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Nowadays, many people struggle with broadly understood depression. Constantly experiencing stress, living in a constant rush give rise to a sense of incompatibility, inability to find oneself in the chaos of the surrounding reality. While classically understood depression is a well-known and classified disease entity, its specific form – masked depression – is not mentioned directly in the medical records. It is characterized by ambiguous symptoms, which makes it difficult to diagnose clinically. Despite the fact that symptoms such as constant depression of mood, minimization of psychomotor activity, disturbance in perceiving oneself and the world are often observed, these are very often not unambiguous symptoms. So how do you uncover masked depression? How not to overlook the ailments associated with it?
Masked depression – symptoms
Significant for latent depression is that it hides under the mask of other ailments or diseases, thus making the diagnostician’s task difficult. Very often, people who seek help from a doctor describe their condition as a feeling of constant tension, increased anxiety and irritability, and the emergence of anxiety. These symptoms describe it perfectly depression in the classic edition, which causes potential patients to think they have neurosis. In addition, there is sadness, melancholy, low self-esteem, lack of willingness and energy to make minimal effort. Vegetative symptoms and other symptoms direct the diagnostician to look for causes beyond depressionwhich is related to that depressive symptoms they are also masked by disturbing the efficiency of other body functions. The most common case of atypical depression – that is masked depression – is postpartum depression.
Latent depression – how not to confuse it with another ailment?
Latent depression similar to the classic one depression cyclical recurrence of symptoms. It is often an introduction to the traditional form depression or her return. What is the patient’s most common concern? Usually these are problems with night insomnia and excessive daytime sleepiness. There are also fears and panic attacks, which is often confused with neurotic disorders. Another affliction, manifesting itself in a similar way as atypical depression is obsessive-compulsive neurosis, which is characterized by struggling with intrusive, aggravating thoughts, a series of compulsive behaviors. Sometimes masked depression lies behind the symptomatic symptoms and reluctance to eat – which mistakenly suggests that you are dealing with anorexia. In addition, there are also various fears and impulse reaching for various stimulants – alcohol or medication abuse. This is the most common type atypical depression – means abortifacient depression additionally, it makes itself felt by signals from the autonomic system. Patients have a problem with maintaining balance, attacks of weakness, dizziness, lack of breath, shortness of breath, disturbed digestion. Usually, then, a somatic disease is suspected, which definitely moves away from the diagnosis latent depression. Another mistaken diagnosis that is made when misdiagnosed masked depression is qualifying a number of disturbing symptoms as a depressive episode. A depressive episode is often associated with a depressed mood, the appearance of various fears, lack of interest in the outside world, while masked depression is often accompanied by additional symptoms – appetite disorders, changes in the way of thinking, hormonal imbalance. All these factors can indicate different causes and disease entities.
Masked depression – diagnosis and treatment
If the patient develops somatic ailments, first of all, tests should be performed to exclude diseases of this origin. Usually, patients have persistent problems with sleep, which causes them to reach for the help of an internist and receive emergency help without solving the underlying problem, which lies somewhere else. Much easier with latent depression for a proper diagnosis if a close relative has had this disease. The simplest, although certainly in the absence of certainty about the diagnosis, risky action is to administer antidepressants and check their effect. If after a few weeks the symptoms pass, then the diagnosis of the finding masked depression turns out to be hit.