Depression
A mental health disorder characterized by persistently depressed mood or loss of interest in activities, causing significant impairment in daily life.
Possible causes include a combination of biological, psychological, and social sources of distress. Increasingly, research suggests these factors may cause changes in brain function, including altered activity of certain neural circuits in the brain.
The persistent feeling of sadness or loss of interest that characterizes major depression can lead to a range of behavioral and physical symptoms. These may include changes in sleep, appetite, energy level, concentration, daily behavior, or self-esteem. Depression can also be associated with thoughts of suicide.
The mainstay of treatment is usually medication, talk therapy, or a combination of the two. Increasingly, research suggests these treatments may normalize brain changes associated with depression.
Cluster Number:
Wiki Number: W058
Diagnoses: Depression
US Patients:
World Patients: 300Mil; 4.4%
Sex Ratio: M;W+
Age Onset:
Brain Area:
Symptoms: low mood and aversion to activity; loss of pleasure;
Effects: the leading cause of disability world-wide;
Causes: childhood adversity ,unequal treatment of siblings, abuse; adult work-or-family stress, medical diagnosis, unemployment
Medications: antidepressants should not be used with initial encounters; long-term depression can benefit from medical help
Therapies: exercise, fond memories; self-help books;
Youtube Video: “I’m Fine” Learning to Live with Depression
Amazon or Library Book:
The Upward Spiral
Amazon or Library Book:
The Vulnerable Man
Click the book to link or order from Amazon.
Click the book to link or order from Amazon.
Jim Lohr’s Download, Lifting My Depression, is available for sale
in the “Blue Box” in this website.
You can download this program from the “Blue Box”
in the right column of the website.
Support Group: dsballiance.org; 800-326-3632
(Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance)
Their website has support groups linked by zip-code
and by state; some face-to-face and some online.
Contact your local Social Security office for possible Disability Benefits through their Disability Determination Services, Section 12.04.
4 CURRENT ARTICLES
FROM PUBMED
The world-wide medical research
reports chosen for each diagnosis
Clicking each title opens the
PubMed article’s summary-abstract.
- Real-World Effectiveness of Repeated Ketamine Infusions for Treatment-Resistant Bipolar Depressionby Farhan Fancy on May 2, 2024
CONCLUSIONS: Real-world effectiveness of IV ketamine for bipolar depression was observed. Repeated doses were associated with greater symptom reduction and adequate tolerability.Reprinted from Bipolar Disord 2023; 25:99-109, with permission from John Wiley and Sons. Copyright © 2023.
- Bipolar II Disorder: Understudied and Underdiagnosedby Holly A Swartz on May 2, 2024
Despite its inclusion as a distinct entity in APA's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders since 1994, bipolar II disorder remains a surprisingly neglected psychiatric condition. Understudied and underrecognized, bipolar II disorder is often misdiagnosed and misunderstood, even by experienced clinicians. As a result, patients typically experience symptoms for more than 10 years before receiving the correct diagnosis. Incorrect diagnosis leads to incorrect treatment, including...
- Prevention of Suicidal Behavior in Bipolar Disorderby Leonardo Tondo on May 2, 2024
CONCLUSIONS: Suicide is a leading clinical challenge for those caring for BD patients. Improved understanding of risk and protective factors combined with knowledge and close follow-up of BD patients should limit suicidal risk. Ethically appropriate and scientifically sound studies of plausible medicinal, physical, and psychosocial treatments aimed at suicide prevention specifically for BD patients are urgently needed.Reprinted from Bipolar Disord 2021; 23:14-23, with permission from John Wiley...
- Treatment of Bipolar Disorders in Older Adults: A Reviewby Nemanja Ljubic on May 2, 2024
CONCLUSIONS: There is an obvious need of further research for all treatment modalities of BD in old age. The focus should be pharmacological and psychosocial approaches, as well as their combination, and the role of physical treatment modalities such as ECT.Appeared originally in Ann Gen Psychiatry 2021; 20:1.