Circumstantial or Situational depression, or Adjustment Disorder With Depressed Mood is a short-term, stress-related type of depression. It can develop after a person experiences a traumatic event, series of events, or a change in a person’s life. Situational depression stems from a person’s struggle to come to terms with the changes that have occurred. It can be very difficult for a person to cope or adjust to their everyday life following such an event or change. It’s also known as reactive depression. Situational depression often goes away in time, and talking about the problem can ease the recovery process. Once the person is able to cope with the new situation, recovery is possible. In 2013, the mental health diagnostic system technically changed the name of “adjustment disorder” to “stress response syndrome.”
~2018~
Depression is going to usually look different for everyone. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution to depression because not all depression is the same. There are many types of depression. It is important to speak with a doctor you trust to treat and diagnose the type of depression that you have. A wrong diagnosis and wrong treatment of the incorrect depression type can have damaging effects and can leave you feeling worse and can lead to more severe symptoms and outcomes of your particular depression. Even though depression can be diagnosed correctly, symptoms can still vary from person to person and so can the depression itself. It is important that you let your voice be heard. One thing is for certain, depression is more than just feeling sad from time to time. I can only speak from my personal point-of-view, but having been drugged up for over five years, being in counseling for over 15 years, and no one really listening to what I was really saying, I know what happens when certain types of depression go ignored. The various medications that I was on did nothing for me but make me fat and the counseling just made my depression worse. Depression also has a “happy memory lapse” effect. That means that happy memories in the brain tend to fade away, be forgotten, or slip out of the mind quickly. The depressed mind tends to remember harsh feeling memories over the good ones. They may not remember even the last time that they smiled or laughed or even had fun. While writing the “happy” memories down can help, it may take more than that to remember both the good and the bad. Taking a picture, recording a video, or other ideas such as these can trigger the good and happy memories, but sometimes, the memories are just tucked away and lost for good. Forgetting the “happy” memories can also be the brain’s way of protecting itself. If you can’t remember anything “happy” or “good”, then you put up a wall and protect yourself from everyone else in order to ward off anymore of the “bad” memories that you have felt in the past. You refuse to be hurt ever again and make sure that you try not to let anyone get too close to you. When people refuse to even try to get close to you, you shrug it off as if you don’t care. Again it is important to talk to someone that you trust to correctly help you to identify which type of depression you may have and the best course of action and/or treatment that will work for you. Major Depression, also known as unipolar or major depressive disorder, is characterized by a persistent feeling of sadness or a lack of interest in outside stimuli. The unipolar implies a difference between major depression and bipolar depression, which refers to a fluctuating state between depression and mania. Instead, unipolar depression is uniquely focused on the ”lows,” or the negative emotions and symptoms that you may have experienced. Dysthymia, also known as Persistent Depressive Disorder or Chronic Depression, is a mild and chronic type of depression that causes a low mood over a long period of time usually for at least two years or more, and is accompanied by at least two other symptoms of depression. This type of depression usually has less symptoms than major depression. Those who experience dysthymia can also suffer from periods of major depression, which can sometimes be referred to as “double depression.” Postpartum depression is a type of depression in which the mother suffers after giving childbirth, anywhere from weeks to months after childbirth, usually arising from the combination of hormonal changes, psychological adjustment to motherhood, and fatigue. It also almost always develops within a year after a woman has given birth. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), also known as Extreme Winter Weariness, is a form of depression that emerges at the same time each year. With SAD, a person usually has symptoms of depression and unexplained fatigue as the winter season approaches with its reduced warmth, color, and the daylight hours become shorter. When spring returns and days become longer again, people with SAD feel relief from their symptoms, returning to their typical mood and energy level. Atypical depression is usually a type of depression that is less well understood than major depression. This depression is a subtype of major depression or dysthymic disorder that involves several specific symptoms, including increased appetite or weight gain, sleepiness or excessive sleep, marked fatigue or weakness, moods that are strongly reactive to environmental circumstances, and feeling extremely sensitive to rejection. Psychotic depression is a subtype of major depression that happens when a severe depressive illness includes some form of psychosis. This type of depression includes a mental state characterized by disorganized thinking or behavior; false beliefs, known as delusions; or false sights or sounds, known as hallucinations. Bipolar Depression, also called Manic Depressive Disorder or Bipolar Disorder, is a type of depression in which symptoms can interchange between mania and depression. This type of depression has major highs and lows. The main difference between the unipolar and bipolar depression is that unipolar depression has no high periods. Premenstrual dysphoric disorder, or PMDD, is similar to premenstrual syndrome but is more severe. PMDD is a severe type of depression that affects women during the second half of their menstrual cycle. Women with PMDD are often misdiagnosed and told that it’s just hormonal and to get over it. Women with PMDD also have an increased sensitivity to their reproductive hormones during the two weeks before their period starts. This sensitivity leads to adjustments in the brain chemicals and neurologic pathways that control their mood and their general sense of well-being. Whatever type of depression you have, it’s always a great idea to try as hard as you can and find someone you can trust to talk to. It is very difficult to do every day things if you are in pain and suffer from any type of depression by yourself. Getting help doesn’t always mean being locked up or being put on drugs. Sometimes, getting help just means having a really good friend who will love you despite of the obstacles that you face on a daily basis. It means having a friend who won’t judge you, but one who will support you in your growth through that depression every single day. Depression is hard enough without having to battle other people’s perceptions, thoughts, feelings, and ideas about you.
Comments