The term ‘depression’ is one of the most used medical terms in daily life, for this reason; It has been the subject of many misunderstandings and misconceptions. It is highly probable that almost everyone will hear the phrase ‘I am depressed these days’ from their mouths at some point in their lives. So, is every state of feeling sad, every bad mood, depression? What is depression? What is not? How is it treated? Let’s look at the answers to these questions together:
Depression
Having a depressed mood almost every day for at least two weeks, and at least one of the states of no longer enjoying or enjoying the activities that they were previously interested in and enjoyed doing, which is also almost every day and throughout the day When accompanied by symptoms such as loss of appetite, increased desire to eat, sleeping more or less, fatigue, exhaustion, feeling worthless, medically it is called depression.
As can be seen here, the state of malaise we all feel from time to time and depression are completely different concepts.
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How Often Depression Occurs in the Community?
Studies have shown that the prevalence of depression is between 5-9% in women and 2-3% in men. The lifetime probability of having depression was determined as 10-25% in women and 5-12% in men. Depression in first-degree relatives increases the risk of depression up to 3 times.
What are the symptoms?
- depressed mood
- Loss of interest, reluctance, lack of pleasure
- Increase or decrease in the desire to eat, weight changes
- Sleep disturbance (difficulty falling asleep, waking up frequently, having nightmares, sleeping too much)
- Feelings of worthlessness, guilt
- suicidal thoughts
- Irritability, intolerance
- Decreased sexual desire
- Weakness
- slowing down movements
- Hearing voices, seeing dreams
- Skepticism
How Is Depression Treated?
Depression treatment is like a table with four legs. If one of these legs fails, the treatment of the disease is interrupted. The situation that needs to be determined first is to understand whether depressive symptoms are the results of any other medical disease, the incidence of depression is high with chronic diseases, especially hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid gland), diabetes, the thing that needs to be done is to perform the necessary tests and to treat the findings of this disorder. . (For example: treatment of thyroid disease, treatment of diabetes) If there is no other medical disease or the existing disease is under control, life events that are thought to cause the onset of depressive symptoms are examined. Many times, depressive symptoms begin after a family argument, death, loss, or financial difficulties, and it is not enough to try to treat depression with medication if the main problematic life event is not understood.
If the symptoms persist despite the correction of the underlying life event, if there is no stressor (negative life event) or if the person has significant and severe depression symptoms, drug treatment is preferred. What needs to be done in this regard should be to comply with the treatment protocol of the physician you apply, not to change the dose of the drug without your doctor’s approval, and not to stop the medication without your doctor’s approval.
While using anti-depressant medication, the first 10 days can be troublesome, during the first ten days and sometimes in the first month, you can see the effects of the medication, gastrointestinal complaints, drowsiness, anxiety and excitement. It should be known that it may be one of the expected side effects, that these complaints will disappear after a certain period of time, and it is the right option to continue drug treatment, but if the complaints have become unbearable, then it will be the right option to consult your doctor and review the treatment.
How Long Should Anti-Depressant Treatment Take?
One of the most common misbehaviors is to reduce the dose of the drug or stop it completely without the approval of the doctor, when the complaints are felt to decrease. If you want your depressive symptoms to go away completely and the risk of recurrence to be minimized, your treatment should be continued for one year with the current drug dose, from the moment all your complaints have regressed.
