Depression: Difference between revisions

* "Depressed people must be sad all the time, if you're ever happy, you're not really depressed." This is one of the big ones (big enough that it's even led to lawsuits in a few cases, specifically related to insurance, workers compensation, and the like.) The reality of depression is that sufferers do have good days as well as bad, and maybe even good weeks or months as well as bad.▼

== Some reasons why this is ==▼

** Depression sufferers may feel incredibly bad but try to do things to make themselves feel temporarily better or to meet the expectations of others in their lives as well - this is actually often a cause of co-morbid addictions, in that sometimes, substance use will temporarily lift the depression enough to make being [[The Alcoholic]], for example, at first seem a welcome relief.▼

** The big one is ''anxiety.'' Most anxiety sufferers will have some degree of depression, and quite a few depression sufferers will have some degree of anxiety disorder. The reason is simple: both seem to originate from imbalances of the same brain chemicals, as well as similar environmental triggers and such.▼

** ''Addiction'' is often also co-morbid to depression, for the reason that self-medication (and sometimes doctor-approved medication for other conditions, the big ones being here painkillers or benzos) can immediately make a depressed person feel temporarily better or, in the case of bipolar I and II or cyclothymia or similar, put them into a better cycle. That doesn't necessarily mean such self-medication is ''bad'' (see later) but that it must be very carefully watched, as it can easily begin an addiction to the means of feeling better, as opposed to understanding the means as a temporary form of relief or a way of intentionally escaping a bad cycle.▼

** ''Eating disorders'' can be co-morbid to depression because depression itself changes eating patterns, and an eating disorder may well result - especially if the depressed person wishes to lose weight and stops eating in order to do so or alternately, eats to feel better.▼

** ''Self-injury'' is sometimes co-morbid to depression and is ''not'' generally a suicide attempt or being an [[Attention Whore]] or [[Emo Teen]] stereotype - it is a way to feel or release emotions.▼

== Mental conditions for which depression is a symptom ==▼

** ''Addiction'' as above, except that instead of the depression causing the addiction, the addictive behavior's "crash" or "low" phase leads to the depression. Very common in stimulant addicts (cocaine and amphetamine/methamphetamine users, and to a lesser degree, [[Must Have Nicotine|nicotine]] and [[Must Have Caffeine|caffeine]] users) and alcoholics.▼

** ADD/ADHD, because of the lifestyle results of especially severe ADD/ADHD leading to stressful life events and a feeling of helplessness or powerlessness over what seems to be a disorganized and scattered life - as well as to the side effects of badly managed ADD/ADHD medication in some instances.▼

** ''Anxiety'', as above, except instead of the depression beginning the anxiety, the anxiety disorder was the primary illness and created the depression.▼

** ''Bipolar I and II'' are unusual cases, in that they are depressive illnesses, but as opposed to major "unipolar" depression where the "bad" times are all lows, bipolar (formerly called manic-depression) is such lows interspersed with periods of another illness called mania, which is the "polar" opposite of depression. In Bipolar I, the manic periods are extreme and almost stereotypical, sometimes leading to psychosis (total loss of connection to reality and acting out on said delusions or hallucinations). In Bipolar II, the manic periods are mild to moderate and comparable to someone ''constantly'' while in the manic phase acting as if what a "normal" person would be like after a couple Adderall or a line of cocaine, in that they are not so manic as to be disconnected from reality entirely or hallucinating, but definitely "high" or "sped up."▼

** Sufferers of various ''personality disorders'' can also suffer from depression, both as a co-morbid chemical imbalance, from how the disorder has caused them to be treated in life, or from the consequences of their behavior or their interpretations of themselves or others. Borderline, narcissistic, and histrionic can often be co-morbid to depression.▼

** ''PTSD, complex PTSD, and complicated grief'' are often causes of depression and depression is often co-morbid to them. They are ''mental injuries'' as opposed to mental illnesses, in that they do not, themselves, arise from brain chemistry alone but from horrifically traumatizing life events (abuse, combat, disaster, violent assault, rape, the sudden loss of loved ones), but the pain and helplessness can easily begin a depression that takes on biochemical characteristics as it continues.▼

** ''Schizophrenia'' in which depression can be a "negative" symptom ("positive symptoms" are the delusions and hallucinations that are more characteristic of the illness) and due to the stigmatization that the diagnosis itself provides.▼

* "Depression is always the direct result of a chemical imbalance of serotonin in the brain." Again, this is true in ''some'' cases of depression, but it is also a commercial oversimplification of what can be a very complicated mental condition, a symptom of a physical condition where the imbalance is of something else entirely, or even the result of abuse. This is why anyone suffering from any form of depression needs a thorough physical and mental examination rather than a prescription of whatever antidepressant is advertising the most - especially because some of the physical causes can be ''fatal'' if left untreated in the pursuit of "it's all in your head."▼

== Physical conditions for which depression is a symptom ==▼

** ''Abuse'' can definitely lead to depression, for obvious reasons. If someone is living in an abusive situation, it almost always has an emotional component and therefore emotional effects.▼

** ''Addison's disease'' can have exhaustion and depression as a symptom. Sometimes with no known cause, other times due to a tumor on the kidneys or pineal gland, it can be fatal if not diagnosed and treated properly.▼

** ''Anemia'' is often mistaken for depression. Someone who is anemic is not getting enough oxygen via their bloodstream to their body and brain - the body is in effect dying from blood loss and oxygen starvation, which leads to depression symptoms among others. A complete blood count is essential.▼

** ''Any number of organic brain illnesses or injuries,'' too many to list individually, but anything from ALS to multiple sclerosis to traumatic brain injury.▼

** ''Cancer'' can cause anemia or hormonal imbalances that lead to depression, or even directly affect the functioning of the brain, depending on the location of the tumor (a tumor causing bleeding in the GI tract or uterus leading to anemia, a thyroid cancer leading to hyperthyroidism - see below for its own entry, or a brain tumor causing brain functioning changes.) Diagnosed cancers can also lead to depression from the stress of the diagnosis and life with it, and some forms of chemotherapy can be physically and mentally exhausting.▼

** ''Chronic pain'' can lead to depression or depression-related symptoms - treating the pain or the cause of pain properly will help.▼

** ''Chronic fatigue syndrome'' can be a cause of depression and can manifest in ways that are easily mistaken for depression - just look at the crossover symptoms between CFS and depression.▼

** ''Epilepsy'' can cause symptoms similar to depression, ADD/ADHD, or even psychotic conditions in some temporal lobe cases. Seizures can appear as depressive or manic or hallucinatory episodes, and post-seizure fatigue can seem to be depression.▼

** ''Influenza'' can be a cause of a short-lasting form of depression for up to two weeks while recovering from some types. This is short-term and will generally go away with rest and self-treatment. If you've just had the flu and feel depression symptoms, it's ''better'' for you both financially and mentally to rest and self-treat as needed unless it lasts longer than two or three weeks.▼

** ''Insomnia'' can lead to depression and anxiety, as well as be a symptom of it.▼

** ''Hypothyroid'' almost always causes depression-like symptoms, and ''hyperthyroid'' can cause depression and/or symptoms similar to bipolar. Both can be fatal if unrecognized and untreated both from the depressive symptoms possibly leading to suicide, and to an unrousable coma in hypothyroid patients or thyroid storm and a heart attack in hyperthyroid.▼