Major Depressive Disorder
Major Depressive Disorder
Major depressive disorder is a primary type of depression. Experts also name major depressive disorder as clinical depression. It is also termed as MDD. Depression is not a medical disease but has a resemblance with a mental condition. Most of the individuals face stressful and disturbing issues in their lives which brings in sadness in the respective individual. In case, the individual experiences sadness regularly and it becomes a form of his life, then this type of depression is termed as major depressive disorder. Depression sounds like a condition, but then there are several ways in which depression affects the life of an individual. Major depressive disorder is one of the most common depression types which has impacted a wide range of population across the world.
Symptoms of Major Depressive Disorder:
- Reduced appetite
- Disturbed sleeping patterns
- Restlessness and anxiety
- Unexplained backaches and headaches
- Lack of energy most of the times
Causes of Major Depressive Disorder:
- Hereditary presence: If one has direct relatives where one of them is affected by Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), there are high chances of being concerned with depression.
- Change in the hormonal balance: Hormonal balance can get disturbed due to various phases in a woman’s life, including pregnancy, thyroid problems, and menopause. These state of health can lead to depression in the concerned individual.
- Brain Chemistry: Neurotransmitters associated with the functioning of the brain contribute to causing depression. This is because the neurotransmitters work towards maintaining the stability of the mood of an individual.
Diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder: Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is diagnosed in an individual with the guidance of mental health specialist. The medical specialist confirms the presence of MDD with the following tests:
- Physical examination: Physical problems can occur at any time and many times major depressive disorder is linked with such problems. The consulting doctor will perform an overall physical examination to find presence of such problems which can relate to the presence or development of depression.
- Lab tests: The doctor recommends the individual to undergo certain basic to specific medical tests. This helps in finding the underlying cause of depression. Some of these tests include thyroid tests and blood tests.
- DSM-5: American Psychiatric Association has published criteria to find out the presence and type of depression in the patient. This criteria is listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5).
- Evaluation of psychiatric aspects: Generally, the mental health specialist creates a customized questionnaire for the patient. This helps him collect useful information about the thoughts, feelings, current thinking status to understand the mental status of the patient.
Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD): Medical experts have introduced a wide range of treatment options for the welfare of the patients suffering from depression-like conditions. Medications combined with psychotherapy work to treat depression in patients in the best possible manner.
- Medications: The medical specialist recommends consumption of anti-depressants, SSRIs, and SNRIs. At times, the doctor might ask the patient to go ahead with anti-depressant along with mood stabilizers and antipsychotics for overall mental health improvement.
- Psychotherapy: Psychotherapy involves the type of consultation of the patient along with the mental health specialist. Interpersonal therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy are the primary types of psychotherapy. This helps in coping with the pessimistic beliefs of the patients in a positive manner and ensure that easy to implement solutions are found out.
- Other natural remedies: Omega-3 acid based foods like fish, flax seed oil, and walnuts help in dealing with DMD. Patients need to make sure that there is complete alcohol avoidance as it helps in coping with MDD.
Thus, major depressive disorder must be addressed, diagnosed and treated with proper medical specialist expertise. This, in turn, helps patients to live a mentally healthy and peaceful for the rest of their life.
