Clinical Depression

Posted by Rinda on 01/06/2009

Clinical Depression Facts

By Rinda Ismar

According to clinical experts, depression is a mental illness that is often characterized by prolonged periods of sadness and melancholy.

Even so, depression cannot be diagnosed only because one person seems unhappy and is just generally expressing feelings of hostility towards the world around him or her, but if this kind of manner, co-exists with feelings of helplessness and guilt, inability to concentrate, memory problems, lack of general enthusiasm, a negative/pessimistic outlook, suicidal thoughts or tendencies, which continues endlessly, then he or she is potentially suffering from clinical depression.

There are various types of depression, from Manic or Bipolar depression – with signs of sudden and extreme changes in one’s mood wherein one moment he or she is in an elevated state of euphoria which in weeks to months it will change into extremely low energy levels combined with feelings of hopelessness, sadness, or despair. Postpartum depression – characterized by a prolonged sadness and a feeling of emptiness by a new mother wherein physical stress during child birth, an uncertain sense of responsibility towards the new born baby can be just some of the possible factors why some new mother go through this, Dysthimia – characterized by a slight similarity with depression, although this time, it’s been proven to be a lot less severe, but of course with any case, should be treated immediately, Cyclothemia – characterized by a slight similarity with Manic or Bipolar depression wherein the individual suffering from this mental illness may occasionally suffer from severe changes in one’s moods, Seasonal Affective Disorder – characterized by falling in a rut only during specific seasons (i.e. winter, spring, summer or fall) studies however, prove that more people actually fall in to a rut more during the winter and fall seasons and lastly, mood swings, wherein a person’s mood may shift from happy to sad to angry in just a short time.

The medical term for depression is clinical depression, which is also known as ‘major’ depression. In view of the fact that clinical depression basically covers only those who are suffering from symptoms related to depression, for this reason clinical depression is more of a disorder rather than an illness. Doctors uses the medical term “Clinical depression” to refer to “depression” in diagnosing their patient.

Clinical depression is treatable. Patients with this disorder will be relieved to know that doctors are highly optimistic that clinical depression when treated immediately after diagnosed will be well on their way towards sound mental health. There is quite a high success rate in treatment for clinical depression.

Patients with questions around clinical depression from which they suffer, the depression section of the health center is highly recommended, including literature from psychiatry textbooks or journals from the internet – they can offer a lot of helpful information on clinical depression. Clinical depression may not pose as much as a threat as other types of depression, but you should allow professionals to safely attend to and cure this disorder.

Comments

6 Responses to “Clinical Depression”