3 Truths Psychiatrists Wished You Knew About Depression
Posted on: 13 March 2020
Although mental health illnesses like depression are common among most teenagers and young adults today, most people don't realise when they develop and who to see to treat them. Other mental health conditions such as eating disorders, bipolar disorder, substance addiction and schizophrenia also affect people across the world, but they aren't as severe as depression has become.
Different ways are used to treat depression, but none is as effective as visiting a psychiatrist. Psychiatrists are mental health specialists that help depressed people manage depression and recover quickly. According to most psychiatrists, here is what most people don't know about depression.
Antidepressants Aren't for Every Depressed Person
Although antidepressants help treat depression in moderate or severe stages, sometimes a psychiatrist won't prescribe them. While antidepressants may work for some depression victims, they may not work for others depending on their overall health and episode stage. Psychiatrists don't always prescribe medication to any depressed person that visits them; they sometimes recommend lifestyle changes and talking treatments. They don't only help the patient control or reduce depression but also try to identify the triggers and eliminate those likely to cause downward spirals in the future.
Depression Can Be Revealed in Different Ways
If you thought that only sad people are likely to be depressed, you missed it. Mental health conditions such as depression affect different people in different ways, and the symptoms aren't the same. While some people drink excessively when depressed, others become irritable or develop unbecoming behaviours.
No matter the symptoms a depressed person expresses, they will affect their mood in a big way. If your loved one, colleague or friend gets agitated always, finds life worthless, lacks interest in everything, loses sex drive and appetite, has sleep difficulties, feels tired always or hates what they once liked, they need to see a psychiatrist.
Depression Could Indicate a Severe Underlying Condition
According to most psychiatrists, mental health illnesses like ADHD, hormonal abnormalities, anxiety and other neuro-developmental conditions could cause depression or develop along with it. Diagnosing mental health conditions such as treatment-resistant depression could be tricky without the intervention of a competent psychiatrist. A psychiatrist assesses the intensity and pattern of your feelings and how they influence the patient's life before they treat depression. If the patient had attempted suicide or harming themselves in any way, the psychiatrist knows they have an underlying problem to reveal and treat.
Depression, especially the treatment-resistant type isn't something to cope with, but an illness a psychiatrist should treat. Some stressful situations in life are inevitable, and they slowly make you susceptible to depression. Taking recreational drugs or alcohol to alleviate depression may just make things worse. However, a psychiatrist will diagnose the depression stage and prescribe safe and effective ways to treat it.
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