Major Depressive Disorder
Major Depressive Disorder:
Have you ever experienced rapid mood changes like you were feeling good in a moment and in very next you were deeply sad and depressed? then you might be suffering from a mood disorder
The major depressive disorder is a mood disorder characterized by rapid change in mood, emotional changes and negative thoughts lasting for more than two weeks.
Sign and Symptoms:
Here are few signs and symptoms which happen in Major Depressive Disorder
- Depressed mood most of the day and almost every day
- Sleep disturbance like insomnia or hypersomnia
- Insomnia is a condition in which a person is unable to sleep
- Hypersomnia is a condition in which a person feels sleepy all the time and unable to wake
- Loss of interest
- Interest is lost in almost everything, the condition becomes miserable.
- Inability to feel pleasure
- Nothing makes you feel happy
- Feeling of worthlessness and guilt.
- One finds no purpose in life. One may think suicidal
- Fatigue or low energy
- Decreased concentration in tasks
- Increased or decreased appetite
- Thoughts of death and suicide contemplation
Incidence and Causing Factors:
- Its lifetime incidence is 5-10%
- Female are more affected to males and the ratio is 2:1
- Greatest incidence is between the age of 20 to 40 years
- It may happen due to an interpersonal loss in life
- Thinking disability, or cognitive distortions
- It may result due to the deficiency of Serotonin and norepinephrine
- Serotonin and Norepinephrine are neurotransmitters which help the message to be transported from the brain to other parts of the body and vice versa
- Neuroendocrine disorders
- These are the disorders of hormones secretion which affect brain functioning.
- It may more occur in twins
- More occur in monozygotic twins than dizygotic twins
Treatment:
There are multiple treatments factors for the major depressive disorder
Psychotherapy:
It includes
- Supportive therapy
- A person is given time and support from friends and family members
- Cognitive behavioral therapy
- Thinking of person is tried to be changed by brainwashing or media
- Bried interpersonal therapy
Pharmacotherapy:
In this drugs are prescribed to the person. Various drugs are prescribed like
- Antidepressants, Tricyclic antidepressants e.g Amitryptiline, Nortryptyline
- SSRIs( Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitors) like Fluoxetine, Fluvoxamine Paroxetine, Citalopram, Escitalopram
- SSRI helps increase the level of neurotransmitter 'Serotonin' which elevates mood.
- SNRIs like venlafaxine. They also increase the messenger from the brain to body and vice versa which makes a person feel good.
- MAOs (Mono Amine Oxidases) There function is almost the same as above drugs. They block the enzyme which decreases the neurotransmitters. In return Neurotransmitter level is increased which is euphoric.
Major Depressive Disorder resistant to these combinations are treated by Electroconvulsive therapy
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