In principle, depression can be divided depending on the severity of: mild, deep and depressing stupor (depressive stupor, or the heaviest form). However, we should remember that during the depression, characters can go into one another.
First impression of seeing a person suffering from depression
Already the first contact may give us the suspicion that this person has depression. It gives the impression of a suffering, spiritually wounded person. With his head bowed, avoiding our eyes, he falls heavily on the chair. You can see effort and sadness on your face.
People with depression feel their condition as a feeling of tethered movements and psyche. Usually, such a person is somewhat slowed down with sluggish movements. Although he demonstrates his anxiety, the expression of suffering on the face and resignation in gestures will be the same as in a person who is bound by painfully invisible bonds and as a result, against his will, slowed down.
Depression can also mask well
A light form of depression is often not recognized. It is treated as a period of tiredness, weariness or discouragement. People suffering from depression caused by reactive factors, i.e. caused by an unfortunate event, catastrophe, deception or assault - usually have painful and at the same time fatal felt symptoms. They are frustrated by idle thoughts, recurrent reminders of unhappiness or disappointment they have experienced, which the investigating doctor and contact will not consider a symptom of disease. People abandoned, disappointed by partners, feel "pain in the heart, and a storm and jealousy in their minds".
Resistance of depression to diagnostic medical tests
Depressed people often have the impression that they are somatically ill, that is, they feel pain, intestinal disturbances and other specific ailments that can be found locally. Meanwhile, they are treated by doctors they report to as hypochondriacs. Medical research does not confirm these changes in the activities of "aching" organs in these people. Patients in this period are often victims of medical frauds - healers, bioenergotherapists and others.
The most frequent complaints to the doctor caused by depression:
• precordional pain combined with a feeling of tightness and palpitations
• pressure around the solar plexus (abdominal center), sometimes combined with painful gastrointestinal peristalsis
• complaints about persistent constipation
• pressures, bursting and a sense of rim on the head
• clenching and numbness in the throat
(the order of exchange is related to the frequency of occurrence)
Individual symptoms of depression
A slouched, bent figure, expression of pain on the face, sweating, shaking hands - this is a typical picture of a depressed person. But this is not the end of the palette of symptoms. The number and nature of symptoms to which depressed people complain - is almost unlimited. The disease symptom can refer to any organ and every function of the body. For example, deep depression begins with symptoms similar to those described above, but they quickly become stronger and develop into a disease picture indicating severe suffering. Patients complain of numbness, lack of feelings, inability to think out, inability to work. In this intensity of depression, it may lead to self-harm and suicide attempts. Deep depression may take the form of reduced propulsion, silent suffering, resignation and withdrawal of the patient. Sometimes he cries or despairs, sometimes unable to "cry".
Here are the statements of one of the people treating depression (a married woman, two children, a post worker):
I feel depression coming back. I feel fear and fear above all.Every now and then I feel weak and hot. In my mind, when I think that life does not make sense, it thrills me on my hands and neck. Every few nights I happen to not sleep at all. And in general, I sleep less. The haste is the worst. I can not take life calmly.
Sometimes I have such thoughts when I look at a knife that I could do something to somebody wrong with it! I'm afraid to feel worse or go crazy to not do something similar. Yesterday I had a tremor of my whole body. Fortunately, it lasted only for a short time.
I am constantly afraid that I will be late somewhere. I'm waiting in every nerve for every bus. I became very tearful. Whenever I have to focus on something, it immediately hits my head. Difficult matters at work also put me out of balance. As I felt good, I bought a plot of land in the countryside with a meadow and now I'm afraid I will not be able to do all this. How many times I am now on the plot, I cry that there are so many weeds, and I have no power to deal with all this. I do not think I will be any more?
The deepest form of depression is depressive stupor.
The patient does not reveal any physical activity at this time. You can not make a verbal contact with him. The facial expression is frozen, suffering. Does not accept food, does not empty. It must then be fed by the probe. Such depression requires intensive hospital treatment.
Anglo-Saxon doctors use a diagnostic scheme to help differentiate between depression.
They use the abbreviation SIGECAPS for this purpose, ie a set of symptoms that occur in depression. Their incompleteness indicates that perhaps our patient has fits of anxiety or other forms of neurosis.
S (sleep) - Insomnia or increased drowsiness
I (interest) - No interest or no pleasure in life
G (guilt) - A sense of guilt or hopelessness
E (energy) - Apathy, lack of life energy
C (concentration) - Concentration, difficulty in focusing attention
A (appetite) - Lack of appetite, appetite
P (physical activity) - Activity disorder: agitation or its reduction
S (suicide) - Suicide - thoughts or suicide attempts
In accordance with commonly accepted and recognized criteria, the occurrence of five of the symptoms described above allows the patient to recognize true depression.
International diagnostic criteria for developing depression
• lowered mood
• loss of interests and ability to feel pleasure
• loss of energy, fatigue, apathy
• pessimism about the future
• sleep disorders
• reduced appetite
• lowering concentration
• low self-esteem
• feeling guilty
• thoughts of suicide
International diagnostic criteria for developing depression, so-called ICD-10, identify the disease if the doctor finds at least 2 of the above-mentioned symptoms, for a period of two weeks or longer.
A message from the author for the reader
Depression is an emotional state characterized by sadness, less activity and the inability to enjoy life. It is one of the most common psychological problems. The whole of the study presented on our website presents typical symptoms of depression as well as its various variants. In the following chapters, we also describe how to deal with this disease and how to deal with a person suffering from depression. The characteristics of depression are enriched by authentic statements of patients, descriptions of their ailments and difficulties in overcoming the disease. The author has been conducting extensive private practice for years, in which depressive patients make up the majority of applicants.
Dr. Janusz Krzyżowski, MD, psychiatrist
