Depression Health Article

Definition

Depression is the general name for a family of illnesses known as depressive disorders. Depression is an illness that affects not only the mood and thoughts, but also the physical functions of affected individuals. Depressive disorders usually result from a combination of genetic, environmental, and psychological factors.

Description

Everyone feels sadness, grief, or despair at some point in their lives. However, unlike these normal, transient emotional states, a depressive disorder is not a temporary bout of "feeling down" but rather a serious disease that should be recognized and treated as a medical condition. Without treatment, a depressive disorder can persist and its symptoms can go on for weeks, months, or years. The three most common types of depression are dysthymia or dysthymic disorder, major depression, and bipolar disorder.

Depression is quite widespread and one of the leading causes of disability in the world. Commonly recognized symptoms of all types of depressive disorders are recurring feelings of sadness and guilt, changes in sleeping patterns such as insomnia or oversleeping, changes in appetite, decreased mental and physical energy, unusual irritability, the inability to enjoy once-favored activities, difficulty in working, and thoughts of death or suicide. If only these "down" symptoms are experienced, the individual may suffer from a unipolar depressive disorder such as dysthymia or major depression. If the depressed periods alternate with extreme "up" periods, the individual may have a bipolar disorder.

Dysthymia is a relatively mild depressive disorder that is characterized by the presence of two or more of the symptoms listed above. The symptoms are not severe enough to disable the affected individual, but are long-term (chronic), and may last for several years. Dysthymia is a compound word originating in Greek that means ill, or bad, (dys-) soul, mind, or spirit (thymia). Individuals affected with dysthymia often also experience episodes of major depression at some point in their lives.

In major depression, the affected individual has five or more symptoms and experiences one or more prolonged episodes of depression that last longer than two weeks. These episodes disrupt the ability of the affected individual to the point that the person is unable to function. Individuals experiencing an episode of major depression often entertain suicidal thoughts, the presence of which contribute to this disorder being quite serious. Major depression should not be confused with a grief reaction such as that associated with the death of a loved one. Some individuals affected by major depression may experience only a single bout of disabling depression in their lifetimes. More commonly, affected individuals experience recurrent disabling episodes throughout their lives.

Bipolar disorder, formerly called manic depression or manic-depressive illness, is not nearly as common as major depression and dysthymia. Bipolar disorder is associated with alternating periods of extreme excitement (mania) and periods of extreme sadness (depression). The rate of the transition between cycles is usually gradual, but the mood swings may also be severe and dramatically rapid. When in the depressive state, the bipolar disorder affected individual may show any or all of the common symptoms of depression. In the manic state, the bipolar disorder affected individual may feel restless and unnaturally elated, have an overabundance of confidence and energy, and be very talkative. Mania can distort social behavior and judgment, causing the affected individual to take excessive risks and perhaps make imprudent decisions that can have humiliating or damaging consequences. Without medical treatment, bipolar disorder may progress into psychosis.

Depressive disorders are believed to be related to imbalances in brain chemistry, particularly in relation to the chemicals that carry signals between brain cells (neurotransmitters) as well as the hormones released by parts of the brain. Serotonin and neuroepinephrine are two important neurotransmitters. Disruption of the brain's circuits in areas involved with emotions, appetite, sexual drive, and sleep is a likely cause of the dysfunctions associated with depressive disorders. Thus, some of the newest treatments for depression are drugs that are known to have an effect on brain chemistry.