Types of Depression - A Must Read

"Mental Depression" has been a scary word for people for a long time. Primarily depression is a change in mood. Generally people identify it with insanity. This is really not true. It's a kind of disease but it doesn't make anyone insane. It doesn't make anyone apart from a general crowd. Depression also demands medical attention like the other diseases. Depression is completely curable, if you go for the right treatment. Spotting the symptoms of mental depression is not an easy task. The symptoms may vary according to the type of depression. A number of terms are used to describe different types of depression.  

• Bipolar Depression:

This type of depression normally hits in adolescence or early adulthood. It causes mood disorder with manic episodes. It is very serious but can be treated effectively. As the problem develops it results in -  

· Alcohol and drug abuse  
· Thinking and concentration becomes difficult  
· Marital breakups  
· Suicide  

• Dysthymic Depression:

Dysthymia is a Greek word which means "bad state of mind". It is almost similar to major depression but lasts longer. It is more common in women than in men. It can be identified with the following symptoms -  

· disturbed sleep cycle (increase or decrease in sleeping)  
· Poor concentration  
· fatigue  
· depressed mood  

• Major Depression:

It is a serious form of depression. It is more persistent and can affect a person's behavior, mood, thoughts and even physical health. It is more common in women than in men because of conditions like menstruation, contraceptives, miscarriage, pregnancy, child-birth and menopause.  

• Atypical Depression:

This depression is entirely different from others. Its symptoms are opposite to the symptoms of other depressions. Overeating and oversleeping are the very common symptoms of atypical depression. Moods of people with atypical depression change very quickly in reaction to positive or negative events. There is a temporary improvement in mood.  

• Psychotic Depression:

It is a very serious and rare form of depression. It can be diagnosed only by a psychiatrist. In this depression patient develops some false beliefs about himself and the people or things around him. Major depressive mood along with hallucinations and delusions are its symptoms.  

• Melancholic Depression:

As the name suggests, patient suffering from it lost interest in all activities. His mood doesn't change even in response to a positive event. It becomes more severe in morning.  

• Catatonic Depression:

This type of depression is identified by at least two of the following symptoms  

· Odd facial expressions  
· Inability to react  
· Inappropriate postures or movements  
· Unwilling to speak  anything
· Repetition of someone's words or movements.  

• Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD):

This type of depression affects patient during a particular season of the year or some specific time. Some patients may feel depressed and lazy during the winter months while some during the summer months.  

• Masked Depression:

Only depressed mood is not the definition of depression. The depression can be expressed in other forms also, which we can't think about. Sometimes a patient feel depressed because of depression but on the contrary sometimes he doesn't know that he is suffering from depression. The depression can be concealed or masked behind these problems:  

· Headache  
· Stomach ache  
· Gastrological disorders  
· Indigestion  
· Muscle pain  

• Anxiety Depression:

Anxiety is a very common symptom of depression. In this depression, a patient may also experience panic attacks or disorder and social phobia.  

• Single Episode Depression:

In this, patient experiences recurring thoughts of only one episode of depression. It can be any stressful event or accident of his life.  

• Recurrent Episodic Depression:

This patient experiences two or more episodes of depression.  

Right medication and treatment depends on the type of depression, its symptoms and duration. All these types of depression can be treated through medication and other alternative techniques.