2014-08-12 11:30:00
Depression should not be confused with temporary depression . If the symptoms of these two conditions can sometimes be similar (sadness, disturbed sleep, discouragement, etc.), their duration is a good indicator.
The simple cockroach results in temporary signs. In contrast, depression is characterized by the occurrence of mood disorders well-characterized symptoms that occur almost continuously for at least two consecutive weeks.
These disturbances generally cause significant difficulties in the emotional, social or professional domains. The combination of depressive signs can alert those around you. In addition, better identifying the disease helps relatives to talk regarding it with the victims.
Do you suffer from blues or depression?
Sadness, anxiety, irritability, loss of pleasure… Symptoms that persist for more than two weeks can signal the onset of depression. This PHQ-9 quiz (Patient health questionnaire), which has been validated by doctors, makes it possible to assess the depth of the malaise. Dr. Astrid Chevance, psychiatrist, helps us take stock.
What are the different types of depression?
- The depressive episode: for more than 15 days, the person is tired, sad and has lost all interest. Other symptoms: sleep disorders, appetite, dark thoughts…
- seasonal depression : due to a decrease in natural light, it occurs from late autumn to spring.
- The postpartum depression: the mother experiences intense depressive symptoms in the month following delivery.
- Reactive depression : it follows an ordeal (mourning, accident, divorce).
- Masked depression: the body expresses suffering through physical disorders (back pain, headaches), sometimes associated with those of classic depression (sadness, sleep disorders).
- Recurrent depressive disorder (or chronic depression): it is characterized by the repeated appearance of depressive episodes with periods of remission.
- The smiling depression: it is very difficult to identify because the people who suffer from it do not show anything. They seem happy on the surface, but in reality suffer deeply inside.
energy loss
Depression usually causes loss of life force associated with a fatigue intense and to one lack of energy. On a day-to-day basis, it is then difficult to perform harmless gestures. This state has a name: the “impossible task“. We talk regarding it when the patient no longer feels capable of performing tasks which, until then, were done naturally without thinking regarding it: going to buy bread, making his bed, taking care of administrative or household tasks. ..
A sudden impossibility generally misunderstood by the relatives of a person suffering from the syndrome. As trivial as these “impossible tasks” are, you should not hesitate to talk to your loved ones regarding them and get help. Writer Molly Backes, who herself suffered from the syndrome, says: “Once a friend picked me up and drove me to the pharmacy which was two blocks away. It was an amazing gift. »
sleep disorders
For some people, sleep becomes a refuge. However, this excess is not beneficial: depressives are still just as tired, even with 10 hours of sleep to their credit. For others, the nights are short: going to bed late, waking up at night or early in the morning, around 4 or 5 o’clock. Sleep is shallower and waking up can be psychologically painful.
Sexual disorders
Most of the time, in times of depression, sexuality is neglected because the body and the head, motors in this domain, are disturbed. The depressed person no longer takes pleasure in making love with his partner and generally loses the desire to do so.
Even thesexual desire for the other becomes non-existent. The sexual act becomes difficult, even sometimes painful in women when the decrease in libido results in vaginal dryness.
Decreased ability to concentrate or think
People with depression may experience difficulty thinking and speaking clearly. During a conversation, the words are difficult to find and the sentences lack fluidity. The subject suffering from depression has the impression of having an empty head or that the world has become too complicated for him. Memory and concentration also tend to decline. Depressed people find it more difficult to fix their attention, to retain what they have just read or heard and not to be distracted.
eating disorders
In depression, the appetite is often disturbed. It is either increased or decreased. Depressed people can take refuge in food (most often sweet) to create a refuge. The pleasure of eating can also abandon them. Or else they will abandon everything related to food. In the latter case, the food seems tasteless, and the preparation of dishes becomes a chore. Meal times often become irregular and their composition unbalanced.
The weight gain or loss can reveal depression. But eating disorders can also turn into depression.
sadness and hypersensitivity
For no apparent reason, people with depression can be overwhelmed by an overwhelming and unusual feeling of sadness. Soon the subject no longer finds meaning or interest in life. The little pleasures (reading a book, going for a walk, seeing friends) that hitherto punctuated his life are no longer there.
Sadness can bring hypersensitivity in everyday situations. The slightest difficulty or annoyance becomes insurmountable. Sensitivity is often associated with a feeling of emotional emptiness or irritability. Each confrontation or obstacle in everyday life can lead the depressed person to get upset very easily and significantly.
In video: “I went through severe depression”
Guilt and dark thoughts
The drop in self-esteem is very common in people with depression. They feel responsible for their condition and feel guilty for not being able to cope on their own. THE defeatism appears, then extends to the whole life.
Often, depressed people do not even imagine living in another way and even less seeing the end of the ordeal. For this reason they do not call on outside help and feel that no one can influence their situation.
Morbid thoughts may arise. The person must talk regarding it at all costs and be taken care of quickly because depression is the leading cause of suicide in France.
Your phone, best ally to reduce depression?
In a recent study, published in the June 9, 2021 online edition of Nature Translational Psychiatry, researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine (USA) used a combination of modalities like measurement of brain functioncognition, and lifestyle factors to generate personalized predictions of depression.
A personalized approach
For a month, researchers collected data from 14 participants with depression using apps to smartphones and connected devices (like smart watches). All of these devices measure sleep, exercise, diet and stress. This data was then combined with cognitive assessments and electroencephalography through electrodes placed on the scalp.
“Our study shows that we can use technology and tools that are readily available, such as mobile phone appsto collect information from individuals suffering from or at risk of depression, without significant burden for them, and then exploit this information to design personalized treatment plans”, welcome the researchers. As an example, exercise and daily caffeine consumption emerged as strong predictors of mood for one participant, but for another it was sleep and stress, while in a third subject the main predictors were brain function and responses cognitive to rewards.
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