What Does Severe Depression Mean

Why A Repeat Of The Great Depression Is Unlikely

Policymakers appear to have learned their lesson from the Great Depression. New laws and regulations were introduced to prevent a repeat and central banks were forced to rethink how best to go about tackling economic stagnation.

Nowadays, central banks are quicker to react to inflation and are more willing to use expansionary monetary policy to lift the economy during difficult times. Using these tools helped to stop the great recession of the late 2000s from becoming a full-blown depression.

Types Of Diagnostic Tools

Researchers have been using such scales since the 1960s. One of the first, the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, is still sometimes used today. However, there are many more scales available that are better suited for doctors to use with patients. There are even scales patients can use on their own to track or self-report depression symptoms.

While scales can offer key insights, they tend to be quite different from one another. The way they are administered, the questions they ask, and the way the answers are interpreted may not be the same from one scale to the next.

The inconsistencies of the tools, their use, and interpretation can make it challenging to determine the severity of someones depression, as different scales may provide different results. That said, when used along with other diagnostic measures and the judgment of an experienced clinician, the scales can be useful tools.

Examples Of Depress In A Sentence

depressdepressdepresseddepressdepressdepressdepressingdepressDepressdepressdepress Better Homes & Gardensdepress New York Timesdepress WSJdepress Fortunedepress Quartzdepress CNNdepress Quartzdepress WSJ

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word depress. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Treatment For Psychotic Depression

If you experience both depression and psychosis, youll want to get support from a mental health professional right away. This condition typically doesnt improve without professional treatment.

Your care team may recommend a short stay in a psychiatric hospital to treat severe psychosis and persistent thoughts of self-harm or suicide.

Treatment for psychotic depression generally involves psychotropic medications, though you have other options, too.

Suicidal Thoughts: An Emergency

For people who are severely depressed, suicide is a real threat. Each year, about 30,000 people in the U.S. take their own lives, although the true number may be higher. Some suicides go unrecognized because they’re classified as accidents, drug overdoses, or shootings. Among people whose depression remains untreated, up to 15% will kill themselves.

What are the warning signs of suicide? According to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, they include:

• Talking about wanting to die or wanting to kill yourself
• Looking for a way to kill yourself, such as searching online for methods or buying a gun
• Talking about feeling hopeless or having no reason to live
• Talking about feeling trapped or in unbearable pain
• Talking about being a burden to others
• Increasing use of alcohol or drugs
• Acting anxious or agitated behaving recklessly
• Sleeping too little or too much
• Withdrawing or feeling isolated
• Showing rage or talking about seeking revenge
• Displaying extreme mood swings

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From The American Heritage Dictionary Of The English Language 5th Edition

• noun The act of depressing.
• noun The condition of being depressed.
• noun An area that is sunk below its surroundings a hollow.
• noun The condition of feeling sad or despondent.
• noun A mood disorder characterized usually by anhedonia, extreme sadness, poor concentration, sleep problems, loss of appetite, and feelings of guilt, helplessness, and hopelessness.
• noun A lowering or reduction, as.
• noun A reduction in physiological vigor or activity.
• noun A lowering in amount, degree, or position.
• noun A period of drastic economic decline, characterized by decreasing aggregate output, falling prices, and rising unemployment.
• noun A period of widespread poverty and high unemployment.
• nounMeteorology A region of low barometric pressure.
• noun The angular distance below the horizontal plane through the point of observation.
• nounAstronomy The angular distance of a celestial body below the horizon.

How Is Psychotic Depression Diagnosed

People experiencing depression with psychosis dont always seek help on their own. In some cases, it might be a family member or close friend who helps them find a medical or mental health professional who can make a diagnosis.

To make a diagnosis, theyll generally start by asking questions about your mental health, mood, and emotional well-being. They might ask about:

• fixed beliefs or persistent worries that affect your daily life
• things you see, hear, or feel that no one else seems to notice
• problems with sleeping, eating, or going about your daily life
• your support network and social relationships
• health concerns
• other mental health symptoms, like anxiety or mania
• your personal and family health and mental health history

Psychosis isnt always obvious, even to trained clinicians. Some mental health professionals may not immediately recognize the difference between fixed delusions and rumination, a pattern of looping sad, dark, or unwanted thoughts.

Both delusions and rumination, which is common with depression, can involve:

• guilt over mistakes you believe youve made
• perceptions of yourself as a failed partner or parent

Describing all of your feelings, perceptions, and beliefs to your clinician can help them make the right diagnosis.

A diagnosis of major depression also requires that symptoms:

• last for 2 weeks or longer
• affect some areas of daily life
• arent related to substance use or another condition

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What Does Bipolar Depression Feel Like

Bipolar depression feels slightly different for everyone. Some people experience extreme and prolonged periods of depression, while others report minor to moderate dips in mood following a manic or hypomanic episode. For some, depression is manageable with the right treatment and lifestyle, but for others, it can be debilitating. All people with bipolar disorder experience depression at least once, as it is part of the diagnostic criteria, but what does bipolar depression feel like?

Psychotic Depression Vs Schizophrenia

MDD with psychosis can sometimes resemble schizophrenia, another mental health condition that involves psychosis. The main difference lies in when psychosis shows up:

• If you have MDD with psychosis, youll only have symptoms of psychosis during an episode of depression.
• If you have schizophrenia, youll have symptoms of psychosis whether you have depression symptoms or not.

While schizophrenia doesnt always involve depression, many people living with schizophrenia do have symptoms of depression, which can complicate diagnosis of either condition.

But schizophrenia involves other symptoms not necessarily associated with depression, including:

• disorganized or incoherent speech

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Take Care Of Yourself

Practicing good self-care can be helpful when coping with symptoms of depression. It is important to remember, however, that depressive symptoms can often make taking care of yourself more difficult. Feeling fatigued, unmotivated, disinterested, and distracted can interfere with normal daily tasks.

While it may require extra effort, doing some of the following can help you feel better:

• Eat a healthy diet
• Seek out social support
• Engage in activities you enjoy

Try to avoid isolating yourself when you are feeling down. Depression often causes people to withdraw from friends and loved ones, but reaching out to the people who care about you can actually help reduce feelings of depression.

If you or a loved one are struggling with depression, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration National Helpline at 1-800-662-4357 for information on support and treatment facilities in your area.

For more mental health resources, see our National Helpline Database.

Examples Of Depression In A Sentence

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These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word depression. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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How Is Depression Treated

Depression is among the most treatable of mental disorders. Between 80% and 90% percent of people with depression eventually respond well to treatment. Almost all patients gain some relief from their symptoms.

Before a diagnosis or treatment, a health professional should conduct a thorough diagnostic evaluation, including an interview and a physical examination. In some cases, a blood test might be done to make sure the depression is not due to a medical condition like a thyroid problem or a vitamin deficiency . The evaluation will identify specific symptoms and explore medical and family histories as well as cultural and environmental factors with the goal of arriving at a diagnosis and planning a course of action.

Depression Is Different From Sadness Or Grief/bereavement

The death of a loved one, loss of a job or the ending of a relationship are difficult experiences for a person to endure. It is normal for feelings of sadness or grief to develop in response to such situations. Those experiencing loss often might describe themselves as being depressed.

But being sad is not the same as having depression. The grieving process is natural and unique to each individual and shares some of the same features of depression. Both grief and depression may involve intense sadness and withdrawal from usual activities. They are also different in important ways:

• In grief, painful feelings come in waves, often intermixed with positive memories of the deceased. In major depression, mood and/or interest are decreased for most of two weeks.
• In grief, self-esteem is usually maintained. In major depression, feelings of worthlessness and self-loathing are common.
• In grief, thoughts of death may surface when thinking of or fantasizing about joining the deceased loved one. In major depression, thoughts are focused on ending ones life due to feeling worthless or undeserving of living or being unable to cope with the pain of depression.

Grief and depression can co-exist For some people, the death of a loved one, losing a job or being a victim of a physical assault or a major disaster can lead to depression. When grief and depression co-occur, the grief is more severe and lasts longer than grief without depression.

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Seek Support For Symptoms Of Depression

Depression is often not recognised and can go on for months or even years if left untreated. Its important to seek support as early as possible, as the sooner a person gets treatment, the sooner they can recover.

Untreated depression can have many negative effects on a persons life, including serious relationship and family problems, difficulty finding and holding down a job, and drug and alcohol problems.

There is no one proven way that people recover from depression. However, there is a range of effective treatments and health professionals who can help people on the road to recovery.

There are also many things that people with depression can do for themselves to help them recover and stay well. The important thing is to find the right treatment and the right health professional for a persons needs.

When Does Emotional Pain Become Unbearable

Suicide, some observers believe, is less an attempt to end ones own life than to escape the mental pain of endless negative thoughts, reliving lifes failures and defeats, enduring constant self-recrimination, and envisioning only bleakness ahead, which are the hallmarks of depression.

Rejection of any kindrelationship breakup, the silence of a friend, social shunning is one of the harshest experiences a human can endure and can create so much emotional agony that it is increasingly linked to suicide attempts among young adults. Studies show that the same areas of the brain that are activated by physical pain are activated when we experience rejection. But unlike with physical pain, psychological pain can endlessly loop through the brain every time such experiences are recalled, the pain is re-experienced in all its acute emotional intensity.

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From The Century Dictionary

• noun The difference between the low barometric pressure and the normal pressure for that locality the departure of the pressure.
• noun The act of pressing down, or the state of being pressed down. Specifically
• noun In astronomy:
• noun In gunnery, the lowering of the muzzle of a gun, corresponding to the raising of the breech.
• noun In surgery, a kind of couching.
• noun In music, the lowering or flatting of a tone: denoted in printed music by a , or, after a , by a .
• noun A hollow a sinking or falling in of a surface a forcing inward: as, roughness consisting in little protuberances and depressions the depression of the skull.
• noun Figuratively, the act of lowering or abasing: as, the depression of pride.
• noun A sinking of the spirits dejection a state of sadness want of courage or animation: as, depression of the mind.
• noun A low state of strength physical exhaustion.
• noun A state of dullness or inactivity: as, depression of trade commercial depression.
• noun Humiliation, fall.

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Does Depression Change Your Personality

Research has turned up mixed results about whether or not depression can actually change a persons personality.

However, according to of 10 studies, depressive symptoms may be associated with changes in several specific aspects of personality including extraversion, neuroticism, and agreeableness which could be temporary or persistent.

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What Factors Raise The Risk Of Suicide Among The Depressed

Just as depression can run in families, so can suicide. Depressed people with a family member who died by suicide are themselves at elevated risk for taking their own life. People who have PTSD as well as depression are at increased risk of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts. A history of trauma also raises the risk of suicide among those who suffer depression. Substance use, by itself, is a major risk factor for suicide, and when it accompanies depression, it adds to the risk of taking ones life.

Loneliness is a significant contributing factor to depression, and people who are socially isolated are at higher risk of suicide than those who are not. Because the brain makes no distinction between physical and psychological pain, people who have chronic pain along with depressionor any chronic illnessare at elevated risk of suicide. Most of those who complete suicide are men, but women are four times more likely than men to make a suicide attempt..

Living With Bipolar Depression

Living with bipolar depression isnt easy. Not only can depression be debilitating, but combined with episodes of mania or hypomania, it is also exhausting and unpredictable. Someone with bipolar disorder may wake up one day unable to get out of bed due to severe depression, but they may be energetic, restless and impulsive the next.

Some people with bipolar disorder also experience rapid cycling, in which there is a pattern of distinct and short-lived episodes of mania and depression. For an individual to be diagnosed with rapid cycling bipolar disorder, they would have to experience four or more depressive, manic or hypomanic episodes in one year. This is mentally and physically exhausting and can lead to other issues such as substance abuse, financial problems, over or undereating and relationship troubles. Living with bipolar depression and maintaining a job, home and solid relationships can be extremely difficult.

Bipolar depression is often confused with unipolar or “regular” depression because there are more depressive episodes than manic ones. Hypomania can also be confused with feeling “normal” or energized. People with bipolar disorder dont always respond to antidepressants, so they may be misdiagnosed with treatment-resistant depression rather than bipolar depression, meaning they dont always get the right support and treatment.

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Complementary And Alternative Treatments

There are some alternative remedies that may be helpful for some people who have mild to moderate depression. St. John’s wort, for example, is one herbal supplement that is sometimes used to help alleviate symptoms of mild to moderate depression. While the supplement is not FDA-approved for the treatment of depression, some research suggests that it may help reduce symptoms.

Because St. John’s wort affects serotonin levels in the brain, it can lead to a serious condition known as serotonin syndrome. It can also interact with other medications, including antidepressants. You should always talk to your doctor before trying any complementary treatment such as St. John’s wort.

What Does Depression Mean

According to the NIH and the American Psychiatric Association, depression is a type of mental illness. Biologically, depression is when you have low amounts of the neurotransmitter serotonin in your brain. Depression is listed as one of many mental illnesses in the DSM-5.

Depression could also be a symptom of other medical conditions and mental disorders like PMS, PMDD , bipolar disorder, postpartum depression , or seasonal affective disorder.

Clinical depression is prevalent in adolescents and older adults. Types of depression range from mild depression to severe depression or major depression.

Depression is able to manifest itself in many different ways, and depression can look different to everyone. Never assume that someone is doing fine, and make sure to check on your friends and family.

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