There are several different types of depression from mild, to moderate, to severe. It is important to know what type you have and what you can do to overcome it.
One type of depression is the Dysthymic Disorder. The person suffering from this type of depression appears chronically mildly depressed. Dysthymic depression can go for several years with some periods of fairly normal or low mood. Many of the people who suffer from this type of depression seem sad and feel dissatisfied, frightened and unappreciated in life. This condition usually develops earlier in a person’s life but many people delay to seek treatment even for ten years.
Major Depression is another type of psychological disorder characterized by hopelessness and symptoms that affects person’s ability to eat, work, sleep, and enjoy some activities he or she used to enjoy doing. These symptoms prevail almost everyday for a couple of weeks. If left unattended, this disorder can last for about six months in different life stages and can worsen the patient’s physical health. People suffering from this type of depression may also have suicidal feelings and they should be taken very seriously.
Psychotic depression is a condition where delusions or hallucinations combined with depression affects a person at the same time. This may be due to severe depression, which makes the depressed person lose touch with the reality. The hallucination feelings are more often than not, terrifying and highly negative. The sufferers of hallucinations and delusions consequently become very depressed.
Another type of depression is the Atypical Depression which is a little different from major depression. People who have this type of depression have some happy and elation moments in their lives. They believe that things happening outside their lives are accountable for their moods. Suffers experience fatigue, oversleeping, overeating and gaining weight. This disorder can last for months or even affect a person in his or her entire life.
Bipolar or Manic Depression is a type of depression portrayed by alternating period of depression and excitable behavior known as mania. The mania can prejudice the sufferer’s normal decision making, exposing him or her to inappropriate behavior like having promiscuous sex. The person may not even realize how harmful the inappropriate behavior is. Manic depressed people have high rates of committing suicide.
Seasonal Depression, which is also referred to as seasonal affective disorder, is depression occurring at a certain period of the year usually during winter season when daylight hours are less. Exposure to artificial light is a treatment used to alleviate symptoms of this type of depression. Although this depression is treatable and very conventional it can be very serious and should never be taken lightly.
Another type of depression is the Situational or Reactive Depression. In this type of depression the affected person develops depressive symptoms due to a stressful state of affairs, like loss of a job or relationship ending. Reactive depression can affect normal functioning of routine jobs such as studying or working and can cause distress. This type of depression can last longer than six months. However if a person gets employed again or solves issues in his or her relationship, he or she can get well soon.
Another type of depression is the Catatonic Depression, which is a type of major depression. The victim can lose voluntary movement and become unable to respond to his or her environment. Some people are also noted to have purposeless movements which are not due to reaction to his or her environment. Catatonic depression is also characterized by odd postures and involuntary repeat of meaningless words.
Melancholic Depression is another type of major depression characterized by losing pleasure in doing anything or where mood does not improve in reaction to a good event. A melancholic depressed person is observed to: wake up at least two hours earlier than usual, depressed in the morning, having decreased appetite and feeling excessively guilty.
It is very hard to know if a child depressed. However, if a parent notices some of the following behaviors, he or she should seek psychological help for his or her child. Child spending more time alone, crying more often, change in the child’s sleeping or eating habits and the child expressing thoughts about injuring him or herself. Treating any type of depression differs, based on seriousness and the symptoms involved. These treatments can range from different therapies to prescription of antidepressants.
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