are able to admit to yourself that you are sick, do not waste precious time - contact a PSYCHIATRIST . Often, the answer to the question: “What keeps me from doing this?” helps to get out of depression and give up the firm intention to commit suicide? But very often a sick person is unable to take right decisions (there are severe depression, with depressive ideas of guilt and sinfulness, when understanding of the severity and complexity of the condition is impaired ; It happens depression- just one of symptoms of another mental illness ), then take responsibility those around him must take care of his fate - immediate family, friends, colleagues . It is they who must lend a helping hand to a desperate person, lead toPSYCHIATTER. After all, not only a person’s health and well-being, but also his life can depend on the caring attitude of all of us. “Life has exactly the value we want to give it.” Ingmar Bergman Take care of yourself and your loved ones!

The consequences of depression are detrimental to health. Nervousness and irritability lead to the release of hormones into the blood that increase blood pressure and blood sugar levels, suppress the immune system, inhibit digestion, and worsen well-being.

Anyone who has experienced depression, either alone or in front of loved ones, knows how hard it can be. The world seems dark and full of danger. Any activity, from getting dressed in the morning to driving a car, requires exhausting effort. Everything is difficult and bad.

Considered in the past to be simply a weakness, or even a whim, depression is now recognized as a real health disorder that affects millions of people around the world. It is diagnosed in both adults and children.

Although the biological causes of depression are not entirely clear, scientists believe they are partly related to an imbalance in the brain of certain neurotransmitters, including dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine. Factors such as: excess weight, bad dream, unhealthy diet.

It is important to distinguish between severe (clinical) and light form depression. Mild ones are usually called simply spleen (spleen). Bouts of bad mood are normal and even necessary, especially when a person is faced with failures or losses. Sometimes people feel sad and even unhappy for a while without any apparent reason. This is also normal. However, if melancholy has been bothering you for at least two weeks or is starting to interfere with your daily activities, you may we're talking about already about .

In the latter case, a person is characterized by melancholy, a feeling of hopelessness and helplessness, or constant worry. He ceases to be interested in his previously favorite activities. To others characteristic symptoms include anxiety, irritability, lack of energy, insomnia, weight gain or loss, digestive disorders and physical pain.

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Consequences of depression

Both deep depression and a short bout of blues are a heavy physical and mental burden for the body, especially for immune system.

Research shows that it noticeably weakens during periods of low mood. Because a person has incredibly strong psychosomatic connections or the interdependence of physical and mental states. These two sides of the individual are inseparable. In other words, whatever your mood, such is your health.

This is confirmed by a study in which the levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), one of the markers of inflammation, were determined in the blood of elderly people. It turned out to be higher than that of their peers with a normal mood. Excess IL-6 over the long term is known to increase the risk of many chronic diseases, including cardiac ischemia, osteoporosis, diabetes and some types of cancer.

With depression, the level of natural killer cells and T-lymphocytes, immune cells that attack and destroy foreign microorganisms, decreases. Experts say people who are depressed are more likely to develop shingles, a painful rash that occurs when a weakened immune system reactivates the chickenpox virus that lies dormant in the body. nerve nodes dorsal roots of the spinal cord.

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When a child is moping

It is completely unnatural when children lose interest in their favorite games and activities and are constantly in an irritated, sad and tearful state. And this is the first thing a parent should pay attention to in order to prevent the development of severe depression and subsequent illnesses, and then not resort to long-term treatment.

Sometimes children develop hyperactivity and syndromes of anxiety and attention deficit due to the blues. All this gives them a lot of difficulties.

Adults should be aware that a child suffering from depression is more likely to use alcohol, drugs, or smoke than their healthy peers. This makes the treatment process for depression more difficult, longer, and can lead to suicidal behavior.

Early diagnosis and frank, confidential communication with the child will help avoid such complications.

The consequences of depression cause irreparable harm to the body and are practically incurable. But there is good news- Depression itself is treatable. For this purpose, antidepressants are prescribed, which help the patient cope with everyday responsibilities and at the same time strengthen his immunity.

Antidepressants do not help everyone. This is well known to psychotherapists who diagnose and carry out adequate treatment, aimed at eliminating all factors that activate the mechanism of depression.

According to them, people over 50 years of age who suffer from chronic depression (for more than two years) are at almost double the risk of having a stroke. For your information: stroke (blockage by a blood clot or rupture of a cerebral vessel) is today one of the main causes of death in developed countries.

“Exactly how the depression-stroke link works is something we have yet to study,” said study author Paola Gilsanz of the Harvard T.H. School of Public Health. Chena. “But even now it seems clear that the reason lies either in behavior (for example, that those suffering from depression are less active and smoke more) or in biological factors(for example, inflammatory processes in the body, high blood pressure, diabetes, increased level cholesterol)".

For 12 years, scientists collected data on people who had no vascular problems before the study began. They were interviewed every two years to determine whether they had symptoms of depression, and whether they had had a stroke was recorded. Over 12 years, 1,192 strokes occurred to the experiment participants. It was observed that participants with depressive symptoms presenting on two consecutive interviews were nearly twice as likely to experience strokes. Notably, the association of stroke with depression was stronger in people under 65 years of age. Those who showed signs of depression at only one interview and were then treated or self-limited still had a 66% increased risk of stroke compared with those who were not depressed at all.

This fact surprised scientists, who expected that after treating depression, the risk of stroke decreases. However, it remained high for at least two more years. Especially for women.

P. Gilsanz et al. “Changes in Depressive Symptoms and Incidence of First Stroke Among Middle-Aged and Older US Adults,” Journal of the American Heart Association, May 2015.

Consequences of depression on health and life

Depression is a mental illness. Some people do not take it seriously and call any disorder associated with deterioration of mood this way, without even knowing how dangerous it is and how important it is to make a correct diagnosis in time. If you do not seek help in a timely manner and allow the disease to become severe or chronic form, you may experience the negative effects of depression.

Social consequences

The impact of any disease on the body is purely individual and is associated with factors such as its degree, form, treatment methods, the patient’s attitude to therapy, etc. It is impossible to predict in advance what depression will entail in a particular person. However, there are a number of symptoms and signs that are characteristic of a person who has overcome such mental condition. And they are, first of all, social in nature.

• Dominance of negative emotions.
• Lack of desire to learn something new, make acquaintances, etc.
• Problems with communication in personal and professional life.
• The appearance of previously unnoticed phobias and fears (often, for example, confined spaces).
• Decreased mental abilities.
• Irritability to noise or laughter.
• Decreased libido, other problems in sexual life.
• Prevalence of feelings of hopelessness and helplessness in many situations.
• The most serious thing is the reluctance to continue life.

Often after therapy a person for a long time cannot bring himself to visit public places, especially those of an entertaining nature (bars, restaurants, clubs, etc.). This cannot but affect social adaptation. Closedness and unsociability frequent consequences depression.

Often, during therapy, people become so accustomed to taking medications that maintain the level of serotonin in the body (antidepressants) that they cannot completely get out of the state of depression on their own. This carries the risk of drug dependence.

The patient’s condition must be monitored even after he is cured, since at any moment he can lose faith in life and stop seeing any prospects, which often leads to thoughts of suicide. According to some studies, about 40% of people who are depressed think about leaving their life. Thus, what will happen if depression is not treated is much more dangerous than its manifestation itself.

Physical consequences

It is well known that a person’s mental state is directly related to a number of physical manifestations. Often similar diseases apply serious blow By general condition sick. These health effects of depression typically affect the brain, heart, and nervous system. Among the most common are the following:

• The risk of developing thrombosis - a depressive state causes an increased release of adrenaline into the blood, which negatively affects cardiovascular system and often leads to the formation of blood clots.
• Insomnia is common symptom depression, which is often long time remains after treatment.
• Weakening of the immune system - due to a lack of deep sleep, the body does not have time to recover and becomes susceptible to various diseases; this is additionally affected by an excess of stress hormones.
• Reduced pain threshold - the hormone serotonin makes a person less sensitive to pain, its deficiency (as during depression) - on the contrary, reduces the pain threshold, which can even cause causeless pain in various limbs.
• Chronic fatigue is our body’s reaction to the reluctance to do anything, learn something new and live in general.
• Hair loss, brittle nails, and white skin are a consequence of decreased immunity and lack of sleep.

Problems with appearance, especially in women, cause an even greater reluctance to change their own lives in any way, which can either delay the moment of recovery or lead to a relapse after that. They are observed, as a rule, already during the period of depression, but often remain for some time after, until the body has fully recovered from the stress experienced.

Depression is more dangerous for people suffering from any chronic diseases. By the way, they can become an impetus for its development. In such cases, the patient, along with the symptoms of this mental disorder there is a more serious manifestation of the symptoms of the corresponding disease. And people in depressed state tend to neglect taking care of their health, which can negatively affect their physical condition.

A special role should be given to the problem of alcohol or drug addiction, which often develop against the background of depression and then remain with a person for a long time. False state Have a good mood, which cause alcohol, drugs can be compared to the effect of antidepressants. Medicines treat symptoms, not the cause of the disease, and therefore cannot be considered as the only direction in the treatment of depression.

Alcohol, cigarettes, drugs and other types of harmful substances, addictive, have almost the same effect, but with even greater harm to health. As soon as their effect ceases, the patient again exhibits symptoms of the disorder. I immediately want to stop such a state, which leads a person into an endless circle of taking certain substances and drugs. Addiction is very difficult to treat, especially against the backdrop of an advanced mental illness, so often in such cases, when the patient does seek help or someone from his environment does, hospitalization and a long stay in the hospital are required to fully monitor the progress treatment.

Prevention

The most obvious answer to the question of how to avoid harmful consequences For health against depression, it is to follow your doctor's instructions. But this is where the first problem arises. It takes a lot of strength for most people to even acknowledge the existence of a mental problem. In our society, it is not customary to talk about such things, much less consult a psychotherapist. However, it is precisely these actions that will prevent the disease from progressing to a severe stage.

How depression affects human health has already been described above. The consequences are truly serious. Their occurrence can be avoided only when the person himself is determined to achieve a complete cure. Of course, to do this without the help of a specialist, family, friends and, last of all, medical supplies, it will be very difficult.

People who have overcome this disease are more susceptible to relapses. On this basis, they need to be monitored after completion of treatment. These can be individual psychoanalysis sessions with the attending physician or special groups support. The help of the environment plays an equally important role. Left alone with his thoughts, a person susceptible to developing depression becomes in a dangerous state of helplessness, uselessness, etc.

Depression

Every person from time to time feels that he is lonely, sad or gives in to despair in a difficult situation. This is a natural reaction to negative events happening to us. However, if melancholy, sadness or despondency turn into our constant companions, our way of life changes significantly. It is this constant state of extreme sadness and depression that is what doctors today call depression.

This disease - the scourge of the 21st century - has actually been known since ancient times. Hippocrates was one of the first to describe depression, giving it the name “melancholy” (translated as “black bile”). In fact, today the state of melancholy is understood as something slightly different, namely a prolonged low mood, which, unlike depression, is not characterized by a strong loss of strength and despair. Some famous poets and musicians have admitted that being in a state of melancholy gave them the opportunity to dive deeper into the creative process and feel inspired. In a state of depression, this, alas, is impossible.

Depression is a set of manifestations (symptoms) that are not limited to just depressed mood. Depression can be defined as changes at the level of biochemistry, life experience and behavior, with the anatomical substrate being the brain. With depression, many negative changes occur in the patient’s body, affecting changes in endocrine system(pituitary gland, thyroid gland, adrenal glands, sex hormones), changes in the neurochemical processes of the body associated with a deficiency of various mediators, primarily norepinephrine, serotonin and dopamine), disturbances in biological rhythms, the so-called circadian rhythms. All this indicates that changes have occurred in the nervous system that have affected the brain. Patients with depression tend to be inactive, unenergetic, and unsociable. And this, in turn, makes others turn away from such patients.

In the time of Hippocrates it was believed that human body contains 4 types of liquids - black bile, yellow bile, blood and phlegm. This is where the first name for depression came from – melancholy, i.e. the predominance of black bile in the body, supposedly responsible for depressed mood. Doctors of the 19th century believed that depression was inherited and caused by congenital weakness of character. At the beginning of the last century, Sigmund Freud, within the framework of his psychosexual theory, called depression as a cause internal conflict and feelings of guilt.

In the mid-20th century, researchers identified two types of depression, depending on the causes that caused it. The first - endogenous type - implies the development of depression due to internal factors (illness, severe heredity, etc.). The second type - neurotic, or exogenous depression - occurs under the influence of external negative events (death of a loved one, dismissal from work, moving to unfamiliar city etc.).

Depression – complex disorder, and it is impossible to say for sure what causes it. IN modern psychiatry It is generally accepted that for the development of depression, like most other mental disorders, the combined action of three factors is required - biological (heredity), psychological (personality and character characteristics, the desire for perfection with high standards of aspirations with a simultaneous tendency to low self-esteem of one’s successes and achievements, a constant search for the meaning of life and the inability to find it, the need for support from other people and the desire to realize their expectations, an explanation of one’s problems external reasons and blows of fate independent of the person himself, inability to relax, stubbornness, pride and pride, which make it difficult to seek help) and social (acute and chronic stress and attempts to cope with it with the help of inadequate psychological defense mechanisms). Let's list some of the most common reasons.

Negative events that happened to a person:

• Violence is one of the most severe factors that can provoke depression. Violence is not only sexual, but also physical (beatings) and emotional (suppression, constant insults).
• Serious conflicts with friends or relatives, negative family environment.
• Death of a loved one, divorce.
• Reaching retirement age (especially for women), losing a job.
• Positive events that cause a strong emotional reaction can also cause depression. New job, marriage, graduation from university are always associated with serious changes in life - in some cases a person cannot adapt to them, and reacts to changes with depression, the so-called “adjustment disorders”.
• Serious illnesses and certain medications can also cause depression.
• Alcoholism and drug addiction – over 30% of people addicted to alcohol or drugs are depressed.
• Personal problems, social isolation (including due to other mental illnesses), social maladjustment can lead to an acute feeling of loneliness and depression.
• Hereditary factor - according to some data, the presence of depression among family members increases the risk of its development in children.

Unlike some mental disorders characterized by antisocial behavior, depression is dangerous primarily for the patient himself. In the absence of proper help and treatment, unbearable mental suffering often leads a person to attempt suicide. One in ten people with depression will attempt suicide sooner or later.

The negative impact of depression on the body extends not only to the nervous system. It increases the risk of developing asthma, coronary heart disease, and aggravates current chronic diseases, resulting in frequent deaths of patients with serious illnesses. For this reason, in modern clinics, when treating patients who are forced to remain in bed for a long time, great attention is paid to their psychological state. It is known that in elderly bedridden patients, depression most often becomes the cause of death, “ahead” of the underlying disease.

Depression has a very serious impact on all areas of a person's life. A decrease in activity leads to problems at work, sexual dysfunction negatively affects family or love relationships, and lack of interest in past hobbies makes life gray and meaningless.

Why is hidden depression dangerous?

Eat strange diseases. They seem to be simple and ordinary, but they do not lend themselves to conventional treatment. One patient periodically experiences pain in the heart and abdomen. Another has a headache, a third, for example, has toothache, they are treated, filled, removed - but the pain does not go away. Careful and repeated examinations do not reveal the organic causes of these pains: there are no abnormalities in the brain, heart, or stomach, but the constant pain is overwhelming.

In foreign practice, there was a case when the patient suffered from persistent pain in the abdominal area. First, her gallbladder was removed, then her appendix, then her uterus was removed. The pain did not go away. Getting ready for the next one surgical intervention, she went to consult a psychiatrist, and he gave her a completely non-surgical diagnosis: hidden depression. After several weeks of treatment with antidepressants, the patient’s pain went away, and all the operations she underwent were in vain. This is, of course, an extreme and isolated case. But there are a lot of cases where hidden depression is mild and therefore remains unrecognized.

The person is in pain. He is being treated by doctors of different specialties, but there is no result. In such cases, the attending physician usually sends the patient for consultation with a neurologist or psychiatrist. The patient willingly goes to the neurologist, reasoning: the meaning nervous system in the functioning of the body is obvious to everyone, besides, it won’t hurt to heal the nerves. Completely different reasoning arises in some patients when the doctor recommends that they see a psychiatrist:

“Am I crazy, going to psychiatrists?”

The fallacy of such conclusions is undeniable, if only because the psychiatrist also deals with the nervous system and its supreme body- the brain.

Undoubtedly, the doctor offered the patient the only and reliable path for healing, but he closed this path for himself, dooming himself to worsening illness and further suffering.

Nowadays, the majority of psychiatrist patients are people suffering from depressed mood, sleep disturbances, often these people are overcome by anxiety, excessive shyness, indecision, suspiciousness, sometimes incontinence, irritability.

All these types of neuropsychiatric disorders are now treated with new medications. These drugs are from the group of major and minor tranquillizers, as well as antidepressants. It is thanks to them that the vast majority of patients can successfully undergo treatment on an outpatient basis without going to the hospital. Many people do not suspect that only 10 percent of psychiatrist patients are treated in a hospital, and 90 percent are treated on an outpatient basis in a neuropsychiatric dispensary. Even in specialized hospitals most of patients are in sanatorium departments.

In cases where neurotic disorders are not treated, deviations from the norm turn into illness. That is why you should not delay visiting a psychiatrist for years.

People who suffer from hidden depression, manifested by various somatic, that is, bodily, physical disorders, often do not pay attention to their neuropsychic problems. It happens that they do not notice low mood or depression at all, and if they do notice, they explain them by physical ailments. Therefore, patients often tell the doctor only about their physical symptoms, and keep silent about their neuropsychic ones.

Such people, as medical statistics show, have become more and more numerous in recent decades. It is characteristic that almost all patients of this kind have a mild course of depression, soft shapes so-called affective disorders with a predominance of physical symptoms and disorders of the autonomic nervous system. It is these symptoms that often hide the depressive state, which is the foundation nutritious soil, hidden internal content diseases. That is why often both the patient and his doctor, instead of a true mental disorder, highlight an imaginary disorder - a somatic (physical) one.

This is precisely why depression in a “mask” is dangerous - a mental illness that dresses up in someone else’s clothes. Put correct diagnosis in these cases only a psychiatrist can. But the whole trouble is, as we have already said, that external signs diseases generally do not manifest themselves in mental sphere, and therefore patients go to the therapist.

But still the signs true disease exist. And the most characteristic of them is a combination of several simultaneous symptoms that do not have physical reasons- insomnia, lack of appetite, headache, complaints about various pains, deep anxiety, fatigue. Depression in a “mask” can be indicated either by all of these symptoms at once, or by two or three of them (of course, only when such symptoms do not have a clearly established organic basis).

An important sign that may indicate hidden depression is the frequency, cyclical nature of any bodily ailments, which also do not have a purely somatic basis.

A sign of masked depression can also be a wave-like alternation of physical symptoms with mental ones. It happens, for example, that skin eczema, itching, gout attacks, headaches, gastrointestinal and cardiovascular disorders alternate with a melancholic, depressed state. If such alternation is repeated cyclically, you need to be examined by a psychiatrist.

Women, for example, experience periodic weight loss, and on the contrary, in a few months they can significantly gain weight. As a rule, this unexpected fullness is accompanied by a disorder or cessation of regulation, shortness of breath, drowsiness, apathy, and memory impairment. When losing weight, all functions return to normal, and then become upset again. In this case, as a rule, somatic, bodily signs are in the foreground, but they are always accompanied by depression of the mental sphere.

There are often periodic repetitions of the same somatic disorders, which are either accompanied by a depressed mood, or arise on their own, or are accompanied by anxiety, irritability, and agitation.

Often, physical ailments as part of hidden depression exactly repeat the symptoms of any disease. For example, cardiovascular clinical picture, similar to angina or even myocardial infarction. Patients with such incorrect diagnoses are admitted to hospitals.

Hidden depression may also have a single symptom, such as recurrent insomnia or headaches (which again have no obvious organic cause). Such a headache or insomnia either serves as an indication of approaching depression (in cases where it has already happened before), or may be the only external manifestation of this depression, its “mask”.

Such cases also include some attacks of periodic migraines and so-called “hysterical” headaches, which also recur. Conventional medications do not bring relief from them, but treatment with antidepressants helps well (as in all cases of hidden depression).

Thus, with masked depression, physical symptoms do not appear as concomitant, side effects, but as the main ones, as the main manifestation of mental illness. At the same time, somatic and mental symptoms can complement each other and exist together. But it also happens that physical symptoms may be the only manifestation of mental illness.

Hidden depression has another unsightly “mask” - alcohol addiction. here we mean those cases of alcoholism that can be considered as a manifestation of depression.

Before the start of systematic alcohol consumption, this category of patients experiences periodically causeless agitation, tension, anxiety, depression, loss of activity, a feeling of helplessness, difficulty communicating with others, and sadness. Such violations before a person became an alcoholic never took pronounced forms and therefore did not require medical intervention. Many patients in this group in the past periodically experienced pain in the heart, stomach, joints, and head, for which they were forced to repeatedly consult a doctor and even be treated in hospitals.

Alcohol becomes a kind of antidepressant for these patients, which is why they develop an addiction to alcoholic drinks. Consequently, one of the reasons for the occurrence of alcoholism may be the presence of hidden depression. By the way, this should be taken into account in preventive, therapeutic and organizational measures to combat this evil.

Thus, hidden depression has many “masks”. Like the ancient Greek sea deity Proteus, she takes many forms. With almost photographic accuracy, the disease can imitate the picture of a mass of functional and organic disorders.

But how to distinguish true bodily ailments from “imaginary” ones - those that are a manifestation of depression? After all, if you don’t have clear standards here, you can push the boundaries of depression and include in its department many bodily disorders that are not a manifestation of mental illness.

We have already talked about two very important signs that may indicate masked depression: periodicity, cyclical ailments and a combination of several symptoms at once that do not fit into any physical disease.

There is another leading sign. As already mentioned, many patients do not notice their depressed mood or think that it is the result of physical ailments. But in response to directed questions, these patients complain of slight depression, a loss of energy, vitality, and the fact that they cannot now rejoice as much as before. Some become restless, irritable, some experience vague fear, and many find it difficult to make more or less serious decisions.

A common sign of depression can be pain, which patients describe as unusual sensations: squeezing, bursting, burning, etc. The pain can be very different, in different parts of the body, but it is different from ordinary bodily pain. Firstly, it intensifies at night and in the pre-dawn hours, secondly, it can seem to move, run from place to place, thirdly, patients usually distinguish it from pain that is caused by a physical cause, fourthly, it Painkillers do not work. Finally, it is very important that it has no objective physical causes. Patients usually find it difficult to describe the nature of this pain because of its unusual nature and give it only approximate characteristics.

Patients with masked depression, as a rule, note daily fluctuations in their condition. Thus, their mood worsens in the morning, and, conversely, they experience obvious relief in the evening hours.

Of course, individual signs are not only a manifestation of hidden depression, so only a psychiatrist in alliance with a therapist can decide what exactly a person is suffering from. Masked depression is observed quite often. According to foreign statistics, it occurs at one time or another in ten people out of a hundred. Most often, it affects mature and elderly people. Women suffer more from it. Hidden depression can also occur in children and young people, but much less frequently than in adults, and with even more disguised symptoms.

It happens that the only manifestation of depression in adolescents and young men is disobedience, periodic laziness and poor academic performance. Such teenagers run away from home, they are pugnacious, etc. The main reason for turning to a psychiatrist may not be mood changes, but the fact that it is simply very difficult for parents to cope with them.

Older people often mistake the symptoms of hidden depression for supposedly natural manifestations of old age. There is a misconception that indifference is normal in old age, fast fatiguability, insomnia (including early awakening), lack of appetite. These beliefs are confusing for older people and their loved ones. As a result, they do not turn to a doctor - that is, for healing, to prolong youth and delay old age. They themselves shorten their active period of life and resign themselves to pseudo-old age. But in many cases, treatment with antidepressants would remove the imaginary burden of years from them, improve the health of the body and delay true aging.

People suffering from latent depression generally respond quickly to antidepressants and are cured even when their disorders have not responded to conventional therapy for a long time. Patients taking these medications experience improved mood, increased activity, a sense of calm, and a sense of health.

Treatment with antidepressants by a psychiatrist has become an almost fail-safe lifeline in the fight against hidden depression. Antidepressants play a dual role in this fight: medicinal - the usual one, and diagnostic - less usual. They not only heal, but also serve as a good indicator of hidden depression. When, with questionable or ambiguous symptoms, they improve the patient’s health, this means that the symptoms are depressive and are of a mental rather than somatic nature.

Antidepressants - good helpers doctor and patient, with their appearance, the treatment of depressive conditions has dramatically improved and become much more effective. They help especially well in combination with other types of treatment, for example, in combination with sedatives.

Of course, we are only talking about taking medications as prescribed by a psychiatrist. The disease in question is “massed” and, because of this feature, insidious, which is why the doctor and the patient are required to be extremely vigilant about it and to be able to unravel its masks.

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Consequences of depression

Many mental disorders are in one way or another associated with altered states of consciousness, which allow you to take a fresh look at yourself, the people around you, and the whole world. However, disorders are called disorders because those who suffer from them have initially programmed themselves to see the negative in everything. Sometimes it seems that if some people happen to find themselves close to God or in Nirvana, they will still be able to endure only the most negative experiences, they will run to psychiatrists and willingly pass all the tests, and then they will take antipsychotic drugs all their lives.

These attitudes will never allow you to realize what is really happening. There is nothing good in depression, or despondency, as it is called in Orthodoxy. However, this may be the bad thing that will allow you to reassess your values. It is quite possible that this type of mental deviation is almost the only way to remember that a person is not a body, but at least- not just the body. True, this kind of attention to the spiritual aspect of existence most often only causes panic.

How to treat?

It is characteristic that certain manifestations of panic are becoming more and more common. For example, back in last decade In the 20th century, so-called panic attacks were some kind of exotic syndrome. In the Soviet and post-Soviet information space, mental problems very much existed, but about psychopathological “ Business Cards“at the beginning of the 21st century, in the form of depression and panic attacks, in general, only specialists heard. At that time, the diagnosis “vegetative-vascular dystonia” was in fashion, which was easily diagnosed for any headaches. Now we have somehow learned to identify signs of depression and panic attacks in ourselves.

Moreover, we are seriously afraid that this is just the beginning, and that it will get even worse. We are afraid, trying to cure, without even thinking about what is really happening. We can agree that if depression is not treated, the consequences will only be negative. However, from the entire list of medical measures we will find effectiveness mainly in:

• drug treatment;
• baths, electrotherapy, exposure to light;
• therapeutic exercises

and similar physical forms, and we consider psychotherapy itself to be additional methods, although in practice this is the most important thing.

Everything is relative

There are disorders in this world that are called disorders only for reasons of political correctness. In fact, these are very real diseases. These include paranoid schizophrenia, schizotypal and bipolar disorder, a number of others. They are accompanied by hallucinations, delusions and are states that deny the ability to understand, reason, and draw conclusions. Many of these disorders are accompanied by depression, but the relationship is not reciprocal.

Every paranoid person has experienced at least once deep depression, but this does not say that every depression is a sign of paranoia. Besides, even schizophrenia is not a death sentence. What can we say about moderate or moderate form of depression? anxiety disorders or panic attacks? Sometimes it seems that people are too gentle with themselves.

Is there anything positive about this?

We will be able to find thousands of articles in which it is unknown why they are listed negative sides considered mental disorders. Let's try to take a leap and identify something positive. If you do not agree with this approach and have strictly decided that depression is a universal evil, then ask yourself whether you are using antidepressants as the doctor prescribed? Are you following all his recommendations? Have you actually seen a psychotherapist? No one forces you... But let us still remind you that you need to fight evil and do it consistently. If this is evil for you, then why are you so passive?

For now, we will try to analyze this evil. Perhaps there is something useful in it? Let's list the main symptoms and think about the benefits they give us.

Loss of the ability to experience joy

This state will only carry a negative charge, but only as long as there are no attempts to analyze the sources of joy. This is called anhedonia, and is revealed by discovering that joy does not bring what it did before.

What was it? A simple but honest listing will show two amazing things.

1. All the pleasures were somehow not real. For example, a lot of money and time was spent on repairs, although they could have done without them. There is such an interior style - minimalism. The most important thing about him is the man himself. And in general, all these suspended ceilings and interior doors, by definition, cannot give any happiness.
2. The ability to enjoy a number of things that cannot be done in a state of depression has not been lost. They would give me joy... It's jogging in the morning, working in the garden, plein air outdoors, bike rides, skating and skiing... Even if I do something from such a list tomorrow, the pleasure will be overflowing. But this still needs to be done.

Hence the conclusion - anhedonia clears away the unnecessary. But depression itself prevents you from doing what you need to do. And here’s another one: try to at least close your eyes, at least deceive yourself, at least try to persuade yourself to go for a run in the morning and ride a bike in the afternoon. Depression will go away, it won’t go away... It doesn’t matter! But how much pleasure there will be... More than in the usual state. Don't believe me? Then try it.

Thinking disorder

There is no need to be afraid. This is not nonsense, but simply negative judgments full of pessimism. Combined with low self-esteem, we again get realism, which is painted in dark tones, but still conveys the picture more truthfully.

If we really need to be surprised by something, then attempts to establish in our consciousness positive attitude artificially. For example, using affirmations. It is typical that when people hear about such methods, they argue about whether it “works” or “doesn’t work.” It works, but does it always have a positive effect? In any case, the depressed person has a more advantageous position. He has the potential to say later “everything is not as bad as I thought,” but those who like to induce a positive attitude in themselves do not. If something goes wrong, then all they can do is exclaim in horror that all this is a lie, but in fact the world is terrible: friends betray, everyone pursues only their own interests, but there is no stability. Well, then they will fall into depression, which will not happen to those who are already in it.

Imaginary and real problems

Even the motor retardation experienced in some forms goes away over time. Jumps and antics around low self-esteem, anhedonia and temporary disability are most often of a theatrical nature. If we consider anything a problem, it would be the attempts of some patients to “treat” depression by drinking alcohol. It may actually help for some time. Moreover, if all people could limit themselves to having a glass at dinner, then no problem of alcoholism would simply exist. In reality, alcohol, which has become a means of getting rid of despondency, will soon create a serious imbalance in the production of many hormones and other substances. To create a feeling of satisfaction, you will need more and more of it.

It will all end in alcoholism, and getting rid of it, due to the presence of acute psychological reasons, will be extremely difficult, if not impossible. These are the real consequences of depression. Everything else is very much and artificially inflated. Of course there's nothing good about that mental disorder No. However, we also point out the positive aspects. So there is no reason to panic either. If you really need to be afraid, then you should be afraid of alcoholism.

New psychological trick

Since we started talking about panic, let’s try to think about panic attacks as well. Until recently, around the beginning of the 21st century, medicine noted panic disorders, but they were not called “attacks”. The condition itself was written off and most often identified as one of the symptoms vegetative-vascular dystonia. However, at the end of the 90s, this disorder began to be considered an autonomous medical entity, and the etiology was correlated entirely with psychiatry.

What you read below may cause displeasure for those who experience panic attacks. However, this does not deny their truth. The truth is not always pleasant.

There are a lot of pleasant and useful things about panic attacks. Please note that it is not written here that there is nothing scary about them. This would not be true. There is something scary in them, but this is precisely what is pleasant, useful and simply captivating. Let's try to look at a specific example.

A man experiences panic attacks exclusively at the post office. It doesn't matter what he does there: he sends ordered letter or receives a parcel. There is always a seemingly understandable panic at the post office. The condition is terrible... Cold in my hands, copious discharge sweat, rapid heartbeat, the feeling that he is about to faint. Sometimes it gets dark in the eyes. Every person in front of him in line is seen as an “enemy.” The only thought: “Hurry, hurry!” The person seems to understand that outside the walls of the post office all this will happen. It goes away! Interestingly, panic attacks are not always associated with attacks of horror in themselves. It's scary mainly because of what happens to the body. We all know that there are cardiovascular and similar diseases. Some symptoms that are observed with PA are no different from the symptoms of a heart attack or stroke. However, during real attacks, all this can last about five seconds, and then the patient falls. In the case of PA, the duration of the “pre-stroke state” can last an hour, and will not end with any stroke. Doctors will only see slightly elevated blood pressure and a rapid heartbeat.

A man comes out of the post office. For some time, my legs still give way and my vision darkens, but after an hour not a single symptom remains. The next time you visit the post office, everything may happen again.

There is one more feature. After panic attacks, the consequences are a strange state, the effect of depersonalization and (or) derealization. In this case, a non-standard sense of yourself and the world around you is possible. Everything that happens may seem to be seen for the first time, one’s own actions are observed as if from the outside, and the illusion of being unable to control them arises. In total, this condition is accompanied by about 20 dozen experiences - from the “erasing” of certain personality traits to difficulties with imaginative thinking.

Positive aspects of panic attacks

The good thing about panic attacks is that they can be a great way to fulfill yourself. As Richard Bach said, there is nothing more satisfying than fear that disappears. But it's not just that... A panic attack is due to the fact that the situation is almost impossible to control. All physical symptoms appear as if on their own. The fear from this can be so strong that even a neurotic spasm occurs - a lump in the throat that prevents breathing. At this moment, people begin to greedily swallow air, which leads to oversaturation of the blood with oxygen and disruption of the concentration of carbon dioxide.

The whole trick is to learn to control what cannot be controlled. Life itself poses a task that is in some way superior to a controlled dream. If only for the reason that everything does not happen in a dream. The most important thing is not just to understand with your mind that the inability to control a panic attack is illusory, but to be convinced of this in practice. Just understanding it doesn't give anything. It is necessary to control, but without control - to contemplate the manifestations of the attack. It’s difficult, but it’s such an honor. Your heart is beating terribly, and you simply notice that it is beating terribly. A lump in your throat... And you don’t try to take a breath. Even dying body it will still be done while the person is alive. You focus on the exhalation rather than the inhalation. This is a very simple, completely solvable task. It seems that the burdens are buckling, the hands are shaking. Just note it in your mind...

The man from our example did this... He came to the post office to feel all the delights of the “rush” and climax. I came up with reasons myself - I bought something in electronic stores and paid by cash on delivery, for example. It turned out that the very fact that he was waiting for the “attack” did not cancel its appearance. She came and was even stronger. It turned out to be impossible to defeat her by any means. Breathing exercises helped only partly. They only gave the opportunity to leave the post office, walk around the city and wait for the activity to decrease, but they did not eliminate the problem... At a certain point, it “left” the post offices and began to be found in banks and stores. Moreover, the person guessed that attacks occur when he begins to think about money. These were the particular features of his particular case. But this didn’t solve anything...

Then he accepted the “challenge of fate” completely. Here are the basic principles of action...

1. Deterioration of the condition and associated panic are observed in certain places. They need to be visited regularly, and this should be done specifically in terms of working with a panic attack, and not just like that.
2. Bring the attack to the point where you can control the fear. You can leave the place only when the panic becomes uncontrollable.
3. None additional ways do not use. The work is only psychological.
4. Nothing should be taken to the point of absurdity. As soon as it gets really bad, you need to leave the place, but return there in no more than 2-3 hours. Definitely the same day. According to the formula “we have a rest - we dive.”

Already on the 5th or 6th attempt, the attitude towards panic changed. On the first attempt, my heart was actually pounding so hard that I thought it was about to burst out of my chest. However, already the third attempt within one day was accompanied only by slight dizziness. After about 10 days of hard work, there was a little disappointment. At first, approaching the “attack point” was interesting, like going into outer space, but then the feeling of vividness of the experience began to wane. It was possible to make sure that there was nothing very serious in these attacks.

Now a little about depersonalization... If someone decides to study this issue deeply and comprehensively, they will certainly receive information that this is approximately the state in Buddhism and quite large quantities religious or occult schools are considered necessary and useful. Firstly, because yogis strive to erase the boundaries of personality in order to go beyond the perception of the world from the position of “I”. Secondly, the same view from the outside at oneself (body and thoughts) makes it possible to truly control one’s actions. Thirdly, stopping the internal dialogue releases the power of intention, which can move mountains.

Please note that both panic attacks and depersonalization cannot be conquered by doing something. This can only be achieved through non-action. The person in our example did nothing. Just approached critical point and looked at what was happening. Sooner or later, the mind and psyche did everything on their own.

Depersonalization, as a consequence of panic attacks, is similar to a random gift that ended up in the hands of the wrong person. People experience discomfort because they are not ready to accept and use the opportunities that this condition provides.

Working with depression panic attacks, depersonalization teaches you to control the presence of “subtle” emotions and their direction, allows you to understand the characteristics of your psyche, or at least simply remember that it exists.

Most main lesson that a person receives is a practical experience that allows him to realize that we are not physical bodies, not biological mechanisms, and our structure is not limited internal organs and the nervous system.

The consequences of neurosis of this level depend on ourselves. You can find in this a real way to develop the ability to understand thinking and emotions, or you can become the hero of an American thriller, with a tin foil hat on his head, who is afraid of open space, crowds of people and spends his whole life in a dimly lit room. The choice is up to the person...

The word “depression” can be found quite often; some people use it without understanding what depression is.

So, depression - This is, first of all, a mental disorder. Today, depression is one of the most common human diseases.

Depression is often confused with being in a “bad” mood, but what distinguishes real depression from low mood?

Typical symptoms of depression:

Emotional

Longing, suffering, depressed, depressed mood, despair;

Anxiety, feeling of internal tension, anticipation of trouble;

Increased irritability;

Feelings of guilt, frequent self-recrimination;

Dissatisfaction with oneself, decreased self-confidence, decreased self-esteem;

Decreased or lost ability to experience pleasure from previously enjoyable activities;

Decreased interest in the surrounding reality.

Physiological

You notice disturbances in appetite and sleep/wake patterns;

Your sexual activity and desire are reduced;

Increased fatigue during normal exercise, decreased energy tone, feeling of weakness, loss of strength;

Bodily symptoms - heart pain, migraines, skin and gastrointestinal diseases.

Behavioral

Passivity, difficulties in performing purposeful activities;

Avoidance of contacts, tendency to solitude, loss of interest in other people;

Refusal of entertainment;

Alcoholization, use of psychotropic substances.

Mental manifestations

Difficulty concentrating, concentrating;

The predominance of gloomy, negative thoughts about one’s life, oneself, and others;

Pessimistic vision of the future, lack of perspective, thoughts about the meaninglessness of existence;

Thoughts about suicide;

Thoughts about one’s own helplessness, insignificance, uselessness;

Slowness of thinking.

To make a diagnosis of depression, it is necessary to observe the listed symptoms for at least two weeks. Chronic depression can last six months or more. Depression varies in severity: from persistent low mood to severe conditions, in which a person cannot get out of bed.

Types, causes and treatments of depression

Psychotherapy for psychogenic depression is aimed at solving interpersonal and intrapersonal conflicts and overcoming a stressful situation.

What happens if depression is not treated?

Depression is often perceived both by the person himself and by those around him as a manifestation of bad character, laziness and selfishness, promiscuity or innate pessimism. It should be remembered that depression is not just Bad mood, but a serious emotional problem, a painful disorder or even a serious illness, so it is important to seek help from specialists in a timely manner.

What usually prevents people from seeking help for depression?

Possible social restrictions, registration with the PND;

Negative attitudes and critical assessments from others if someone finds out that a person is being treated by a psychiatrist;

Fear of negative influence drug treatment, which is based on widespread but inadequate ideas about the dangers of psychotropic substances.

Untreated depression can lead to severe consequences. If a person suffers from depression for many years and does not seek help, treatment can be lengthy and difficult. People suffering from depression can eventually lose their jobs, lose friends, and destroy their families. Depressed people are prone to abuse of alcohol and other substances. The most dangerous consequence of depression can be suicide attempts. Thus, contacting specialists of the appropriate profile (psychiatrist, psychotherapist) helps prevent negative consequences.

You should also remember that your own efforts are important in treating depression; without them, results will be achieved more slowly.

How can you help yourself?

1) Follow a daily routine: no matter how trivial it may sound, nevertheless, correct mode sleep and wakefulness, alternating work and rest will benefit you.

2) Avoid drinking alcohol, drugs, and reduce caffeine intake.

4) Try to maintain communication with friends and loved ones, ask them for support, and not hide under the guise of a good mood. Masking requires energy and does not improve the condition.

5) Go about your daily activities without waiting for the depression to end. This, of course, does not mean that you should bring down on yourself the entire mass of things that you have left. Remember, “a bird in the hand is better than a pie in the sky,” therefore, set “tit” goals, not crane goals. Do your daily chores every day: self-care, try to cook your own food at least sometimes, do minimal exercise.

There are no barriers, many people who suffered from depression learned to cope with their condition and found new goals and meanings.

Remember that only those who are treated will recover from depression.

Depression is a mental illness. Some people do not take it seriously and call any disorder associated with deterioration of mood this way, without even knowing how dangerous it is and how important it is to make a correct diagnosis in time. If you do not seek help in a timely manner and allow the disease to develop into a severe or chronic form, you may face the negative consequences of depression.

Social consequences

The impact of any disease on the body is purely individual and is associated with factors such as its degree, form, treatment methods, the patient’s attitude to therapy, etc. It is impossible to predict in advance what depression will entail in a particular person. However, there are a number of symptoms and signs that are characteristic of a person who has overcome such a mental condition. And they are, first of all, social in nature.

• Dominance of negative emotions.
• Lack of desire to learn something new, make acquaintances, etc.
• Problems with communication in personal and professional life.
• The appearance of previously unnoticed phobias and fears (often, for example, confined spaces).
• Decreased mental abilities.
• Irritability to noise or laughter.
• Decreased libido, other problems in sexual life.
• Prevalence of feelings of hopelessness and helplessness in many situations.
• The most serious thing is the reluctance to continue life.

Often after therapy, a person for a long time cannot bring himself to visit public places, especially those of an entertainment nature (bars, restaurants, clubs, etc.). This cannot but affect social adaptation. Withdrawal and unsociability are common consequences of depression.

Often, during therapy, people become so accustomed to taking medications that maintain the level of serotonin in the body (antidepressants) that they cannot completely get out of the state of depression on their own. This carries the risk of drug dependence.

The patient’s condition must be monitored even after he is cured, since at any moment he can lose faith in life and stop seeing any prospects, which often leads to thoughts of suicide. According to some studies, about 40% of people who are depressed think about leaving their life. Thus, what will happen if depression is not treated is much more dangerous than its manifestation itself.

Physical consequences

It is well known that a person’s mental state is directly related to a number of physical manifestations. Often such diseases cause a serious blow to the general condition of the patient. These health effects of depression typically affect the brain, heart, and nervous system. Among the most common are the following:

• Risk of developing thrombosis - a depressive state causes an increased release of adrenaline into the blood, which negatively affects the cardiovascular system and often leads to the formation of blood clots.
• Insomnia is a common symptom of depression, which often remains for a long time after treatment.
• Weakening of the immune system - due to a lack of deep sleep, the body does not have time to recover and becomes susceptible to various diseases; this is additionally affected by an excess of stress hormones.
• Reduced pain threshold - the hormone serotonin makes a person less sensitive to pain, its deficiency (as during depression) - on the contrary, reduces the pain threshold, which can even cause causeless pain in various limbs.
• Chronic fatigue is our body’s reaction to the reluctance to do anything, learn something new and live in general.
• Hair loss, brittle nails, and white skin are a consequence of decreased immunity and lack of sleep.

Problems with appearance, especially in women, cause even greater reluctance to change one’s own life in any way, which can either delay the moment of recovery or lead to a relapse after that. They are observed, as a rule, already during the period of depression, but often remain for some time after, until the body has fully recovered from the stress experienced.

Depression is more dangerous for people suffering from any chronic diseases. By the way, they can become an impetus for its development. In such cases, the patient, along with the symptoms of this mental disorder, experiences a more serious manifestation of the symptoms of the corresponding disease. And people in a depressed state tend to neglect taking care of their health, which can negatively affect their physical condition.

A special role should be given to the problem of alcohol or drug addiction, which often develop against the background of depression and then remain with a person for a long time. The false state of good mood that alcohol and drugs cause can be compared to the effect of antidepressants. Medicines treat symptoms, not the cause of the disease, and therefore cannot be considered as the only direction in the treatment of depression.

Alcohol, cigarettes, drugs and other types of harmful substances that cause addiction have almost the same effect, but with even greater harm to health. As soon as their effect ceases, the patient again exhibits symptoms of the disorder. I immediately want to stop such a state, which leads a person into an endless circle of taking certain substances and drugs. Addiction is very difficult to treat, especially against the backdrop of an advanced mental illness, so often in such cases, when the patient does seek help or someone from his environment does, hospitalization and a long stay in the hospital are required to fully monitor the progress treatment.

Prevention

The most obvious answer to the question of how to avoid the harmful health effects of depression is to follow your doctor's instructions. But this is where the first problem arises. It takes a lot of strength for most people to even acknowledge the existence of a mental problem. In our society, it is not customary to talk about such things, much less consult a psychotherapist. However, it is precisely these actions that will prevent the disease from progressing to a severe stage.

How depression affects human health has already been described above. The consequences are truly serious. Their occurrence can be avoided only when the person himself is determined to achieve a complete cure. Of course, it will be very difficult to do this without the help of a specialist, family, friends and, last but not least, medications.

People who have overcome this disease are more susceptible to relapses. On this basis, they need to be monitored after completion of treatment. These can be individual psychoanalysis sessions with the attending physician or special support groups. The help of the environment plays an equally important role. Left alone with his thoughts, a person susceptible to developing depression becomes in a dangerous state of helplessness, uselessness, etc.