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Hello! Recurrent depressive disorder is a fairly common disease in which a person suffers only occasionally. That is, for moments he feels healthy and happy, after which the condition worsens, causing all the symptoms of depression, after which a completely normal period begins again, until the exacerbation returns. And today we will learn what causes it and how to recognize it.
General characteristics and symptoms
This mental disorder is included in the International Classification of Diseases of the tenth revision, abbreviated as ICD-10. Various diseases in it under certain codes, and recurrent depression belongs to F33. Severities are recognized by subclassing.
For example, a severe episode without psychotic symptoms is F33.2. It usually lasts from a few weeks to a maximum of several months, after which relief comes, the condition improves and recovers until the next episode occurs.
The very course of exacerbation can sometimes be imperceptible, depends directly on the stage of the lesion. There are situations when, along with the symptoms indicated below, a manic disorder also occurs (temporary irritability, up to speech acceleration), then specialists change the diagnosis to bipolar affective disorder.
What signs can be used to diagnose
- The person feels constant fatigue, although there are no reasons for fatigue, that is, additional loads, work, training or illness. From the very morning, just by opening her eyes, she realizes that the energy in the body is minimal.
- The mood, accordingly, is steadily lowered. Pain, sadness, a feeling of emptiness inside and a lack of hope for positive changes and improvements can be tracked.
- Disappears interest and pleasure in something that used to please. That is, work, hobbies, relationships with loved ones cease to excite.
- You can also notice that the self-esteem of such a person falls along with his mood. That is, he abruptly and for no reason ceases to believe in himself and his strength.
- Aggression and anger directs inward, constantly condemning himself for any misconduct, behavior and even thoughts. But not only condemns and criticizes, but also harms, in the form of body damage, up to committing suicide.
- Often there are symptoms such as loss of appetite, the occurrence of insomnia, or sleep disturbances.
- Lack of prospects for the future. That is, thinking becomes so pessimistic that a person is able to notice only the negative, failures, and also focus only on them.
- It becomes difficult to concentrate on even completely simple things that did not cause difficulty before.
- Sometimes you can notice that the person has become closed and uncommunicative, irritable. Unexpectedly for everyone, he shows outbursts of anger, and reacts powerfully to all sorts of little things.
- Somatics makes itself felt, that is, physical sensations of unclear origin. For example, migraine, pain in the abdomen, joints, muscles, although for health reasons there are no problems with the organs in which discomfort arose. Sexual interest suddenly disappears, that is, libido decreases.
- The process of thinking slows down, and it becomes difficult for the patient to calculate and solve those tasks that he usually coped with lightly.
- The difficulty is manifested in the fact that often a person, after visiting a specialist who has prescribed a certain treatment, increases the dose of antidepressants, counting on the fact that mood and well-being will improve much faster. This is very dangerous and causes a number of symptoms that indicate an overdose of medications.
Degrees in ICD-10
- Light degree F33.0.
• Without somatic manifestations, or, if they are, they are not clearly expressed.
• With somatic manifestations, when several severe and complex, or more than 4, but insignificant.
- Average F33.1. It is characterized, as in the previous version, with a slight difference — to the main features (the first three indicated), several additional ones are added.
- Severe F33.2 (without psychotic symptoms), and, accordingly, F33.3 (with psychotic manifestations, that is, delirium, stupor, hallucinations, etc.).
- Remission. It is diagnosed in the case when the patient has had several episodes of recurrent depression in the past, but for several months his state of health is consistently good and does not arouse suspicion.
Causes
Psychiatry is not particularly able to identify the exact causes, but there are a number of factors that have a direct impact on the appearance of this disease.
So, etiological factors:
- Endogenous — a genetic predisposition, that is, it is inherited.
- Psychogenic — in the form of a reaction to some traumatic event, sometimes even minor stress and overwork.
- Organic — head injuries, past infections, which gave complications to the brain. Intoxication with various toxic substances, oncological diseases, etc.
Diagnosis and treatment
It most often affects women, especially those over the age of 40. The diagnosis is made in case of manifestation of at least two episodes lasting from 14 days. The complexity of recognition lies in the similarity with schizoaffective disorder, bipolar. Treatment usually includes the following methods (taking into account the individual characteristics of the patient, as well as the degree of damage):
- With mild forms, psychotherapy helps, both individual and group, that is, with people who have encountered the same problems, and are able to understand each other, support and share recommendations about what helped them cope in difficult moments.
- Antidepressants. Usually used in cases of moderate severity, along with psychotherapy.
- Electroconvulsive therapy — performed under general anesthesia, when psychosis appears and the condition is severe. Its essence is that they pass a charge of electricity through the patient’s brain, which helps to improve his well-being in the future. Since there is a risk of memory loss, it is carried out only after the written consent of the depressed person.
- Transcranial magnetic stimulation is the treatment of the brain with a magnetic field.
- Transcranial application — application of a constant weak current to the head area.
- Electrical impulses that act on the vagus nerve, which improves the overall picture of the disease.
- Among other things, experts recommend sticking to a certain diet. For example, eat more oily fish to stimulate the production of serotonin. Also go in for sports and spiritual practices, meditation and relaxing breathing techniques will come in handy. Learn more from this article.
Conclusion
And that’s all for today, dear readers! Take care of yourself and be healthy, and in case of doubts about your health, be sure to consult a specialist, do not self-medicate, it is not safe.