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DEPRESSION
1 Inservice Hour
OBJECTIVES:
At
the end of this class, you will be able to: 1.list and describe several kinds of depression, 2.discuss the signs of depression, and 3.relate the treatment of depression. INTRODUCTION
Everyone feels blue or sad once in a
while, but these feelings go away and pass within a couple of minutes, hours or
days. Depression is when these feelings do not go away
in a short period of time. It is a very common and very serious problem. It
stops the person from being able to function normally. It stops them from
having a normal life. It causes the person, and the people around them, to have
a lot of pain unless it is treated with therapy, medications and other things. THE KINDS OF
DEPRESSION There are a couple of kinds, or forms.
The most common are major depression and dysthymic disorder. Major depression This type usually affects a person
through out their whole life. It comes and goes. It stops the person from
having a normal life and being happy. The person may have trouble eating,
sleeping, working and having friends. At times it can be very severe and even
lead to the person kiling themself (suicide). Dysthymic disorder This form is less severe than the
major form and it may only occur once during a person’s life. The one episode
may last two years or even longer but the person can continue to function and
have an almost normal life but they are often sad. Psychotic depression This is a severe form because the
person not only has the depression but they are also are out of touch with
reality and they may have hallucinations and delusions. For example, the person
may hear voices or they may think that they are a great person like Abe
Lincoln. Postpartum depression This form happens to a new mother
about a month or so after they have a baby. Some say that about 10% to 15% of
new mothers get it. It is also called the “baby blues”.
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) This form affects people during the
winter months when they is less sunlight. It also
happens in places like Bipolar disorder This form is also known as
manic-depression. The person with this form will have wide mood swings from
extreme highs, or mania, to extreme lows, or depression. WHAT ARE THE SIGNS OF
DEPRESSION?
A person may feel: ·
sad; ·
helpless; ·
hopeless; ·
guilty; ·
worthless; ·
irritable; ·
like they have no interest in anything
at all; ·
restless; ·
tired and always sleepy; and/or ·
like they want to kill themself The person may also not be able to
think well or focus on things the way that they should. They may lose interest
in the things that they used to like and enjoy. They may not be able to sleep
or they may sleep all of the time. Some cannot eat and may lose weight and
others may over eat and gain weight. Many also have constant complaints of
aches, pains, headaches and stomach problems. OTHER ILLNESSES
FOUND WITH DEPRESSION
Depression is very often found with
other illness. Some may come before it; some may lead to it, or cause it; and
still others may happen as the result of it. For example, people with a mental
health problem like an obsessive–compulsive disorder, a panic disorder, or a
medical problem like heart disease, stroke, cancer, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, and
Parkinson's disease may often have depression. Alcohol and other substances may
be used by the person because they think that these things will make them feel
better. This is not true. These things make it worse. Some studies show that people who are depressed, in addition to another serious
medical illness, tend to have the worst symptoms of both the depression and
their medical illness. It is also known that treating the depression will help
the treatment of the medical illness as well. It is important, therefore, to
treat it. WHAT CAUSES IT? There is no one single known cause. It
can come from a number of things like one’s genes (it may run in families),
chemical imbalance in the brain, external things like stressors and losses, and
emotional problems. This mental illness is a disorder of
the brain. In fact, the MRIs of people with depression show that the areas of
the brain that are used for mood, thinking, sleep, appetite and behavior are not
normal. Trauma, major stress and a major loss,
like the death of a husband or wife, the loss of a body part like a leg, can
also lead to it. HOW IT AFFECTS PEOPLE
Women are more prone to it than men
for a number of reasons including their hormones (PMS, menopause) and the fact
that they give birth to babies (“baby blues”). Men with it tend to have more fatigue,
irritability, loss of interest in activities, and sleep disturbances than
women. Women tend to have more feelings of sadness, worthlessness and guilt
than men with it have. Men are more likely than women to turn
to alcohol or drugs when they are depressed. More women than men attempt
suicide, but more men than women die by suicide in our country. Men are more
successful than women. Many older people have depression. It
is NOT a normal part of aging but it is often not seen by the doctor because
the older person may not admit that they are sad and they may have other
diseases with the same signs. For example, a person with heart disease may feel
tired in just the same way that a person with depression may feel. Also, many
medicines cause the same signs as depression does. Men 85 years old and older
have the highest suicide rate of all. Even children can be depressed and,
when it does occur, it can continue through adult years if it is not treated.
This young child may: ·
always be “sick”, ·
not want to go to school, ·
always want to be with or cling to a
parent, and/or ·
worry that a parent may die. As the child gets older, the child may
be moody, irritable, negative, and get into trouble in school and not have any
friends. Before puberty, boys and girls are just as likely to develop it. Girls
are twice as likely as boys to have depression after the age of 15. Teenagers
are at great risk for suicide. HOW IS IT TREATED Depression can be treated with a
number of different things. The two most common things are medicines and
therapy. Medicines
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