Understanding Different Types Of Depression

Depression is one of the most common psychological disorders. Of late it has received much attention because of its prevalence among a large population. But not many people know that there are different types of depression.

Depression has a very debilitating effect on the sufferer. It can make the person feel hopeless, sad, pessimistic, worthless and sometimes also guilty. The patient can have difficulty in concentration, in making decisions, severe loss of appetite, weight loss or weight gain, sleeping disorders, loss of energy and many more negative effects. In some cases there can be physical symptoms like slowness in speech and movement as well. In fact in the severest cases of depression there can also be an increased tendency of committing suicide in the patient.

Regarding the types of depression many people feel that there is only one type of depression namely the Unipolar depression where the patient is always depressed. But according to medical science there are five types of depression.

The first is the Unipolar Depression which is also referred to as major depression disorder. In this type of situation the patient always feels sad. It seems that the patient has the burden of the whole world over his shoulders. This is the most common type of depression. The patient gradually loses interest in his daily or regular activities. He becomes convinced that he is useless as well as hopeless. There is a severe loss in sexual activity of the person and also a drastic weight loss as the patient loses interest in eating as well.

The second type of depression is the Bipolar disorder. This is also called as the manic depression or bipolar manic. This condition is often misdiagnosed because of the peculiarity of this type of depression. In this state the person can have severe bouts of elation and at the same time they can become very sad. Often people question what is bipolar disorder, as it is very difficult to recognize this category of depressed patients.

Atypical depression is a slight variation of the major depression. Here the patient believes that only outside actions can control their mood and behavior. Here the patient can sometimes feel elated and sometimes can feel sad. Bouts of Atypical depression can sometimes last for months and sometimes they can live with that particular depression forever.

The fourth type of depression is the Psychotic Depression. Here the patients begin to witness hallucinations and see and hear imaginary things like voice, sounds, and visuals, but these things never exist. Another important thing with the sufferer of Psychotic depression is that they often see and hear things which are frightening as well as negative.

The final kind of depression is Dysthymia. Regarding the definition of dysthymic disorder the patient just feels sad and dejected. In fact most people are not only aware that they suffer from this type of depression. Here the patient just does not enjoy their life. Among the different types of depression, this is the one where the condition can be primarily cured with the help of medications.

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