There are many different types of depression. Events in your life cause some and chemical changes in your brain cause others. Whatever the cause, the first step is to let your doctor know how you feel. You may be referred to a mental health specialist to help you determine the type of depression you have.
There are different types of depressive disorders. Symptoms can range from relatively mild (but still disabling) to very severe, so it's helpful to know the variety of conditions and their specific symptoms. Dysthymia (persistent depressive disorder) is a type of mild and long-lasting depression. People suffering from dysthymia experience symptoms that are less severe than those experienced by patients with MDD.
Because the symptoms of dysthymia last so long and may not have a major impact on your life, you may not even realize you have the condition. Bipolar disorder is a type of depression in which a patient oscillates between periods of abnormally elevated mood (mania) and depressive episodes. Since bipolar disorder includes periods of mania as well as depression, treatment is different from MDD, which does not include mania. This helps prevent the intense ups and downs associated with bipolar disorder.
Talk therapy can also help you recognize what triggers mania and depression and help you better manage your symptoms. Medicines may not work for some people with psychotic depression. Therefore transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is sometimes recommended. EMT treatment stimulates prefrontal cortex cells with electromagnetic pulses.
Postpartum Depression Affects Some Mothers After Childbirth. You may have heard it called “postpartum melancholy,” although it is more serious than sadness. People with major depression experience symptoms most of the day, every day. These symptoms can last for weeks or even months.
Some people may have a single episode of major depression, while others experience it throughout their lives. Regardless of how long symptoms last, major depression can cause problems with your relationships and daily activities. Persistent depressive disorder is depression that lasts 2 years or more. People may also refer to this as dysthymia or chronic depression.
Persistent depression may not feel as intense as major depression, but it can still strain relationships and make daily tasks difficult. Persistent depression lasts for years in a row, so people with this type of depression may begin to feel that their symptoms are only part of their normal view of life. Some people with major depression may experience periods of psychosis. This may involve hallucinations and delusions.
Medical professionals refer to this as major depressive disorder with psychotic characteristics. However, some providers still refer to this phenomenon as depressive psychosis or psychotic depression. Similar to perinatal depression, PMDD may be related to hormonal changes. Your symptoms often start right after ovulation and begin to subside once you have your period.
Situational depression, or adjustment disorder with depressed mood, resembles major depression in many ways. Not only is depression difficult to endure, it is also a risk factor for heart disease and dementia. Depressive symptoms can occur in adults for many reasons. If you experience cognitive or mood changes that last more than a few weeks, it's a good idea to contact your doctor or see a mental health specialist to help determine possible causes, says Dr.
Nancy Donovan, Psychiatry Instructor at Harvard Medical School. The classic type of depression, major depression, is a state in which a dark mood consumes everything and you lose interest in activities, even those that are usually pleasurable. Symptoms of this type of depression include difficulty sleeping, changes in appetite or weight, loss of energy, and feeling worthless. Thoughts of death or suicide may occur.
It is usually treated with psychotherapy and medication. For some people with severe depression that is not relieved by psychotherapy or antidepressant medications, electroconvulsive therapy may be effective. Formerly called dysthymia, this type of depression refers to low mood that has lasted at least two years but may not reach the intensity of major depression. Many people with this type of depression can function day by day, but they feel depressed or joyless most of the time.
Other depressive symptoms may include changes in appetite and sleep, lack of energy, low self-esteem or hopelessness. Major depressive disorder and persistent depressive disorder are two of the most common types of depression people experience, however, there are many types of depression. Most mood disorders have major depressive episodes in common. This is also true for bipolar disorder, another type of mood disorder.
People who have major depressive disorder have had at least one major depressive episode (five or more symptoms for at least a two-week period). For some people, this disorder is recurrent, meaning that they may experience episodes once a month, once a year, or several times throughout their lives. People with recurrent episodes of major depression are sometimes said to have unipolar depression (or what was once called “clinical depression”), because they only experience periods of low or depressed mood. Persistent depressive disorder (formerly dysthymia) is a chronic, ongoing state of low-level depression.
The depressive state of persistent depressive disorder is not as severe as that of major depression, but it can be just as disabling. Postpartum depression is characterized by feelings of sadness, indifference, exhaustion and anxiety that a woman may experience after the birth of her baby. It affects one in 9 women who have had a child and can affect any woman, regardless of age, race or economic status. People diagnosed with bipolar disorder have mood swings that include both low (bipolar depression) and high levels (called mania if severe or hypomania if mild).
When people experience the minimums of bipolar disorder (bipolar depression), their symptoms are very similar to what a person with unipolar depression might experience. Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) usually begins in late fall and early winter and dissipates during spring and summer. Summer-related depressive episodes can occur, but are much less common than winter episodes of SAD. Psychotic depression occurs when psychotic characteristics, such as hallucinations and delusions, are accompanied by a major depressive episode, although psychotic symptoms generally have a depressive theme such as guilt, worthlessness, and death.
Bipolar disorder is a mood disorder characterized by periods of abnormally elevated mood known as mania. These periods can be mild (hypomania) or they can be so extreme that they cause a marked deterioration in a person's life, require hospitalization, or affect a person's sense of reality. The vast majority of people with bipolar disorder also have episodes of major depression. The person experiences chronic fluctuating moods for at least two years, including periods of hypomania (a mild to moderate level of mania) and periods of depressive symptoms, with very short periods (no more than two months) of normal between.
Depression Levels Relating to HRSD and BDI in Guideline Update Compared to APA Suggested (2000b). However, a person with PMDD may experience a level of depression and sadness that gets in the way of day-to-day functions. . .
