Probably, each of us in his own way representsthe answer to the question, what is depression. Some people consider it a far-fetched problem, others are a serious illness requiring medical intervention, and for others, depression is simply a fit of bad mood and melancholy. Whatever it was, without a true understanding of this phenomenon with him is very difficult to fight, and it is necessary to do this, because not for nothing is depression called "a disease of the twenty-first century." Almost every inhabitant of a large city in one or another variants encountered manifestations of depression - including you, and that is why information about it will be interesting and useful for you.

Depression as a disease

It all started, as usual, with Hippocrates. As many people know, he described four temperaments, one of which was called melancholic. So, the description of the state of "melancholy" (which in translation from ancient Greek means "black bile") is very close to the modern concept of depression. By the way, Hippocrates even made a scheme for her treatment, which, of course, will surprise the person living in the twenty-first century: tincture of opium, long warm baths, massage, cleansing enemas and, of course, psychological support. Modern medicine calls depression a disease. In the same way as with any other diseases, during depression, the normal vital activity of a person, his working capacity, the desire to interact with other members of society, the quality and duration of life and the ability to adapt to a changing world are disrupted. It belongs to the class of mental disorders and is characterized by the so-called "depressive troika":

• Decreased mood and loss of ability to experience joy;
• Changes in the thinking process: pessimism, negative judgments, negative predictions for the future, etc. ...
• Motor and mental retardation, lethargy and apathy.

Depression refers to emotional disorderssphere. In the world, according to the World Health Organization, at least once in a lifetime, at least ten percent of the population of civilized countries suffered from depression. Most likely, people in undeveloped countries also suffer from it, but no one writes about it - you will agree, in places like Africa, the problems of hunger and vaccination against infections are much more acute than the diagnosis and treatment of depression. It is necessary to say a few words about the diagnosis of depression. Often, it is very difficult due to the fact that many patients are silent about the first symptoms of this disorder. Someone is afraid that he will be considered a psycho, someone is afraid of the appointment and dependence on drugs, someone thinks that depression does not exist at all. But the fact remains: in almost half of cases, depression is diagnosed with a delay. Depression does not develop at the same time: yesterday it was not, and today she knocks a man off his feet and blossoms with a violent color. As a rule, first a person has a single depressive episode. It can be of different severity: light, medium and heavy. In some cases, depression becomes chronic: episodes are repeated at regular intervals. Depression treatment is a separate song. Indeed, in many cases, patients are shown antidepressants. But a good doctor writes them out, having weighed the pros and cons of such treatment, evaluating all the risks and possible consequences. For people suffering from clinical depression, they are necessary, because without adequate treatment, the quality of life of these patients is extremely low. In the treatment of depression, there is almost always an element (and sometimes the main part) of psychotherapy. This is correct, since it is necessary to eliminate the psychological causes of depression and to consolidate the result obtained in the course of treatment. This is the point of view of official medicine on the problem of depression. But do not assume that before you a sick person, hearing from him the words "I have depression." Many people use this term is not in the medical sense, but only to refer to bad mood attacks. It is necessary to understand that clinical depression is always something more than mere melancholy. It includes a number of symptoms, of which we wrote above and still write below, and only the doctor can make the appropriate diagnosis - this should not be forgotten.

Types of depression

So it was led that in Russia depression is calledanything - melancholy, melancholy, melancholy, apathy, sadness, grief, and just a bad mood. No one is interested in the fact that in fact depression is a mental disorder that has its own symptomatology. It is in the case of such a violation that a person should see the doctor and sometimes prescribe antidepressants to him. There are a huge number of types of depression. They differ from each other in the symptoms, causes of the onset and nature of the course. If a person is really sick with depression, then one of the tasks of a psychiatrist is to determine its type with the purpose of prescribing appropriate medication and psychotherapeutic treatment. Of course, readers of our magazine do not need to know them all, however, we think you will be interested in the most common species

Endogenous Depression This is one of the most difficult of itspecies. In Greek, "endogenous" means "coming from within." In the emergence of such a depression does not track the influence of psychological or any other factors - the disease just suddenly manifests itself in all its glory: the patients "hurts the soul", "anguish squeezes the chest as if in vice", "the heart is torn", etc. ... Some scientists associate the occurrence of this type of depression with an imbalance of chemicals in the body, so antidepressants are used as the main medication for it. Endogenous depression is unpleasant because its attack can not be predicted or somehow prevented - it arises by itself, and this significantly reduces the quality of life of the person suffering from it. We will tell you a short story, so that you can better understand the state of a person who is depressed. Maria was twenty-two years old when she first encountered this problem. After graduating from university and starting to work, she began to realize that nothing more pleases her than before. The world was painted not even in black and white, but in dirty gray. Communication with friends, until recently causing a storm of positive emotions, now did not please her. Most of all in the world, Masha wanted to sit at home and look at one point, nowhere else leaving. The saddest thing is that the realization of what was happening came to Masha suddenly. At first it seemed to her that this was all just bad temper. But when on one far from perfect day she could not find the strength to go to work, she had to turn to a therapist. After listening to Masha, he diagnosed "depression." She did not understand how it was, because everything was good in her life! Where did such negative experiences come from? But the doctor explained to her that in some cases depression appears as if out of nowhere, and with this one must learn to live and struggle.

Reactive depression This is the versionprobably for most readers: a person in life is something terrible, out of the ordinary, and he does not stand up and breaks off the coils. This is due to the fact that the strength of the traumatic event is so great that the human psyche reacts to it with a decline in mental activity: joylessness, apathy and anguish. Such events, as a rule, include loss of a loved one, divorce, dismissal, retirement, illness, etc. ... In some cases, only psychotherapy is enough to treat reactive depression. The psychotherapist (or psychologist) discusses with the client the negative circumstances that have developed and together find ways to get out of the depressive state. Various techniques are used, as a result of which the human condition improves, and the ability to enjoy life slowly returns to him. Let us tell you a real story. Irina, a thirty-five-year-old woman from Moscow, as they say, had a good life: her favorite job, a caring husband, a clever daughter, a house is a full cup. What more could you wish for! And one day after picking up the phone, Irina heard in her a stern voice: "Your husband was in an accident ...". Further events are as if in a fog: hospital, resuscitation, sleepless nights. After a week Irina's husband was gone. She did not know how to live with this further: at one point she had everything and suddenly - bam! - she is losing everything. She did not want to get out of bed and go to work, and suicide seemed to be the best way out. It was in this state that Irina was found by her sister, who later took her to a therapist. Then the sessions were tears, anger and grief, but after a while the strong emotions that found the splash began to let Irina go, and she began to accept her loss.

Hidden (larvic) depression O-o-o, this speciesDepression a lot of blood spoiled therapists! It manifests itself in the form of any numerous bodily diseases: headaches, heart pains, muscle pains, insomnia, gynecological and other problems. The patient is subjected to numerous examinations and examinations, as a result of which the doctor often makes a helpless gesture: well, she has no physiological grounds for this kind of symptoms! And in this case, he should think well and direct the girl to a psychotherapist or to a psychiatrist. Hidden depression is a very dangerous thing. It does not appear in the form of a typical decline in mood and depression. Her target is the human body. Yes, most likely, a person will experience periodic attacks of apathy and sadness, but they in his consciousness will be associated with a painful state of health, and not vice versa. After all, he is not a doctor to know about all the relationships! The most interesting is that with adequate selection of treatment, bodily symptoms go away by themselves or with minimal interference. The example is the story of Larisa, a forty-six-year-old accountant. She constantly complained about something: knocking in the heart, wheezing in the lungs, unbending back, heartburn and something else there. The list of her illnesses was so long that it would be enough to stretch along the Great Wall of China. Larissin the usual therapist very long treated Larisa from all these hurts, regularly writing out tablets and procedures. But they had no effect, or it was short-lived. And all this went on until the doctor went on vacation, and Larissa did not get to another therapist. After a quick study of the patient's medical history, he immediately ordered her to go to a psychiatrist. Larissa was initially surprised, but she went to a specialist, and what was her surprise at the diagnosis of depression! She did not want to believe it, but as an obedient patient drank the course of antidepressants, she worked with the psychologist on her personal problems - and about the miracle! - her bodily symptoms decreased noticeably.

Postpartum depression Unfortunately, there are alsosuch. It would seem that it can be more joyful for a woman than the moment of the birth of her child! But in some cases in the mother's body discord occurs, and after giving birth she does not want to see her child, does not feel any positive feelings for herself or for the world at all. To all this adds a grand sense of guilt, because a woman in the brain "sits" the installation: "I'm a bad mother." It is necessary to get rid of this feeling immediately. Postpartum depression is related to the fact that a cocktail of hormones and other chemicals that was in the body of a woman "bombarded" her nerve receptors, causing you to experience joy and other emotions. After giving birth, this cocktail gradually comes out, and the woman in contrast feels bad and devastated. To this fatigue, sharp changes in life and some unpreparedness are added - these are the causes of the emerging depressive state. With this, you have to do something - this state will not pass by itself. It must be said that all women in one way or another experience a spiritual decline after delivery, but in five percent of cases it goes beyond the norm, and a woman needs the help of a specialist. This is what happened at Marina - a young mother who gave birth to her first-born in twenty-three years. She was always distinguished by anxiety, emotionality and sensitivity to life's troubles. But the child always wanted a child and she survived quite easily. But left alone with the baby in the postpartum ward, the young mother realized that she did not feel anything for him. More precisely not, feels - anger and irritation. She was nervous about the crying of the baby, the need to take care of it, to feed and change his diapers. Sometimes Marina could not force herself to approach herself to the baby for hours, and then nurses took him away. The neonatologist, who was told about this condition of the young mother, immediately recommended that she consult a doctor. From him, Marina found out that she was not a bad mother. She just needs help to cope with the problems. A month later, Marina proudly walked in the park with the stroller and did not understand how her heart once could not be torn from tenderness to this sweetly sucking baby.

Seasonal depression Probably, each of usfamiliar spells of blues in autumn and winter. The lack of sunlight and vitamins, a bunch of warm and ugly clothes, dry skin - is not this reason enough to fall into depression? For someone, alas, they become critical. It is these people who experience negative experiences associated with a certain season. For someone it's autumn, for someone it's winter, and some manage to "mope" in the spring. Unfortunately, to remove the cause of such a depression is unlikely to succeed - except that to move to the south. And even then no one can give you guarantees that a drastic change of climate does not mean something more serious. Olya longed for every autumn as she remembered. And if the great Russian poet called her "the eyes of fascination," then for Olya, autumn was and remained a source of anguish, apathy, lethargy - in general, all that was called depression among the people. And for a long time she coped with this problem until her twenty-fifth autumn came. Ole absolutely did not want to communicate with friends, leave the house, work. At the moment when she had thoughts of dismissal, she turned to a psychologist. But he was an adequate specialist, and seeing the girl's first signs of depression, immediately sent her to a psychiatrist. Now every autumn Olya takes light antidepressants - this does not seriously harm her health, but now Olya is no longer afraid of this time of year.

Depression in Psychology

Serious clinical depression is in the sphere ofthe competence of the doctor-psychotherapist and should be treated by him, however, most of the conditions that we used to call depression have psychological roots. Different scientists understand them in different ways, and we want to offer your attention the most interesting and truthful facts. The oldest and most classic direction in psychology is psychoanalysis. Some scientists call him "the father" of all other currents, and the name of Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, has long become a household name. Psychoanalysts believe that the root of all ills, including depression, lies in the subconscious. In the life of each person, there are psychotraumatic events, and we are most affected by them in our deep childhood. For example, a mother rarely took her son in her arms in infancy, because of what he did not have enough of her love and affection. It is possible that in adulthood, he will suffer from depression because of this. Realizing the essence of their problems and their source, getting them out of the subconscious, a person gets the opportunity to overcome his melancholy. As a rule, the source of depression is disrupted development due to conflicts and unconscious fantasies, as a result of which a person turns out to be incapable of normal relations with surrounding people and environment. As a possible cause of depression, psychoanalysts also indicate the loss of a loved object, which can be anything, for example, the mother's breast. As usual, the ideas of psychoanalysts are very bizarre - which, of course, does not mean that they do not work. A lot of other psychological directions came out of the analysis, one of which is called Gestalt therapy. One of its postulates is the healthy adaptation of man to the world: understanding his needs, himself, his way of interacting with others and with the environment. The main sign of depression in this approach is the lack of needs. Most often it is due to the fact that a person simply does not know himself, does not know how to understand his desires and states. Psychotherapy in this case is aimed at gaining new experience, facilitating a meeting with oneself, the ability to peer, listen and understand oneself. A person learns to build life according to his needs, understand what is happening around and enjoy it, lets go of situations that can not be controlled, and is responsible for what depends on him, namely, for his life. It sounds pretty humanistic, does not it? Gestalt therapy is distinguished by attention and love for man, which is often necessary in a depressed state. There are also existential psychologists who have their own view on the origin of depression. They connect it with the loss of a person's life meaning. Many representatives of the species Homo sapiens at least once in their lives and think about what the meaning of life. From the point of view of existentialists, not only the whole of life as a whole has meaning, but every event that is present in it, including suffering. However, a person is so arranged that loss, deprivation and pain seem to him meaningless, and when they happen in his life, depression begins. But as soon as a person finds any sense in these sufferings (for example, the husband of his wife, who died of cancer, finds such a message in her death: she died earlier and did not suffer alone, as if he had died earlier), he immediately it becomes easier, and depression recedes. There are less philosophical concepts. For example, in behavioral psychology, depression is considered the result of a state of prolonged human oppression. He wants or is trying to do something, but he does not get it because of any insuperable obstacles that stand in his way. And if this situation persists for a long time, a person may begin to experience depression. Cognitive psychology argues that the source of depression are the wrong attitudes that people have learned. An example of such an installation may be "I'm a failure" or "I'm bad." Any person experiences his life through the prism of these attitudes, and such a negative opinion of oneself, of course, causes only the most unpleasant and negative experiences. Psychology says that sadness is a normal phenomenon in a person's life, and depression is already something wrong. It is necessary to be able to distinguish one from another, and we will tell you about this difference. Depressive syndrome has the following psychological signs:

• a person loses interest in everything around him;
• he lacks the desire and strength to do anything, and a constant sense of fatigue does not allow even a hint of the slightest activity;
• a person can not concentrate on anything, even in the simplest situations of life: he only looks at everything with a superficial glance;
• feelings of guilt, hopelessness, own uselessness and helplessness become predominant in the emotional sphere of the sufferer;
• sleep and appetite disorders;

Depression and psychosomatics

The soul and body of man are closely and continuously connectedtogether. This speaks about two facts: first, the mental state is able to influence the course of bodily diseases, and, secondly, sensations in the body are capable of causing certain changes in the soul. We all know that if you keep cheerfulness, good spirits and faith in healing, then the body will better fight the disease. For chronic diseases, this means improving the physical condition of the patient, and for the heavy ones, an increase in the likelihood of a cure. Unfortunately, when a person has depression, his body becomes much less resistant to all sorts of bacteria and viruses, all the processes in him begin to flow less harmoniously, which, naturally, negatively affects his state of health. By the way, depression can manifest itself not only in the form of emotional experiences, but also in the form of bodily symptoms. In some cases, they accompany a low mood, and in some even come to the fore - then you can talk about hidden or larviated depression. Such symptoms include:

• feeling of squeezing when eating, nausea;
• a feeling of pressure in the head, headaches;
• tension and pain in the limbs;
• pain and sensation of pressure in the area of ​​the stomach;
• difficulties and discomfort during breathing;
• feeling of squeezing in the heart;

The fact that in these cases the doctor is verylong can pursue an "imaginary enemy" - the physical cause of bodily ailments, assign a bunch of unpleasant and expensive examinations, but do not take into account the presence of depressive syndrome in the patient. You understand, there is no question of any effectiveness of treatment in this case. In some cases, the body and its suffering become the trigger mechanism for the suffering of the soul. Usually, in these circumstances, it is a long and severe illness, often accompanied by severe pain. For example, cancer: cases of depression are not uncommon for people suffering from this disease. When it comes to deadly diseases and a disappointing prognosis, depression is one of the stages through which a person must pass, in order to accept and reconcile with the prevailing circumstances. Of course, in this case, it would not be superfluous to consult a good psychologist. Sometimes the mental and physical illness is very closely intertwined with each other. There is a so-called psychosomatic seven - a list of diseases that, according to scientists, go "from the nerves": ulcer, colitis, ischemia, hypertension, rheumatoid arthritis, neurodermatitis and thyrotoxicosis. In such patients, there is an alternation of the phases of exacerbations of a direct bodily disease and depressive states. In this case, the joint management of the patient by the attending physician and psychologist is necessary.

Conclusion

As every adult knows, life -this is not an amusement park. It has black and white stripes, through which any person passes. Accordingly, and the sadness and joy in our lives is more or less even, and sadness is an absolutely normal reaction to failure and disappointment. But we live in an "anesthetized society" - a society where any pain is incomprehensible and seems unnecessary. You do not want to feel pain - make a shot or eat a pill, and heartache is no exception to this rule. Thus, people forget about the "normality" and "importance" of sadness, and any of its emergence is called depression, although in fact, depression is something more. It is always more or less durable and significantly prevents a person from living. Many describe depressive experiences as life with a sense of hopelessness and doom, or "life with emptiness inside and out." Depression intrudes into a person's daily life and prevents him from eating, drinking, sleeping, communicating and working. If all this in your life is not, if you just become sad and lonely - you do not have depression, but just a difficult period. And it's joyful, because with all this you can manage yourself and get an important and useful experience of overcoming life's difficulties. We advise you to read:

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