It is known that depression is an urgent problem in people of the 21st century. It develops due to the high psycho-emotional stress associated with an accelerated rhythm of life. Depressive disorders significantly reduce the quality of human life, so you need to learn how to observe personal hygiene.
Causes of Anxiety Disorder
Anxiety-depressive syndrome belongs to the group of neuroses and is accompanied by various kinds of physical and mental disorders. The most common causes of depression are the following factors:
- hereditary predisposition to depression;
- many stressful situations;
- organic changes in the state of the brain (after bruises, injuries);
- prolonged anxiety and depressive symptoms;
- deficiency in the body of serotonin and essential amino acids;
- taking anticonvulsants and estrogen drugs.
Symptoms of a nervous system disease
The main symptom of anxiety and depressive disorder is constant baseless anxiety. That is, a person feels an impending catastrophe, threatening him or his relatives. The danger of an anxiety-depressive state lies in a vicious circle: anxiety stimulates the production of adrenaline, and it stimulates negative emotional stress. Patients who experience this personality disorder complain of a lack of mood, systematic sleep disturbance, decreased concentration, accompanied by chills and muscle pain.
Postpartum Depression in Women
Many women immediately after childbirth experience anxiety-depressive symptoms, which are called childhood sadness. The condition lasts from several hours to a week. But sometimes depression and anxiety in young mothers takes a severe form, which can last for months. The etiology of the anxiety state is still not exactly known, however, doctors call the main factors: genetics and hormonal changes.
Types of Depressive Disorders
Anxiety differs from true fear in that it is a product of an internal emotional state, subjective perception. The disorder manifests itself not only at the level of emotions, but also with body reactions: increased sweating, heart palpitations, and digestive upset. There are several types of this disease, differing in symptoms.
Generalized anxiety
With this syndrome, the patient is chronically anxious, not knowing the cause of the condition. An alarming depression is manifested by fatigue, disruption of the digestive tract, motor anxiety, and insomnia. Often, depressive syndrome is observed in people with panic attacks or alcohol addiction. Generalized anxiety and depressive disorder develops at any age, but women get it more often than men.
Disturbing phobic
Phobia is known to be the medical name for an exaggerated or unrealistic fear of an object that is not dangerous. The disorder manifests itself in different ways: fear of spiders, snakes, flying on an airplane, being in a crowd of people, sharp objects, bathing, sexual harassment and so on. With anxiety-phobic syndrome, the patient has a persistent fear of such a situation.
Mixed
When a person has several symptoms of depression for a month or more, doctors diagnose “mixed anxiety-depressive disorder”. Moreover, the symptomatology is not caused by the use of any drugs, but worsens the quality of the patient’s social, professional or any other area of life. The main signs:
- lethargy of thinking;
- tearfulness;
- sleep disturbance;
- low self-esteem;
- irritability;
- difficulty concentrating.
Diagnosis of Depressive Disorders
The main method for diagnosing depression in a patient remains questioning him. The confidence atmosphere, a sense of empathy, and the doctor’s ability to listen to the patient contribute to the identification of symptoms of depression. Also in the practice of psychotherapy, a special scale of depression and anxiety HADS is used to determine the level of pathology. The test does not cause difficulties for the patient, does not take much time, but gives the specialist the opportunity to make the correct diagnosis.
Treatment for Anxiety Depression Syndrome
The general strategy for the treatment of anxiety and depressive disorders is to prescribe a complex of medicines, homeopathic remedies, herbal remedies and alternative recipes. Behavioral psychotherapy is also important, which many times enhances the effect of drug therapy. The complex treatment of anxiety-depressive syndrome also includes physiotherapy.