What Is Depression Depression is a condition that is frequently encountered (one hundred million individuals worldwide according to WHO), whose diagnosis is based on three pillars: fatigue (physical and psychological) up to apathy, avolition; sadness with a sense of emotional anesthesia, up to the idea of death; the slowdown, vitality, desire to do, possibly accompanied by autonomic disorders. The links between depression and fatigue are so narrow that it is impossible not to study - at least briefly - the first part of this book. However, I do not have the ambition to provide immediate responses and relatively easy to put into practice, because depression is a disease often too serious to be treated without the help of a specialist. The purpose of the proposed test in the first part and the pages that follow is simply to help the reader make a self-assessment: the symptoms he observed in himself or not they indicate a depressive tendency? In the next chapter, I will outline the different types of quick ideas possible. Depression is usually associated with a sense of loss, it may be mourning, bankruptcy, theft, loss of self-esteem, severe disappointment, etc.. If the cause is external, it is internalized so profound that one can define depression as a mental pain experienced from within. It is injury, tearing, pain irresistible. The first effects are fatigue and the appearance of somatic disorders, which explains the presence of several issues related to physical factors in the Hamilton test. THE ANXIO-DEPRESSIVE SYNDROME In the vast majority of cases, depression is associated with anxiety, it is very rare to find a topic that is not anxious or depressed. The ratio between the two components also often follows an alternation chronobiological: anxiety dominates the night and causes difficulty falling asleep; depression prevails in the morning, waking up too arousing morning and forcing the subject to stay in bed not to face a world cold, hard and incapable of understanding (clinophilia). A depressed person will present a number of telltale symptoms of anxiety. Although sharp distinctions are questionable, it is customary to group them into three broad categories: Signs indicate autonomic disturbances in the "tension" of the autonomic nervous system that controls the lives of organs. The most common are eating disorders, feelings of constriction and tightness in the throat and chest pain (neck, back, etc.)., Headache, pallor the, sweating, dry mouth, changes in blood pressure, digestive disorders (diarrhea, constipation, flatulence, abdominal pain). Psychopathological signs are inner restlessness, nervousness, impression persecution, a sense of
threat imprecise apprehension of unpleasant events indeterminate, disorders of libido and sexuality, sleep disorders. Psycho-motor signs are visible to an outside observer. Thus, it is sometimes said seeing up close: "You look depressed this morning". Sometimes this facial expression, if it is repeated, eventually dig a network of wrinkles between omega-shaped eyebrows. In addition to depressed facies attacks agitation followed by phases of depression: the subject is sometimes prostrate, as if overcome by evil that gnaws. REACTION OR CHRONIC DEPRESSION The form of interest in the context of this book is neurotic depression, and in particular reaction. It is consecutive to a situation generating discomfort. For example, the death of a loved one: a few days, or even hours, "something broke" the deepest being, causing sadness, depression, and preventing any reaction. The wound is sometimes felt so violent that it is possible to speak of shock, stupor, the blow can even hit the brunt of the organic functions and "paralyze" the victim. However, as the number of injuries, grief ends with normally healing. There is no rule in this area, but we can estimate three to six months is the time needed for a mourning. All therapies can be implemented then aim to make this time less painful and especially to accelerate the natural healing process. It is much more severe endogenous depression, that is to say, the permanent tendency to depression. Autonomic symptoms are more marked, as well as psycho-pathological signs and psycho-motor (facies). Control methods are specialized and require mandatory intervention of a psychiatrist. Finally, depression is sometimes the first expression of a physical illness, eg a tumor. We leave here the scope of this book, but it is an opportunity to highlight the importance of medical check on the physical view. STRESS AND DEPRESSION To try to understand the nature and mechanisms of depression, it may be useful to consider in its report to stress. Indeed, the same event can cause opposing reactions. If we take the example of a job loss and financial difficulties arising from this precarious situation, the subject will be stressed worried or very worried he will lose sleep, appetite, he will experience all kinds of physical and psychological disorders, but the problem will not affect him on the outside superficially. Insofar as its psychological defense structures remain intact, it may be another front in seeking work, by borrowing, finding a solution. As the animal is cornered, the stressed person retains the flavor of life and finds unexpected strength to fight. This is typically a general adaptation syndrome described by Hans Seylie, with return to normal in a relatively in a short time. Instead, the subject is depressed as transfixed by the event, he feels completely helpless and lower his arms. Suffering is so deeply internalized that willingness to fight and vitality are
practically annihilated. Such opposition is of course a caricature, as we know, can be both be stressed and depressed, it nevertheless reflects two major trends of human nature. One may wonder why some people are particularly vulnerable to destabilization, why the same event as different reactions occur depending on the individual. We can consider three explanations: It is clear that biology provides some answers. The gene plays an important role, although it alone can determine the attitude of an individual in a given situation. The pharmacogenetic studies demonstrate the role of our genetic heritage as the type of response in the response to medical treatment available. We are obviously not all identical in terms of DNA. Childhood is also subject to criticism, because it will react according to his personality, that is to say, the character formed during the first years of life and dependent relationship between the parents, the atmosphere emotional some trauma, grief earlier, etc.. We're talking about print, since the work of Konrad Lorenz, taken from the concept as ethnology. Culture in which the subject is changing also determines its behavior. Climate, religion, historical, economic, social should be taken into account. It is known that the suicide rate is higher among certain people at certain times, there are real epidemics of suicide, identified by historians. Explanation does not mean determinism depression is not programmed. A fragile person because of his heredity may well resist depression with a positive emotional climate, as well, a subject predisposed because of his personal history can be found in the genetic defenses or the education he received. Finally, the knowledge and respect of the factors described in this book are all potential aid to overcome a depressive reaction time. SENSE OF MISUNDERSTANDING AND IDEA OF DEATH The depression is a personal, deeply internalized, but it is made even more unbearable by the relationships established with others. Depressed people express the feeling of almost all'' being misunderstood by their families and their friends. They repeat all day long: "You only have to take upon thee Make an effort, You have to shake you! " The more "understanding" advise seemingly logical for someone in good health, but absurd for a patient: "You should change your mind. Why do not you take a vacation?" These thoughts return wholesale to tell a person who broke both legs, "Why are you in bed?" Even if the intention is good, we forget that a holiday may aggravate the wound inner healing and is certainly not a simple matter of "will". Meet such an attitude is an additional test for subjects experiencing a depressive state. In addition, they tend to interpret the outside world as hostile. They see the indifference where there is sympathy, they are indifferent to animosity. The feeling of incomprehension, based on actual behavior can degenerate into feelings of
persecution, fully interpreted. The depressed subject is contained in itself, communication becomes impossible with others. Thus includes attraction to death that often accompanies the most severe cases, they are reactive or endogenous. Life loses interest, any flavor, in addition, the grief is so painful that the subject search for a way to end it. The absence of dialogue with others, the feeling of being a stranger on earth are also in the direction of suicide, and finally, other factors may be added, such as guilt, loss of esteem self. Beyond a certain threshold, the idea of death itself as the only way out. This is why depression, even when it does not seem serious at first glance, it should still be followed closely. In some cases, hospitalization is necessary in the critical period. http://dalethompson.livejournal.com/613.html