Depression after stress: how does it happen and who is at risk?

Depression is a condition that can be caused by somatic or nervous disorders, or be a consequence of stress, family troubles, or other problems in personal or social life. It can also develop absolutely without any external reasons, against the background of complete well-being - in this case, the cause, as a rule, is a violation of the level of neurotransmitters in the brain.

To receive quality treatment, the patient must realize that bad moods can occur in absolutely healthy people. While with depression, low mood or depression lasts for at least two weeks and may be accompanied by sleep disturbances, appetite, decreased performance and other symptoms, which we will discuss later.

Depression can occur in people of any age, regardless of gender. The death of a close friend, relative, loved one or child can be a catalyst for progressive feelings of sadness. Sometimes the only beloved child, unexpectedly for those around him, becomes unsociable and withdrawn. We need to try to figure out the reasons as quickly as possible and help him gain faith in himself. A simple misunderstanding among classmates and friends or the appearance of another child in the family can disrupt the psychological balance and become the root cause of depression.

Prediction and distribution of depression

It is safe to say that depression is the most common psychological illness. It has been successfully treated for a long time; a specialist is able to restore the patient’s faith in himself in a few sessions. Most often, women who seek help are those who, due to their mental characteristics, are more susceptible to stress. Of the four ladies, one had to seek specialized medical help at least once in her life. Men are more resilient in this sense; only one in ten bothers psychologists with requests for help with a depressive episode. This prevalence of the disease is compensated by the fact that in 90% of cases, people who consult a doctor completely get rid of the disease.

Personal experience: how I survived depression and who helped me with it

It was February 2021. I remember how I got on the subway to go to work, but already on the escalator I suddenly burst into tears - and couldn’t stop. Instead of the “Prospekt Mira” I needed, I suddenly went to “Shabolovskaya” - there is a Moscow clinic for neuroses. This was the most urgent and cheapest appointment with a psychiatrist that I could arrange for myself at that moment. But in the end, it took me almost six months to be diagnosed with depression.

My story is quite ordinary: I lost a loved one - my grandmother, who was almost like a mother to me, perhaps even closer. She had a stroke in September and I was busy trying to find money for the special equipment she would need at home. While I was hanging around in Moscow, my grandmother was supposed to be released from the hospital. On the day of discharge, she died - and I never had a chance to say goodbye to her.

Daria Shevtsova

When all this happened, my man was away, and somehow I was suddenly left completely alone with my misfortune. I fell into the black hole of depression quite quickly, but it seemed to me that this was a normal experience of grief. In those days, I went to the office only once a week, but with what superhuman difficulty it was given to me. By January, I almost couldn’t leave the house; Sasha took care of household chores, including cooking and going to the store for food.

All my strength went into not losing my job and trying to cry less. Each office day took away all the resources accumulated during the week. And during remote work, I could simply not get up or even eat. Sleeping wasn't very good either. I once thought that depression was a state of total indifference . It turned out that this is a state of constant pain .

Before this incident, all my experience with depression was the experience of my friends. A few years ago, I began to gradually distinguish bipolar affective disorder from obsessive-compulsive disorder and other types of unstable conditions. I already knew that depression is not just a blues that a person can cope with on his own. And I understood that psychotherapy (which can be useful) in Moscow is incredibly expensive and in acute conditions is not very effective without the help of medications. One day I even had to call my friend’s psychiatrist because she couldn’t do it anymore, and then give her the combination of medications the doctor prescribed for a couple of days.

No one noticed my depression except myself. The man sympathized with me, supported me, but did not fully understand what was happening. I didn't tell my mom anything. I almost stopped communicating with friends. At work everything was as usual. Our flatmate knew something was wrong, but he didn’t know me well. #faceofdepression is a very revealing flash mob: seeing that someone close to you is depressed is much more difficult than it seems.

OVAN

I was lucky: I was able to understand for myself that things were not going well, and I consulted a doctor. Most likely because I have already done this for others. The appointment was not the most pleasant, but the therapy turned out to be successful - by March I came to my senses, and in August I successfully completed treatment with antidepressants without consequences. But this doesn't always happen.

How can you help a loved one who has experienced an exacerbation of a mental disorder? The most important thing you can do if you live together is to take care of everyday life. This kind of support helped me a lot.

When you're depressed, it's as if you're looking at the world through a tiny window , and it's difficult to communicate with people and do anything at all. Brushing your teeth is an event, taking a shower is simply a feat . At such moments, you can literally preserve a person’s health if you watch how he eats , how he sleeps and in what conditions he lives. And it is very important physically close: many conditions lead to suicidal feelings.

Symptoms

The first thing that catches your eye when talking with a person who is depressed is joylessness and pronounced depression. Melancholy and anxiety can be read on the patient’s face. In this state, people feel abandoned and forgotten, it seems to them that friends and relatives have turned their backs, and the world around them wants to get rid of their presence as quickly as possible. When talking with such patients, you can find that they most often complain about:

• A sharply decreased appetite or a complete loss of interest in food (although with the so-called “atypical depression”, on the contrary, the appetite increases and there is a craving for sweet, starchy, and sometimes fatty foods - the person “eats” depression and can gain several kilograms in a relatively short period of time) .
• Having problems sleeping. Constantly haunted by nightmares, night's sleep becomes superficial and light, not bringing a sense of rest. In order to fall asleep, you need to take strong medications. After waking up, such people do not feel relief; fatigue does not leave them.
• The feeling of joy goes away. Even ordinary physiological pleasures become inaccessible.
• Interest in the events happening around is lost, even if they directly concern the person.
• Loss of strength is expressed in the reluctance to do the usual work. A little tension causes an attack of mortal fatigue.
• It is difficult to concentrate on simple life situations.
• Symptoms are often expressed in absolute helplessness and a feeling of uselessness to loved ones.
• A painful feeling of guilt that arises for any reason (or “the beginning of a feeling of guilt” - the feeling “I’m disturbing everyone,” “it would be better without me”) is a very dangerous symptom from the point of view of the risk of a suicide attempt.

Reactive depression: nature of occurrence

The emergence of full-fledged RD is observed when two key factors are combined:

1. Helplessness . The patient believes that he cannot stop the effect of the traumatic factor or eliminate/change the negative consequences caused by it. At the same time, it is important to clarify that only the subjective assessment of the situation on the part of the patient matters, and not the objective possibility of somehow influencing the external factor.
2. Weakness of character . Reactive depression is more susceptible to weak-willed individuals who are initially predisposed to pessimization of any negative events and who do not know how, figuratively speaking, to “withstand the blow.” AD is not typical for so-called “strong personalities” - with strong internal experiences, they more often suffer from hidden depression.

It is noteworthy that the nature of the traumatic external factor does not play any role in the occurrence of RD in a particular patient. Equally, it can be either the death of a close relative or someone’s quickly cast condemning glance - only the interpretation of this event by the patient himself matters.

How depression physically manifests itself

People who are depressed often experience headaches, accompanied by dizziness and sometimes loss of consciousness. Aching pain in the heart area and heaviness in the abdomen may appear. Patients begin to complain of aching muscles and joints. The work of the gastrointestinal tract is accompanied by unsystematic changes in diarrhea and constipation. In women, the menstrual cycle is disrupted, and men may completely lose interest in sexual activity. Many somatic diseases can be a manifestation of depression. It is for this reason that among specialists there is the concept of masked depression. A similar term explains the condition when the disease is hidden behind somatic disorders. Statistics paint an alarming picture, stating that at least a third of patients visiting surgeons, internists, endocrinologists, gynecologists and other specialists, in fact, suffer from depression.

Symptoms of depression

A person is designed in such a way that he rarely pays attention to the signs, to what the harbingers of the disease are trying to “tell” him. It can last a month or a little more, and then the pain just bursts out, and with it what you have been holding back for so long and trying not to notice.

“A depressed person is immediately visible: tired skin, lifeless, empty eyes, decreased performance, conversations about how everything is bad, that he is tired, that he can’t do anything, that nothing is needed, that nothing is interesting. A person loses interest in life, it’s as if a cell is growing around him, beyond which he does not want to go,” says the doctor.

If you do not provide timely help to a person suffering from depression, a funnel of pain can drag him to the very bottom. Psychologists call this state “winter of the soul,” when positive feelings and emotions seem to freeze and you become deaf to the outside world. But this is not the end of life, it's just winter. It’s as if she’s testing the strength of her desire to live.

Depressive episode and its dangers

In this state, a number of patients have an irresistible desire to commit suicide. Severe depression can lead to suicide. An inexplicable feeling of anxiety or melancholy pushes people between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five to take rash, spontaneous actions. This is the most dangerous period of life, when a lack of worldly wisdom can push you to a terrible point. Every day, about fifteen people die attempting suicide. Experts say that depression most often leads people to suicide. If you are plagued by feelings of anxiety, joylessness, or depression of an inexplicable nature, do not delay visiting a specialist.

Types of depression

Once you see a doctor, you can count on a correct diagnosis and quick treatment results if the specialist can objectively determine the form of the disease. Timely recognition and application of proven treatment methods guarantee a quick exit from an anxious state.

• Neurotic depression is a patient’s condition when he reacts painfully to various problems and becomes withdrawn and depressed for any reason. With neurotic depression, patients have difficulty getting out of a traumatic situation.
• Situational or reactive depression differs from neurotic depression in that the patient responds more quickly to treatment. A correct diagnosis and strict adherence to the specialist’s recommendations make it possible to quickly cope with the disease.
• With endogenous depression, not only personal qualities and people’s reactions to changing situations are involved in the process of formation of the disease state, but also metabolism, genetic characteristics, and heredity. The disease sometimes manifests itself without any reason or pressure from external factors. In this case, the trigger can be not only stress, but also a common cold or a banal change in the weather. Women during menopause should pay special attention to sudden mood changes. Endogenous depression manifests itself most clearly in the morning, and neurotic depression in the evening.
• Bipolar depression has its own dangers. A severe form of the disease leads to a painful, manic, elevated state, when inexplicable joy makes one perform wonderful deeds. Often such an unreasonable rise in mood sharply turns into a feeling of melancholy.
• Unipolar types of depression are not accompanied by sudden mood swings. In this case, joylessness and depression constantly weigh on the patient’s shoulders.

Alcoholic depression and its varieties

There are two types of alcoholic depression:

1. A temporary disorder caused by drinking large doses of alcohol. The result is intoxication of the body;
2. Severe state of apathy after heavy drinking.

The temporary disorder does not last long and passes quickly: it often begins after drinking a large dose of alcohol and is found in conjunction with a hangover. Along with terrible health, a person feels guilt, depression and repents for what he has done. The ongoing processes of ethanol breakdown contribute to a decrease in blood sugar, which causes fatigue, muscle weakness, decreased concentration and depressed mood. Very often these factors are accompanied by excessive anxiety and irritation. A lack of magnesium causes nervousness, rapid heartbeat and chills.

In most cases, this type of depression goes away in a short period of time, without requiring any medical attention.

Disorder after binge drinking is a more complex case: it resolves with complications and requires medical intervention. Alcoholic depression, the treatment of which is necessary, in this case begins after long-term use of alcohol. In the first few days (2–5) after stopping drinking alcohol, it is accompanied by withdrawal syndrome .

Physically, depression is burdened by somatic disorders: tremors of the limbs, convulsions, hyperactivity, and other factors of withdrawal syndrome. In this case, the person feels a psychological crisis (there are no positive emotions). He loses the ability to receive pleasure, there is no purpose and meaning in life. A person suffering from alcoholic depression sees the world as gloomy and is oppressed by a feeling of uselessness and uselessness.

For many, affective disorder is severe, with bad consequences.

How to identify depression

If a person close to you is constantly gloomy and sheds tears for any reason or without it, he is overcome by thoughts about the imminent end of his life, he constantly looks at everyone as enemies, take him to the doctor or invite a specialist to your home. Treatment will be more effective if you start fighting the disease in a timely manner. This is the case when it is impossible to play it safe. It is easier to fight the disease if a person is aware of the danger and is ready to listen to the doctor’s recommendations. A severe form of the disease requires hospital treatment. If you notice frequent mood swings, lethargy, lack of appetite, or the appearance of unexplained pain in different parts of the body, do not delay, visit a doctor as soon as possible.

Alcohol depression: causes

Why does depression occur due to alcoholism? The first point is changes in the activity of the brain and central nervous system due to poisoning by waste from the breakdown of ethyl alcohol. Stimulation of the brain's serotonergic system by alcoholic beverages leads to disruption of performance and the movement of important neurotransmitters that affect a person's emotional state.

Experts indicate that the reasons for the appearance of this condition are as follows:

• disruptions in the functioning of the central nervous system;
• metabolism is disrupted;
• disruption of the functioning of the entire body;
• short-term disorders under the influence of toxic substances on the body.

It is worth noting that a severe form of depressive disorder does not always develop due to prolonged heavy drinking. Even constant consumption of alcoholic beverages in small doses gradually upsets the nervous system, disrupts its functionality, forming mental pathologies. A person becomes irritated and aggressive, the circle closes: at first he is dissatisfied with life, then irritability and aggression increase. This is followed by repeated consumption of alcoholic beverages, and complete post-alcoholic disappointment in the world around us sets in again.

Where to look for help

Remember that even though the disease may seem unserious, only a highly qualified psychiatrist with sufficient practical experience can cure it. If you find these symptoms in yourself or your loved ones, we recommend that you contact a specialist.

It is important to convince the patient that help will be effective if the specialist’s recommendations are fully followed. CELT employs doctors who will help you quickly cope with any manifestation of depression. Treatment will always give a positive result if you start working with the patient in a timely manner.

Depersonalization-derealization syndrome is a fairly serious mental disorder that can easily be corrected. If you find these symptoms in yourself or your loved ones, we recommend that you consult a specialist. To clarify the diagnosis and receive qualified medical care, you can contact CELT. This is one of those conditions in the treatment of which our psychoneurologists achieve good results.

Make an appointment through the application or by calling +7 +7 We work every day:

• Monday—Friday: 8.00—20.00
• Saturday: 8.00–18.00
• Sunday is a day off

The nearest metro and MCC stations to the clinic:

• Highway of Enthusiasts or Perovo
• Partisan
• Enthusiast Highway

Driving directions

Diagnosis of advanced depression

The first stage of diagnosis is a conversation with a psychotherapist or psychiatrist. During the consultation, a trusting contact is established between the patient and the doctor. The specialist observes a person’s behavior (gestures, facial expressions), records obsessive movements, and conducts small tasks to determine the state of cognitive functions (speech, attention, thinking, memory). Collecting anamnesis and obtaining answers to certain questions allows you to make a preliminary diagnosis.

The specialist must understand the causes of the disorder (did the disease occur after stress or for no apparent reason?) and assess the severity of the symptoms in order to prescribe an adequate treatment regimen.

To make the diagnosis objective, patients who are experiencing mental illness for the first time are recommended to undergo a pathopsychological examination. A medical psychologist examines a person’s thinking, memory, attention, and emotional-volitional sphere. And the treating psychotherapist takes into account the psychologist’s conclusion and makes a final diagnosis.

In difficult cases, when a person has been ill for a very long time (4-5 years or more) and the diagnosis is in doubt, it makes sense to hold a consultation - to find out the opinion of several psychotherapists at once. Candidates or doctors of medical sciences will help you quickly understand the problem.

Doctors should make a differential diagnosis for depression. For several years you can suffer from dysthymia (long-term “mild” depression), cyclothymia (alternating mild downs and ups in mood) or, for example, schizotypal disorder.