Before we start here's 3 things to keep in mind.
1. Depression affects different people in many different ways. It can be a numbness or emptiness where you don’t feel happy, sad or angry.
2. Sometimes depression can feel like irritation or frustration. Small issues suddenly feel big.
3. Sometimes you might lose enjoyment in things that would normally make you happy. You might feel like there’s nothing to look forward to.
Moving on to what depression can look like, feel like, what you might think and physical symptoms.
Depression can look like:
not going out anymore
not getting things done at work or school
withdrawing from close family and friends
relying on alcohol and sedatives
not doing usual enjoyable activities
unable to concentrate
Depression can make you feel:
overwhelmed or indecisive
guilty
irritable or frustrated
lacking in confidence
unhappy or disappointed
miserable or sad
When you have depression you might think:
'I’m a failure.'
'It’s my fault.'
'Nothing good ever happens to me.'
'I’m worthless.'
'Life’s not worth living.'
'People would be better off without me.'
Physical symptoms of depression can include:
feeling tired all the time
feeling sick and run down
headaches and muscle pains
stomach pain, butterflies or churning gut
sleep problems
loss or change of appetite
significant weight loss or gain
Before we go over the different types, you should also know.
1. Everyone experiences depression differently. However, there are different types of depression that have particular symptoms. They may also appear at different times. For example, postnatal depression appears around childbirth, while seasonal affective disorder appears during winter.
2. Some are talked about more often than others. You might have heard of clinical depression and bipolar. Types such as cyclothymic disorder and dysthymic disorder aren’t mentioned as often.
3. Sometimes we use different names for the same type of depression. For example, clinical depression is also called major depressive disorder.
4 It's okay to feel sad. It's okay to ask for help about what you're feeling, and for strategies to help you move through it.”
Different types of depression include:
Major depression :
Also known as: clinical depression, depression, unipolar depression.
Major depression is when you feel sad, down or miserable most of the time. You might also lose interest in things you usually enjoy.
Types of major depression include melancholia, psychotic and antenatal or postnatal. You may be diagnosed with mild, moderate or severe depression.
Melancholia
Melancholia is severe depression which often has physical symptoms. You might:
move more slowly
feel sad, down or miserable
be completely unable to enjoy anything.
Psychotic depression
* Sometimes depression can include losing touch with reality or experiencing psychosis.
Symptoms of psychotic depression can include hallucinations, delusions and paranoia. *
Hallucinations
You might see or hear things that aren't there.
Delusions
A delusion is a false belief that isn’t shared by others. For example, you might believe that you’re:
*bad or evil
*being watched or followed.
Paranoia
If you feel paranoid you might:
*feel like everyone is against you
*believe that other people have made you ill or caused bad things to happen
Antenatal and postnatal depression:
Your risk of developing depression is higher during pregnancy and in the first year after childbirth. During pregnancy around 10 per cent of women experience depression. In the first three months after having a baby this increases to 16 per cent.
Depression which develops during pregnancy and after childbirth has a few different names:
1. antenatal or prenatal depression – depression during pregnancy
2. postnatal depression - depression in the year after childbirth
3. perinatal depression – any time during pregnancy or in the year after childbirth.
Around 80 per cent of women get the ‘baby blues’ in the first few days after childbirth. You might feel tearful or overwhelmed, but this will pass in a few days with care and support.
The baby blues happens because of changes in your hormones after your baby is born and doesn’t mean you’ll develop depression.
Dysthymic disorder:
Dysthymia is long-term depression which lasts at least 2 years. It has similar symptoms to major depression, but they’re less severe.
Bipolar disorder:
Bipolar disorder is when you experience periods of depression and periods of mania, with periods of normal mood in between. It can be difficult to diagnose.
Mania
Feeling manic is the opposite of feeling depressed. In a period of mania you might:
feel great
have lots of energy (and not sleep much)
have racing thoughts and talk quickly
find it hard to focus on tasks
feel frustrated and irritable.
Some people with bipolar can lose touch with reality and have an episode of psychosis during a period of mania. Psychosis can involve hallucinations, delusions and paranoia.
How ever Diagnosising bipolar, depends on you having had episodes of mania as well as episodes of depression. Because people often only seek support when they’re having an episode of depression, bipolar can be hard to diagnose.
If you're experiencing periods of high mood as well as periods of low mood, tell your health professional when you seek support.
* Sometimes it can take years to get a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder can be misdiagnosed as depression, alcohol or drug abuse, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or schizophrenia.*
Cyclothymic disorder:
Cyclothymic disorder is similar to bipolar disorder but less severe. It’s a long-term condition lasting for at least 2 years.
If you have cyclothymia your periods of mania and depression are milder and shorter. In between these periods you may feel ‘normal’ for up to 2 months.
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD):
SAD is a mood disorder that has a seasonal pattern. The most common type of SAD is when you feel depressed in the winter and better in the lighter and warmer months.
When you feel depressed and have SAD you’re more likely to:
experience a lack of energy
sleep too much
overeat and gain weight
crave for carbohydrates.
SAD is thought to be related to the variation in light exposure in different seasons. It's usually diagnosed after you’ve had the same symptoms during winter for a couple of years.
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