Persistent depressive disorder can be understood as a state of frequent depression, chronic depression. Symptoms of melancholy, lack of energy, feeling of hopelessness continue to make the patient feel hopeless and very likely to lead to suicidal behaviors. Patients need to quickly meet with psychiatrists and therapists for timely treatment support.
Manifestations of persistent depressive disorder
Genetics, trauma from the past, bad influences from the present life or a lack of chemicals in the brain are some of the causes of depression. These symptoms make the patient always in a state of sadness, fatigue, the whole body as if there is no energy and always only thinking about negative things, so they tend to want to hurt themselves.
Persistent depressive disorder is a dark shadow that always covers the patient, making the patient no longer feel joy and happiness.
Persistent depressive disorder is also known by other names such as chronic depression, chronic depression. These symptoms could have progressed silently for 2 years, draining the patient’s energy but not being detected. This long-term condition seriously affects the patient’s quality of life, work and relationships.
Some specific manifestations of persistent depressive disorder such as:
- Always in a sad, empty state for no apparent reason
- Feeling indifferent to everything, losing interest in all day-to-day activities
- Often sitting in a daze, thinking aimlessly, having difficulty concentrating on anything
- Always have negative emotions, difficult to be happy even in happy and happy times and situations
- Everything is slow and absent-minded
- Mood swings, irritability, excitability, crying easily
- Difficulty making decisions or choosing something
- Always in a sluggish state, lack of energy, don’t want to do anything, just want to lie down
- Stay away from crowded places, stay away from social activities, just want to be alone
- Having trouble sleeping, sleeping too much or having severe insomnia, or having frequent nightmares
- Low self-esteem, always feeling that you are worthless, unsuccessful, incompetent, always blaming yourself
- Feeling guilty and thinking about many things, obsessing about the past, often living in the past
- Not eating well, having a feeling of loss of appetite or sometimes eating too much
- Become more sensitive to everything around
- Difficulty in sharing, talking with anyone, often finding a long-term job due to always being in a state of depression, despair, absent-mindedness, low productivity
- Have some physical problems, such as back pain, headache, stomachache, weight loss, nausea, and no sex drive
Persistent depressive disorder symptoms usually last for at least 2 years and occur in episodes of several months with varying intensity. In addition, it is possible that episodes of major depression may occur before or during persistent depressive disorder, a symptom known as double depression.
Causes of persistent depressive disorder
In fact, the exact causes of persistent depressive disorder remain unknown. New studies tentatively indicate it may be related to biological factors in the brain, genetics and other effects. The inability to determine the exact cause of the disease also greatly affects the progress of definitive treatment.
The brains of depressed people have different characteristics from normal people
In particular, some of the causes that are thought to be related to the causation of the disease include
- Biological Differences: Physical changes in the brain of brain biological substances are thought to be involved in the cause of the disease, however the mechanism that causes this condition is unknown.
- Brain chemicals: The effects of neurotransmitters in the brain are also one of the causes of depression as well as persistent depressive disorder. In particular, Dopamine, Norepinephrine and Serotonin are the three substances directly related to this disease.
- Genetics: Research shows that about 40% of people with depression can be linked to genes, especially if a parent or sibling has the disease, the child will have a 3 times risk of developing it later. In addition, this condition is also related to the influence in the process of teaching, interacting, and caring for children on a daily basis.
- External influences: Most people with persistent depression have experienced an event that is beyond their normal tolerance. For example, work, debt, loss of loved ones, being cheated on… These situations, if not quickly resolved, will make the patient’s spirit always in a state of melancholy and stress, leading to persistent depression. persistent.
Is Persistent Depressive Disorder Dangerous?
People with persistent depressive disorder always feel like their whole body is drained of energy, no longer want to do anything, eat anything even though they used to enjoy those activities. The melancholy emotions kept flooding in the mind, making the patient feel like he had just fallen into a deep dark well, unable to climb up no matter what. The more they tried, the more they were in pain, their whole body was scratched, all wounds, but also extremely panicked.
Persistent depressive disorder makes the patient always immersed in despair, boredom, unable to get out
Persistent depressive symptoms often come in waves, but during normal episodes, they are also difficult to have normal emotions. Chronic depressive episodes are difficult to control, seriously affecting the quality of life, spirit, work and surrounding relationships. Even they themselves cannot understand what their feelings are.
The essence of depression is to make the patient feel extremely hopeless, depressed, and have no feelings for life. Even breathing makes them feel tired, no longer eager for anything. Therefore, many people choose to hurt themselves or even commit suicide as a way to release their emotions, a way to free themselves.
Experts also said that persistent depressive disorder is difficult to treat, even about 20% of patients still cannot get rid of the disease completely even after continuous treatment for about 2 years. Besides, without the right treatment, the patient may also face many difficulties in returning to a stable and normal life.
In general, depressive disorder is not as serious as major depression, but its progression is long, difficult to detect early, so it is also more difficult to treat. As soon as you feel that your loved ones around you or yourself have signs of depression, you should quickly go to a psychiatric hospital or psychological center for support, care and treatment as soon as possible.
Guidelines for the treatment of persistent depressive disorder
The treatment of persistent depressive disorder requires the support of neurologists, psychotherapists and especially the help of family and loved ones to really bring the best results. . The treatment time is also quite long, requiring family members to also be mentally prepared and patient to be able to care for and help the patient at any time.
Medical treatment
The main goal of medication for patients with persistent depressive disorder is to stabilize emotions, improve sleep quality, and minimize the risk of self-harming behaviors. These drugs cannot completely eliminate the symptoms of the disease, but are essential for controlling other abnormal behaviors.
The use of drugs to treat depression will help patients stabilize their emotions and avoid dangerous behaviors
The main drugs commonly used include
- Tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs)
- Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)
- Serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs)
Most of these drugs help stabilize the mood of the patient so that they do not fall into a state of despair, but do not help the patient to be happy quickly. On the other hand, the drug is always accompanied by a lot of bad side effects, such as some stomach problems, sleep problems, so patients need to strictly adhere to the dose prescribed by the doctor.
In addition, currently a number of new methods in the treatment of depression are also being applied to patients such as:
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is actually one of the main measures recommended for people with persistent depressive disorder. Accordingly, psychologists will talk and share with patients to find the source and root of the problem. Once you understand the problems in the mind that keep the patient “captive” in despair, then offer a suitable solution for each person.
One of the most important factors in being able to treat persistent depressive disorder is being honest with the therapist. You need to talk about all thoughts, feelings in the present and past, and events that make you feel miserable. Only when you are really honest with your feelings and are willing to share can the treatment really work.
Depending on the client’s condition, the therapist will offer appropriate support. Not only are we directed to measures to help patients relax, let go of the defensive layer, but also guide how to relax mentally, set goals for life or learn how to deal with stress. Negative, ugly emotions that are far from reality will be replaced by more true positives.
Psychotherapy is really evaluated to bring many positive results for people with depression in general or people with other psychological problems in particular. Patients who respond well to these methods will become more and more positive and optimistic, eliminate boredom and despair, and know how to transform their lives into a more optimistic and colorful life.
Home treatment and family support
Although persistent depressive disorder is dangerous, most will be treated at home, not to the point of requiring inpatient treatment in a hospital. Therefore, the support from the family also plays a very important role in the process of helping the patient regain optimism and soon integrate into normal daily life.
Meditation or yoga are ways that families can encourage the patient to practice to improve mental health
Families are also encouraged to participate in psychotherapy because the process of caring and supporting people with depression is not easy. Their negative emotions are very “contagious”, making people around no matter how positive they are, they also feel a bit tired, bored, and in some cases even want to give up taking care. with depressed people. Therefore, participating in psychotherapy is a way to make caregivers mentally healthier as well as know how to properly support and care for people with depression.
Some ways to care and support people with persistent depressive disorder at home are:
- Talk and share problems from daily to personal with the patient, but do not force them to talk. You can start from sharing your own problems to elicit emotions from the patient.
- Remind the patient to go to bed early, take the medicine on time and at the right dose. Should encourage patients to go to bed before 11 pm, the more sleep deprived, the more negative and irritable the mind will be.
- Take care of your physical health through adequate daily nutrition, especially green vegetables and fresh fruits.
Stay away from alcohol, tobacco, alcoholic beverages or other stimulants - Encourage the patient to go outside and participate in physical activities such as running, swimming, biking, climbing, or playing team sports.
- Inviting patients to participate in subjects such as meditation or yoga are very good for the patient’s mind, spirit, sleep and health.
- Some measures to help patients relax mentally such as foot bath with herbs, warm bath, breathing essential oils, listening to music, reading books
- Patients should not be treated as “sick people” and unduly special treatment. In daily life, it is still advisable to ask for their support such as cooking, cleaning the house.. This will help the patient feel that they are not useless, not alone.
- See doctors and psychologists periodically on schedule or get support when needed
Persistent depressive disorder can have a lot of potential problems if the person is not quickly detected and properly treated. Learning to be honest about your feelings, seeking help and loving yourself more is the most effective way to treat and prevent the risk of this disease.
