Dear Freinds,
Im a new member and it is so good to see you youngsters revel in the joy of the
Lord.I am near retirement age and I would like to say a few words about psychiatric
illness so that if you know anyone of your freinds or family you can recognize the
symptoms and get help for them.
Today I will address clinical depression or major depression.
A person should have several of the following for everyday of 2 weeks or more.
Feeling low, blue,down in the dumps,crying spells
Lack of energy,slowed thinking,inability to concentrate
Slow movements, sometimes agitation(pacing, wringing of the hands,pulling at hair)
Loss of apetite and less commonly increase in apetite
weight loss and less commonly weight gain
Poor sleep,early morning awakening
Loss of interest in pleasurable activities, that were once enjoyed eg
work,read,hobbies,watch tv,dancingetc
Feelings of worthlessness and hopelessness
Suicidal thoughts,plans and attempts.
Major depression can be a single episode,most often recurrent
seasonal,(Winter most common)
as part of manic depression or Bipolar disorder
,post partum(after the delivery of a baby)or
it can be of psychotic proportions.
When one is psychotic,the person can feel paranoid that people are against them,
They feel they are the cause of other peoples problems and would be better off dead.
They may feel they are stupid and useless even though they may be bright.
They may have hallucinations ( voices talking to them when no one is actually talking
to them.) calling them bad names,and telling them to kill themselves.in various ways
(15% suicide rate)
They may see coffins, hear death bells ringing.
They may feel they have cancer or other terminal illnesses (eg aids)
Major depression is most often recurrent
Common treatments are
Antidepressants,antipsychotics, ECT (shock treatment)
Psychotherapy by any qualified person including ,psychiatrists, social workers,
psychologists,priests
Support from family and freinds is very important.
Most often a persons religious beliefs can be a deterent to suicide.
When a person is psychotic their judgement is poor and their mental condition is
cloudy and generally they are not responsible for their actions.They may feel God is
punishing them even when they have not done anything wrong.They may feel they belong
to the devil or they are the devil.This is veryfrightening for them. When they improve
then they will be able to recognize their false beliefs most often
As always you can look up the internet for more information.If this is helpful let me
know and I can write about a few other major psychiatric illness later.If this is not
the appropriate forum let me know that also.
God Bless you
Mary Joseph MD.
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