Clinical depression is that condition when the depression is not a normal and logical reaction to events of life. When the depression symptoms meet the DSM IV criteria, then it is diagnosed as clinical depression.
What is DSM?
DSM is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, published by the American Psychiatric Association, that provides standardized scales of measurement that help classify mental disorders.
Prevalence
Depression is the most prevalent psychological problems affecting men and women. It is estimated that in the United States, about 17,000,000 people experience clinical depression in one year.
Causes
There are three significant causes for clinical depression
- Hormonal and/or neuron-chemical imbalance
- Consequence of an unpleasant, unfortunate and sad incident or chain of events
- Undue pessimism in general outlook and attitude
The other reasons that lead to depression are stress, hereditary factors that may trigger a hormonal imbalance in the biochemical processes of the brain, substance abuse, and low self esteem.
Impact
Depression causes a lot of mental agony, both to the person suffering from it and the circle of family and friends around him. There are several instances where social and emotional chaos caused within the mind of the patient brings in a lot of unpleasantness and sadness for the family too. Besides this, a depressed person is unable to perform as well as before. Both his productivity and self assurance diminishes a great deal. Due to this, the economy of the country is poorer by $44billion every year, it is estimated.
Symptoms
- The common symptoms of diagnosed clinical depression are
- Unexplained tiredness and exhaustion
- Tendency to burst into tears for no reason
- Guilt feelings
- Persistent feeling of irritability
- Suicidal tendencies
- Unexplained aches, pains and discomfort like headaches and stomach pain
- Lack of concentration and motivation to perform daily activities both at home and at school/work-place
- Sudden loss of appetite and digestive disorders
- Insomnia and other forms of sleep disorders
- Complete lack of enthusiasm in those activities that were formerly enjoyed thoroughly like reading, playing football, playing indoor games, painting, sewing, carpentry and so on.
Treatment
Some of the medications prescribed for clinical depression are Monoamine oxidase inhibitors –the earliest medications for depression, antidepressant medications that increase neuron-chemical serotonin in the brain, dual action antidepressant, tetra-cyclic medication called Mirtazapine and so on.
Regular and professionally competent counseling is another very important way in which depression is treated. Countless people have been cured of depression by some excellent counseling and optimum intake of medication, besides being helped to develop healthy eating and regular exercising habits.
There are several other medications and a variety of treatments that help treat depression. It is important for the professional care giver to be aware of the patient’s specific allergies, immune system profile, his/her psychological profile and general health condition, in order to provide the right treatment promptly and efficiently.
Natural ways to help fight depression include (a) indulging in mental exercises that improve cognitive fitness (b) ensuring adequate sleep (c) regular intake of omega-3 fatty acid rich foods and (d) regular exercise.
Blurb: Clinical depression, when diagnosed can be cured by several methods. It is triggered by some unfortunate turn of events, genetic tendencies or because of lack of positive thinking. There are hundreds of medications that are successfully prescribed to reduce depression symptoms. Natural ways to fight depression include regular intake of omega 3 fatty acids, regular sleep and exercise and brain games.