MAY 2017 - Mental Health Awareness Month

Good Afternoon all Blog Readers & Followers:  We are back for another Session about mental health.  In our last Blog Session we did an exercise involving answering simple questions that were meant to cause you to think about just how important you are and to motivate you to understand the value of being aware of what is going on inside of you.   Your mental health starts with the thoughts that are rolling around in your head every minute of every day.  How you think about the activities and the people that are in your life has an impact on your mental health.  That impact may be positive or negative depending upon your thought process.

Your Journal, Diary, or a simple Notebook will serve to aid you in keeping a record of your daily thoughts and activities.

Consider maintaining a daily Journal, Diary or Notebook

If you maintain a daily Journal, Diary, or Notebook, you'll find that you will become more conscious of what you are both doing and thinking on a daily basis.

Today we are going to discuss psychotic depression.  In a previous Blog Session we discussed severe depression, and how (in some cases), severe depression may also involve some psychotic symptoms such as delusions and hallucinations.

NOTE:  Severe depression is depression which is more disabling and dangerous to the person who is going through it and requires prompt professional assistance in order for the person to deal with it.  When psychosis occurs alongside depression, it is called psychotic depression.

We previously discussed who will develop psychotic depression, and how a propensity toward depression, especially severe depression, tends to run in families.  If you have a parent or sibling who has had depression, you are more likely to develop it yourself.

As promised in a previous Blog Session, today we are going to talk more about psychotic depression and what is believed to cause psychotic depression.  We will also discuss the symptoms...

What Is Believed to Cause Psychotic Depression?

One theory is that a particular combination of genes must be inherited in order for a person to develop psychotic depression.

Certain genes might be responsible for depression symptoms while others might be responsible for the psychotic symptoms, making it possible for an individual to inherit a genetic vulnerability to depression, psychosis, or both.  This theory would explain why not all people with depression develop psychosis.

Another theory is that high levels of the stress hormone cortisol could be involved.  High levels of cortisol are often found in people with depression.

What Are Its Symptoms?

A person with psychotic depression will, first of all, experience a combination of depression symptoms, potentially including:

• Depressed mood
• Diminished interest or pleasure in activities previously enjoyed
• Significant changes in weight and appetite
• Sleep difficulties
• Fatigue or lack of energy
• Feelings of worthlessness or guilt
• Inability to concentrate
• Thoughts of death or suicide

In addition to the above symptoms, patients with psychotic depression will also experience delusions and/or hallucinations.

Lets go a little further, and get into the questions of . . .

How Is Psychotic Depression Diagnosed?

At present, psychotic depression is not considered a separate illness.  Instead, it is considered to be a sub-type of major depressive disorder.  In order to be diagnosed with psychotic depression, a person must first meet the criteria set forth in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders for major depressive disorder.

In addition, the person must exhibit signs of psychosis, such as hallucinations and delusions.

An evaluation by a physician might also include testing to rule out other potential causes of the patient's psychotic symptoms, such as drugs.

How Is It Treated?

Psychotic depression is usually treated in a hospital, using

antidepressant and antipsychotic medications.  When depression symptoms are severe, electroconvulsive therapy may be used to bring about rapid relief.  Ongoing treatment will include medications to prevent a recurrence of symptoms.

________________________________________

_Sources:

_{American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. 5th edition. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association, 1994.}

_{Jacobson, James L., and Alan M. Jacobson. Psychiatric Secrets. 2nd Ed. Philadelphia: Hanley & Belfus, Inc., 2001.}

_{Parker, George F.  "DSM-5 and Psychotic and Mood Disorders."  The Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law.  42 (2014):  182-90.}

_{Stern, Theodore A. et. al. eds. Massachusetts General Hospital Comprehensive Clinical Psychiatry. 1st edition. Philadelphia, Mosby, Inc, 2008._________________________________________________________________________________________}

Look forward to meeting again back here on the Blog, and remember that your Journals/Diaries should be put to good use during the month of May, as this is Mental Health Awareness Month.  You'll be glad you took the time to write out your feelings, emotions, activities, and thoughts.  Be sure to also make a note in your journal about your Research on the topic of Mental Health.  Add the Sites you visit to get further information on the areas of mental health that interest you.  Use your Journal as a Reference tool for the information that is important to you.

Be sure to Bookmark this Blog, and feel free to add me to your Circle if you are a Google+ user.  You may also follow by Email by adding your Email address in the slot where it says, "Follow by Email" in the upper right column under my eyeball, and click the grey box that says, "Submit".

I'm hoping that today's Blog Session gave you more information for your Journal, Diary and Notebooks, and also something to think about for Mental Health Awareness Month . . .

See you next time back here on the Blog dear Friends!

Peace, Love & Light,

 René

©Copyright - René Allen - MAY 2017 - All Rights Reserved