Major Depressive Disorder

What Is Major Depressive Disorder?

Depression is real and is not a weakness. Depression is a common mental disorder that causes feelings of sadness and loss of interest. Also known as clinical depression or major depressive disorder, it affects the way you feel, think and behave. Depression leads to a variety of emotional and physical problems that cause trouble doing normal day-to-day activities.
However, depression is treatable when diagnosed timely with the help of professionals. This blog discusses what is major depressive disorder, how to cope with it and various major depressive disorder treatment options.

Definition
Depression is a mood disorder that causes continuous feelings of sadness and loss of interest in the activities that you enjoy doing. This can cause difficulty in thinking, sleeping, eating and with memory. However, it is quite normal to feel sad or grieve over difficult situations in life but depression is different. When the feeling of sadness persists every day for at least two weeks and involves symptoms of being alone or feeling sad then it is clinical depression. There are several types of depressive disorder and clinical depression or major depressive disorder is often known as depression. This is a chronic condition and might get worse without proper treatment. In severe cases, depression could lead to self-harm or death by suicide. There are various treatments available to treat the condition by improving the symptoms.

Types of Major Depressive Disorder

Depression can happen to anyone. People who have lived through abuse, severe losses or other stressful events are more likely to develop depression. There are several types of major depressive disorder. The most common subtypes include:

• Seasonal Affective Disorder:
  It is a type of depression that is triggered by the change of seasons. It is also known as seasonal depression and most commonly starts in late fall or early winter. The symptoms of SAD include feelings of sadness, lack of energy, loss of interest in usual activities, weight gain and oversleeping. The treatments include talk therapy, light therapy and antidepressants.
• Prenatal Depression:
  A type of major depressive disorder that happens during pregnancy. The symptoms include extreme or ongoing sadness, anxiety, fatigue, and changes in sleeping and eating habits. In severe cases, prenatal depression could cause people to harm themselves and their babies. The ongoing mood disorder makes you withdraw from family and friends leading to a lack of interest in activities. The treatment includes therapy and medications.
• Postpartum Depression:
  A type of depression that happens after having the baby. It affects most first-time mothers. People with postpartum depression experience emotional highs and lows, frequent crying, guilt, anxiety, fatigue and difficulty taking care of their baby. Many changes after giving birth like hormonal, physical, emotional, social and financial changes could cause the symptoms of postpartum depression. The treatment includes medication and counselling.
• Atypical Depression:
  A kind of depression where you experience a temporary boost in mood in response to positive events. As the name suggests, it is a specific type of depression in which the symptoms stray from the traditional criteria. One specific symptom is the temporary improvement in mood in response to actual or potential positive events. The treatment options include psychotherapy and antidepressants.

Causes of Major Depressive Disorder

Clinical Depression is a common mental health disorder among the new generation. However, researchers are not sure about what causes major depressive disorder. Several factors might contribute to its development. Let’s have a look:

• Brain Chemistry: The imbalance of serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine can contribute to the development of depression. These imbalances are a primary issue. However, disturbances in more complex neural circuits cause secondary imbalances of neurotransmitters.
• Genetics: If you have a first-degree relative (biological parents or siblings) with clinical depression then you are about three times more likely to develop the condition. Also, you could create clinical depression without having a family history.
• Childhood Development: Many adverse childhood experiences like trauma and abuse can lead to the development of clinical depression. You are more likely to trigger adverse childhood experiences in the later part of life that might contribute to major depressive disorder.
• Stressful Life Events: Various difficult life events like the death of a loved one, trauma, isolation, divorce and lack of support can trigger clinical depression in people.

What Are the Signs and Symptoms of Major Depressive Disorder?

The symptoms of clinical depression could range from mild to severe but they typically last most of the day, nearly every day for at least two weeks. The signs and symptoms include:

• Feeling sad, empty or hopeless. Adolescents and children may be irritable and sad.
• Loss of interest in things and activities that used to bring joy.
• Increase or decrease in appetite that may result in weight gain or loss.
• Slowed speech, decreased movement and impaired cognitive function.
• Trouble sleeping or sleeping too much.
• The feeling of fatigue or less energy.
• Feeling worthless or excessively guilty.
• Thoughts of death or suicide.
• Decreased concentration.

How to Diagnose Major Depressive Disorder?

The diagnosis of major depressive disorder is based on a thorough understanding of your symptoms, medical history and mental health history. Based on the context of your symptoms your healthcare provider might diagnose you with a specific subtype of clinical depression.
To receive a diagnosis of clinical depression, you should have at least five depression symptoms for at least five days to two weeks. Also, your provider might rule out the cause of symptoms such as medical conditions or substance use.
They may perform several tests to find the cause of depression. They might check you for bipolar disorder and would make sure you haven’t experienced episodes of hypomania or mania.

Major Depressive Disorder Treatment

A wide range of effective treatments is given to treat major depressive disorder. However, a combination of treatments is more effective than the treatment alone. Following are some of the treatment options that are commonly adopted by mental health experts:

• Medication: Depending upon the symptoms a wide variety of therapeutic doses is given to the patient. Depression medication usually helps change the brain chemistry that triggers the depression. There are various kinds of antidepressants available, depending upon the patient’s condition the medication is prescribed.
• Psychotherapy: Psychotherapy is talking with a mental health professional such as a psychologist. The therapist helps in identifying the changes and unhealthy emotions, behaviour and thoughts. The most common types of psychotherapy available to treat the major depressive disorder condition include cognitive behaviour therapy and interpersonal therapy.
• Rehabilitation: Many times in depression the patient needs to stay in the hospital. This need may become necessary when you are in immediate danger of harming yourself and the people around you. Psychiatric treatment at a rehab centre helps you keep calm and stay safe until your mood improves. Proper counselling and medication are given to the patients to keep the symptoms under control.
• Brain Stimulation Therapies: Doctors might suggest electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to cure depression. In ECT electric currents are passed through the brain that impact the function and effect of neurotransmitters in the brain to relieve depression. While TMS is given to help in mood regulation and depression.

Anxiety Disorders Vs Major Depressive Disorder

Anxiety and depression are both types of mood disorders. Depression causes the feeling of sadness, hopelessness and reduced energy. Anxiety creates feelings of nervousness, worry or dread.
Although both conditions are different they could have the same time. It is normal to feel anxiety and depression from time to time but when these feelings often happen, they interfere with your daily life routine.
However, the major difference between anxiety and depression is their symptoms. Depression leads to persistent feelings of sadness with no interest in doing activities. Anxiety involves fear and worry that you can’t control.

Myths

Several myths about major depressive disorder create stigma and misunderstandings:
Myth: Depression is the same as feeling sadness or grief.
Fact: Depression is a serious mental condition that might cause disability.
Myth: Depression affects everyone in the same way.
Fact: There are various types of depression and people experience it differently.
Myth: Depression only happens when something bad happens to you.
Fact: Depression could develop in different ways.
Myth: Anxiety and depression are the same thing.
Fact: Anxiety and depression could be related but they are two different conditions.
Myth: Depression is an adult disease
Fact: People of any age could suffer from depression.

Living with Major Depressive Disorder

Surprisingly it is very challenging and tiring to accept the fact that a family member is suffering from a mood disorder. Depression is a common and not spoken mental health disease, it is important to understand and help the loved one. Here are some ways that might be useful in helping yourself and your loved ones.

• Self-Care: Doing things that make you feel good is a very good habit in life. For instance, it could be listening to music, getting a massage, sitting in the sun or playing with a pet. Taking simple steps might help you feel good.
• Spend Time with People: It is very important to not isolate yourself for a longer period of time. Try to get together with family and friends on a regular basis. Loneliness and isolation could make the depression worse. It always helps to talk to people who are feeling the same way as you are.
• Connect with Nature: Spending time in natural sunlight is good for uplifting the mood. Living around trees and walking in nature could boost your mood and may even help you live longer. When you see and hear birds and trees then it becomes easier to put the negative thoughts and worries to the side.
• Practice Empathy: It means consistent listening even when you don’t have to listen to what others have to say. It helps your loved ones to trust you and be open with you about various topics. They feel secure while talking to you.

Supporting Somebody with Major Depressive Disorder

It could be challenging to support somebody who is diagnosed with clinical depression. Better to educate yourself about major depressive disorder and take action accordingly.

• Educate Yourself: It becomes easier to support a person when you know the symptoms of clinical depression and what things are triggering the mood swings.
• Encourage Treatment: People might be hesitant to admit clinical depression. It is a good idea to help the individual to opt for the right treatment for depression.
• Be Compassionate: People should learn how to empathise with those who are suffering and avoid prejudicing the patient.
• Provide Emotional Support: Ensure to are present and supportive of your loved one.

How Does Jagruti Rehabilitation Center Help You With Major Depressive Disorder Recovery?

At Jagruti Rehabilitation Centre our team of doctors and therapists are completely qualified to handle the major depressive disorder. We make sure to help individuals recover from major depressive disorder. Our wide range of services and support help individuals to recover from major depressive disorder. Our comprehensive approach includes individualised therapy such as cognitive-behavioural and psychodynamic therapy, medication management when appropriate, and a supportive environment appointed to each person’s needs. We offer group therapy and peer support to reduce isolation and educational programs that enhance better understanding of depression. We make sure to address the physical and emotional health of the patients. Additionally, we provide aftercare and relapse prevention strategies to support long-term recovery.

Major Depressive Disorder Statistics and Facts

As we know depression can happen to anyone. People who live through abuse, severe losses or other stressful events are more likely to develop depression. Some of the statistics are:

• An estimated 3.8 per cent of the population experience depression including 5% of adults (4% among men and 6% among women), and 5.7% of adults older than 60 years.
• Approximately 280 million people in the world have depression.
• Depression is about 50% more common among women than among men. Worldwide, more than 10% of pregnant women and women who have just given birth experience depression.
• More than 700,000 people die due to suicide every year. Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death in 15–29-year-olds.