Major Depressive Episode
Depression is a mood disorder that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest. Also called major depressive disorder or clinical depression, it affects how you feel, think and behave and can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems. You may have trouble doing normal day-to-day activities, and sometimes you may feel as if life isn’t worth living.
More than just a bout of the blues, depression isn’t a weakness and you can’t simply “snap out” of it. Depression may require long-term treatment. But don’t get discouraged. Most people with depression feel better with medication, psychotherapy or both.
Cluster Number:
Wiki Number: PW116
Diagnosis: Major Depressive Episode
US Patients: If untreated can last for several months to two years. Symptoms may improve within 6-8 weeks with treatment.
World Patients:
Sex Ratio: M+;F
Age Onset: Ages 20-45
Brain Area:
Symptoms: Symptoms for two weeks of major depressive disorder: loss of interest or pleasure, anxiety, insomnia
Progression: saddened mood, poor sleep, loss of energy, concentration or appetite, thoughts of death or suicide
Causes: Neurotransmitters out of balance, feeling worthless and dispairing; heredity or familial causes
Medications: antidepressants which take 4-6 weeks until maximum effect;
Therapies: psychotherapy
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.
- Investigational Drugs for the Treatment of Depression (Part 1): Monoaminergic, Orexinergic, GABA-Ergic, and Anti-Inflammatory Agentsby Octavian Vasiliu on July 1, 2022
Therapeutic management of depression has currently important limitations, and its low efficacy is reflected in high rates of non-response even after multiple trials of antidepressants. Almost two-thirds of the patients diagnosed with major depression who received a 4-6 weeks trial of antidepressant could not reach remission, and more than 30% of these patients are considered treatment-resistant. In bipolar depression, the situation is also discouraging if we analyze the high suicide rate, the...
- Insulin Resistance in Depression: A Large Meta-analysis of Metabolic Parameters and Variationby Brisa S Fernandes on July 1, 2022
Increased insulin resistance is recognized in psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, but its occurrence in depression is less clear. Our aims were to verify if insulin resistance is altered in depression, to test the metabolic subgroup hypothesis of depression and if there are changes with antidepressants. Inclusion criteria were studies including adult subjects with depression and either a control group or follow-up after treatment with antidepressants, and assessing...
- Different Frequency of Heschl's Gyrus Duplication Patterns in Neuropsychiatric Disorders: An MRI Study in Bipolar and Major Depressive Disordersby Tsutomu Takahashi on June 30, 2022
An increased prevalence of duplicated Heschl's gyrus (HG) has been repeatedly demonstrated in various stages of schizophrenia as a potential neurodevelopmental marker, but it remains unknown whether other neuropsychiatric disorders also exhibit this macroscopic brain feature. The present magnetic resonance imaging study aimed to examine the disease specificity of the established finding of altered HG patterns in schizophrenia by examining independent cohorts of bipolar disorder (BD) and major...
- Young Adults' Perspectives on Factors Related to Relapse After First-Episode Psychosis: Qualitative Focus Group Studyby Shalini Lal on June 30, 2022
Relapse after first-episode psychosis (FEP) is a major clinical challenge for specialized early intervention services. Understanding patient perspectives on factors contributing to relapse can inform the development of risk assessments and preventive interventions. The objective of this study was to identify factors that may contribute to and prevent relapse from the perspectives of patients receiving services for FEP. Data from 25 participants across four focus groups in Canada were analyzed...