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

MAY 2017

Mental Health Awareness Month

Good Afternoon Blog Readers & Followers!  Welcome back to our discussion about Mental Health.  We have been mainly discussing "depression", and writing in our Journals or Diaries (your choice) on a daily basis.

In this Blog Session we will be continuing on where we left off with our discussion about Mental Health, and in particular ~ Depression Manifestations . . .

1.  Major or Clinical Depression

      Severs and/or disrupts ability to perform daily tasks.

2.  Dysthymia

      Milder than major depression, but persists for at least two

      (2) years.

3.  Double Depression amounts to . . .

      Both Major Depression plus Dysthymia.

4.  Atypical Depression

      People with this type of depression can temporarily put 

      on a brave face and appear ok to others.

5.  Melancholia

      Unable to even temporarily feel any lift, and this condition

      is easy to see in someone.

6.  Depression coupled with Anxiety

7.  Postpartum Depression

8.  SAD ~ Winter Blues

Please make a note of all of the above Depression Manifestations in your Journal or Diary for future reference.  It is suggested that you also do research on your own about mental health, as well as the topics that we are discussing here on the Blog.  The topics we are discussing may affect you, or someone you know.  May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and there is no better time than now to open up discussions about mental health.

Journal/Diary ~ Notes

The other area that we discussed in our last Blog Session was Bipolar Disorder (also known as manic-depressive illness).  There was a definition provided so that all Readers would be aware of what this condition consists of.  We also had a chart which listed the Bipolar Spectrum, which covers five (5) areas . . .

Bipolar Spectrum

1.  Hypo-mania - (literally "under mania" or "less than

      mania") is a mood state characterized by persistent

      disinhibition and pervasive elevated (euphoric) with or

      without irritable mood but generally less severe than full

      mania.  According to DSM-V criteria, hypomania is 

      specifically distinct from mania in that there is no 

      psychosis (sensing things others do not sense in the same

      environment); mania, by DSM-V definition, has psychotic 

      features. Characteristic behaviors are extremely energetic,

      talkative, and confident commonly exhibited with a flight 

      of creative ideas.  While hypomanic behavior often 

      generates productivity and excitement, it can become 

      troublesome if the subject engages in risky or otherwise 

      inadvisable behaviors.  When manic episodes are "staged"

      according to symptomatic severity and associated 

      features, hypomania constitutes the first stage, or stage I,

      of the syndrome, wherein the cardinal features 

      (euphoria or heightened irritability, pressure of speech

      and activity, increased energy and decreased need for

      sleep, and flight of ideas) are most plainly evident.

      [NOTE:  Some individuals with bipolar I disorder have hypomanic as well as 

            manic episodes. Hypomania can also occur when moods progress downwards from a 

            manic mood state to a normal mood.  Hypomania is sometimes credited with 

            increasing creativity and productive energy.]

2.  Hyper-mania - a condition of extreme mania marked by

      elation and hyperactivity; a mental disorder characterized

      by great excitement and occasionally violent behaviour.

NOTES/DEFINITION OF MANIA:

 ~ A manifestation of bipolar disorder characterized by 

     profuse and rapidly changing ideas, exaggerated gaiety,

     and excessive physical activity.

~ Violent, abnormal, or impulsive behavior.  In psychological

     terms, mania is wild activity associated with manic 

     depression. 

 ~ a severe mental state with high intensity disorientation

    and often violent behavior.

~ a mental disorder characterized by great excitement and

    occasionally violent behaviour.  See also manic-depressive. 

Mania is a state of abnormally elevated arousal, affect, and energy level, or "a state of heightened overall activation with enhanced affective expression together with lability of affect."  Although mania is often conceived as a "mirror image" to depression, the heightened mood can be either euphoric or irritable; indeed, as the mania intensifies, irritability can be more pronounced and result in violence. 

late 14c., "mental derangement characterized by excitement and delusion," 

from Late Latin mania "insanity, madness,"; from Greek mania "madness, frenzy;

enthusiasm, inspired frenzy; mad passion, fury," related to "mainesthai" - to rage, go mad -- 

all from PIE ~ meaning to think, to have one's mind aroused, rage, be furious.

3.  Symptom free

4.  Mild depression - Mild depression is defined as

      chronic depression with symptoms that are not as 

      severe as someone suffering from a severe episode.

      According to Psychology Information Online, to qualify 

      as dysthymic disorder the depressed feelings must be

      present almost every day for at least two years.

5.  Severe depression - great degree of depression:

      symptoms of sadness, loss, and hopelessness.  Mentally, 

      those affected may experience constant emotional 

      distress, lack of concentration, loss of interest, and even 

      the complete inability to feel pleasure.  These mental 

      handicaps can lead to more severe symptoms such as self-

      harm, excessive fatigue and weight loss due to lack of 

      appetite, insomnia, and even suicide.  Depression affects 

      different people in different ways, resulting in varying 

      symptoms.

PLEASE NOTE:  Depression can vary from person to person in how intensely the person experiences it.  Intensity can also vary over time.  Many natural treatments are recommended for people with mild to moderate depression because these are the types of cases in which they have been evaluated and shown to be effective.

People with mild to moderate depression have depression symptoms which are more than simply "feeling blue," but they do not experience the same level of disability as those with severe depression, who might need to be hospitalized in order to cope with their symptoms.

Please see or talk to your doctor if you feel you need help.

Clinical Depression & other forms of Depression

We will return on our next Blog Session to discuss the above topics:  Clinical Depression & other forms of Depression.  We will also talk about the chart that we displayed in relation to Bipolar Syndrome Types.

Looking forward to seeing you back here on the Blog.  Don't forget to Bookmark this Blog, and/or Follow our Blog posts by adding your Email address in the upper right-hand side where it says, "Follow by Email".

See you in our next Blog Session!

Peace, Love & Light,

 René

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