Lets Fight Depression

Typically websites like this one give reader’s information about major depression and minor depression from the perspective of a doctor or other medical personnel.  However, this site takes the approach of providing depression information and other depression support resources from the perspective of an author who also suffers from a depressive mood disorder.  This will give you a first hand look at the various forms of depression as written by someone who has experienced these symptoms first hand.  This will help you realize that depression and major depressive disorder are in fact a disease just like diabetes or any other chronic disorder.  It will also help you realize that depression treatment is not the same for everyone and may take a significant amount of time and multiple treatment methods before it starts to work.  However, many of us have been in the very same situation so it is important to understand that you are not alone.  Although a person suffering from depression’s symptoms may be in remission, there is no cure for major depression so it is essential that those being treated for depression always follow the treatment plan that they create along with their psychiatrist and therapist.  If you hear from a website or receive any other advice that states that there is an easy cure for depression for those suffering with a mood disorder do not listen as it is just plain wrong.  Just as you cannot cure diabetes with home remedies or any other quick fix, depression for those who have been diagnosed by a medical professional cannot be cured solely with self-medication.  All information and advice should be used in conjunction with your doctor after first verifying that the treatment is right for you.  If you prefer an approach to depression that is straight from the doctors and their research rather than a sufferer’s point of view, see Wikipedia’s Depression Page.  This may be something that you should use in conjunction with our depression information.  However, we feel that you will get a much more humanistic view on letsfightdepression.com so see the depression navigation on the right hand side which will give you more specific information about depression topics.  In the following sections we will go into more detail about the various forms of depression, the causes, and symptoms of each.

Kris has had success with various treatments including psychotherapy, prescription medications, vitamins and diet, alternative medicines, and support groups.

Causes of Depression

Unfortunately, the exact cause of depression is still being debated among psychiatrists, therapists, and psychologists so the cause of major depressive disorder and other forms of depression disorders are most likely the result of multiple factors including genetics, stress, and environmental factors.  There is a clearer cause when it comes to postpartum depression, but it is still unclear why some women experience depression after pregnancy whereas others do not.  The one exception that has a very clear known cause is substance induced depression that can result from prescription medications, illegal drugs, tobacco, or alcohol.  Since depression relating to substance abuse or other chemical intake is its own category, you can get more information from the substance induced depression section.  With all the various factors that go into making a person depressed over a long period of time, treatment for depression needs to be specifically tailored to each individual person’s needs.  This is especially true for cases where there is a clear chemical imbalance causing major depression such as a lack of dopamine, serotonin, or norepinephrine in the brain.  Although doctors are there to help, fighting depression really boils down to taking charge of your own treatment to ensure that you are doing everything that you possibly can to fight this disease that will continue to pop up throughout your life if you are not careful.  Because family history and heredity plays a role in depression, those with a family history of depression should still go to a psychiatrist every few years because they may be experiencing depressive symptoms without even realizing it.  Those who have had extreme stress or trauma throughout their life should also see a psychiatrist regularly as they are also much more likely to experience symptoms of depression.  Most importantly, anyone who feels that they are depressed to the point where it may be something more than normal should immediately contact their doctor, 911, or the suicide hotline.

Kris has a family history of depression and bipolar disorder and has been in a variety of suicidal emergency situations.  Kris sees a psychiatrist every month and has seen a variety of therapists in the past.

Major Depressive Disorder

Major depressive disorder, more commonly known as major depression or clinical depression, is the diagnosis that most people think of when referring to depression.  This is the form of depression that the author experiences so you will get extra insight and a personal perspective relating to major depressive disorder when browsing this site.  The DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition, Text Revision), the reference manual that psychiatrists use in diagnosing mood disorders, specifically defines Depressive Disorders under the category of Mood Disorders which are in the number range of the 296.20s and 296.30s in this reference manual as well as 300.4 and 311 for special depressive disorders.  Keep this information in mind when listening to advice from your doctor as they will be referencing these numbers to your insurance company when listing your diagnosis of Dysthymic Disorder, Recurrent Major Depressive Disorder, Single Episode Major Depressive Disorder, or NOS (Not Otherwise Specified) Depressive Disorder.  Depression is not an inexpensive disorder to treat so insurance for depression may be costly and insurance companies will want to know the specifics of your diagnosis in order to approve payment for your prescription.

Kris was first diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder prior to his final diagnoses.  Fortunately, Kris’s insurance picked up the tab for the prescription medications needed.  For those without insurance, the government will provide assistance in nearly all countries.

Symptoms of Clinical Depression

The symptoms of clinical depression and major depressive disorder can vary drastically from person to person.  Therefore, this is certainly not an exhaustive list of depression symptoms.  Please see the symptoms of depression section for detailed information.  The information provided here is just a very quick summary.  The following may be signs of clinical depression.

  • Extreme sadness and unexplained irritability
  • Losing the will to live, hoping you die, feeling that no one will miss you if you are gone, or feeling that the world is better off without you
  • Physical pain without any justifiable cause
  • Feeling a complete lack of emotion when it comes to things that you once enjoyed doing; this can further increase to completely losing interest in or even hating activities that were once something that you loved to do
  • Extreme changes in weight, a longing to eat significantly more, or a loss of appetite
  • A change in the amount of sleep and the time during which you sleep
  • Feeling overwhelmingly guilty for unjustified reasons
  • A feeling of always being tired regardless of getting enough sleep, eating properly, exercising, and so on
  • A change in energy level causing either a feeling of restlessness on one end of the spectrum or a complete loss of energy on the other end
  • Anti-social behavior including withdrawal from society
  • A debilitating lack of motivation to perform essential activities such school or work
  • Symptoms defined as psychotic and depressed as defined by doctors – This includes pessimistic delusions or hallucinations; an example is hearing people literally say “I hate you” or “I hope you die” and taking it to heart during normal day to day conversation when no such words were spoken (this is a real life psychotic depressive symptom that the author experienced almost daily after many months in a depressed state)
  • Suicidal thoughts

If you experience these symptoms of major depression or minor depression and are not on a treatment plan with your doctor, then you need to make an appointment immediately.  These symptoms are typically felt over and over for an extended period of time such as days, weeks, months, or even years for depression patients, but it is important to seek help immediately as it may prevent undo hardship by seeking treatment early.

Kris has experienced extreme bouts of sadness, suicidal thoughts and attempts, extreme changes in weight, sleep, irritability, anti-social behavior, motivation, and even psychotic episodes.

What Clinical Grade Depression Is Not

Just as important as the symptoms of depression and other mood disorders are symptoms that are not indicative of depression.  These are symptoms that are often falsely associated with depression and should not be used as an excuse to not see a doctor.  Rather these symptoms are not an indicator of someone suffering from depression, but someone with depression could experience these symptoms (related or unrelated to their disorder).  The following are not symptoms of depression in themselves and people actually suffering from depression may get offended if someone claims that they have depression when experiencing these feelings.  Depression is a serious illness so it is important to distinguish everyday feelings from the above symptoms of clinical depression.  The following list shows what clinical depression is not.

  • Grieving over the loss of a loved one
  • Feeling sad based on external factors (such as a breakup with a significant other)
  • A natural feeling of stress at work or school due to pressure, workload, performing a task you are not comfortable with, or other activities that an average person would find stressful
  • Boredom
  • Feelings of loneliness after extended periods of time by yourself
  • Realistic viewpoint
  • Feeling guilty after performing a questionably moral act
  • Laziness in and of itself
  • Non-suicidal depression for a short period of time after an environment trigger occurs (a few days or less)
  • Illegal drug use
  • Alcohol and tobacco use

This list is not all-inclusive, and some of the symptoms may indicate depression if experienced for a significant period of time.  In addition, people with major depression may experience these feelings or may engage in these activities so it is important to talk to your doctor if you think you may be depressed.  For example some people who drink alcohol have clinical depression, but many people who drink alcohol do not have clinical depression.  As always, this should never be substituted for the advice of a doctor because alcoholics can certainly become people who suffer from major depressive disorder.

Kris has experienced many of these symptoms, but has a significant amount of friends without mental illness that have had the same experiences.  These may simply be part of a person’s personality so it is unwise to judge a person’s mental health just based on these experiences.  The best advice that Kris can give is that you talk to the person if you are seeing these behaviors.  They may be ready and willing to talk about what they have gone through and it could be indicative of this mental illness or another one.

Treatment of Major Depression

By far the most popular prescription drug treatment for major depressive disorder is treatment with antidepressants.  Due to the shear variety of antidepressants available, you will need to check out thedepression treatment section of this website for information relating to specific treatments with antidepressants.  Other forms of treatments include psychotherapy which you would get for most other mental conditions as well.  This is generally given by a therapist that specializes in treatment of mood disorders.  Changing your diet is also another form of treatment that often goes overlooked by psychiatrists who are more likely to write a prescription than putting their patients on a very specific diet.  Alternative treatments including self-medication for depression also exist with a significant amount of controversy behind them.  However, you can read about these in the alternative treatments section.  Just remember that alternative depression treatments are never meant to be used independently and should always be used in conjunction with normal medical treatment for depression.

Kris currently takes a whole variety of vitamins, has a balanced diet, takes 200mg of Lamictal, takes 600mg of Oxcarbazepine, takes 20mg of Celexa, and is willing and open to talk to friends, family and support groups about his condition.

Minor Depression

Although the DSM-IV does not specifically specify milder forms of depression, people with minor depression or mild depression are most often classified in the NOS Depressive Disorder category.  Generally a person would be diagnosed with minor depression because their symptoms do not last long enough to be considered major depression.  They may even have the very same symptoms including suicidal thoughts, but it may only be for a short period of time rather than the months or years that major depressive disorder patients usually experience.  However, minor depression is also a very serious illness so it must be treated as such.  For those experiencing the same symptoms of depression as listed above but only for very short periods of time, it is important that you discuss your minor depression case with your psychiatrist as it may be a treatable condition.  These situations can be a result of environmental factors affecting your depression or may be a chemical imbalance.

Kris’s friend has experienced symptoms of minor depression, but has yet to seek medical treatment.  Kris continuously recommends to his friend that he seek treatment due to the outstanding results that Kris has experienced, but ultimately it is up to his friend to take the first step to get treatment.  This is a very unfortunate situation that has not yet become an emergency.  However, Kris highly recommends that you do not put yourself into this situation and seek treatment from a doctor immediately as these situations can lead to suicide.  This group includes those who are participating in self-medication.

Substance Induced Depression

Substance induced depression is a huge category that is usually classified under the Not Otherwise Specified depression category.  However, depression as a result of alcohol, illegal drugs, or prescription medication needs to be treated as soon as possible because it can be just as deadly as major depressive disorder if not even more so depending on the substance.  Drugs have been proven to lead to depression in many cases especially alcohol so it is essential that those who use drugs seek normal checkups to ensure that their mental health status remains in tact.  When it comes to substance induced depression, doctors are normally bound under the doctor-patient confidentiality rule to not discuss your case even in the court of law for illegal drug use so it is important to seek the treatment you need even if you continue to break the law.  A doctor would much rather see a patient continue to use illegal drugs without committing suicide than have a person commit suicide without ever seeking treatment.  Please be sure to check your state and country laws before divulging this information as laws very from country to country.  In most cases, the best way to end substance abuse depression is to stop taking the drug.  However, this generally leads to withdrawal depression symptoms so it is important that you continue to seek treatment throughout withdrawal.

Kris has gone through major bouts of depression while consuming alcohol and taking extremely high doses of prescription medication as directed by the doctor.  Kris warns everyone reading this website that binge drinking and taking prescription drugs for depression (even if prescribed by a psychiatrist) is a very bad idea.

Routine and Normal Depression

Natural depression occurs is something that is common among humans and even animals.  Depression is a part of life that is meant to motivate us in situations where we have not been listening to the queues that our body is giving us to improve our lifestyle.  However when a person starts experiencing the symptoms of clinical depression as stated above, this is no longer normal.  Routine depression should motivate a person to go hang out with family or friends, exercise or eat healthier foods to put the body back into a normal state.  This can also happen after a breakup with a significant other as depression can motivate us to get up and go back into the dating scene to find another mate.  If you are feeling signs of normal depression, then start taking better care of your body and it should start going back to normal.  If this is not the case, then seek a doctor immediately.  At no point should suicidal thoughts enter a person’s brain if they are experiencing normal depression.  Someone who is experiencing natural depression at a point in their life should realize that it is time to start taking better care of their body or it is time to spend quality time with friends and family.

Kris still experiences symptoms of natural depression while he is taking medication.  There is a drastic difference between this type of depression and a major depressive episode where he is constantly thinking about suicide and experiencing delusions.  Whenever in doubt, contact a doctor.  If you experience depression for more than a day or two, this is most likely not going to be normal.

Conclusion

Each of the depressive disorders experienced here are incredibly serious conditions.  Always seek treatment and encourage loved ones to seek treatment.

The reason that Kris continues to recommend treatment is that he experienced debilitating symptoms for over 10 years before seeking treatment which caused a huge amount of undue suffering.  No one should ever have to suffer the way that he did so it is important to encourage all friends and family members to regularly see a psychiatrist.  Mental health is just as important as physical health.

Other Depression Resources

Please see the bottom right hand corner of this web page for some of Kris’s favorite depression resources including the DBS Alliance Online Support Groups which are absolutely fantastic for those with questions.

Kris highly recommends that you check out some of the categories on the right hand menu for more information on specific topics.  These topics include: