Depressive disorders are usually a process caused by the protective mechanism of the psyche and designed to stop the negative emotions of a person with complete frustration - lack of interest in life, inertia, apathy. But there are forms of depression, the symptoms of which are radically different from the classical clinical picture. For example, agitated anxious depression proceeds very differently. And everyone who does not want to face such a pathology is aware of this disease.
What is agitated depression?
With agitated depression, a person falls not only into depression and indifference, but is permanently in a state of “agitation” - in other words, excitement. The main problem of this condition is that depression, accompanied by an active state, can result in human suicide.
The disease is one of the reactive, that is, a reaction to an external stimulus, and not an organic one. On the one hand, this greatly facilitates the process of therapy, on the other hand, complicates the diagnosis.
How to recognize agitated depression?
In order to talk about agitated depression, it is first necessary to establish the fact of the presence of the most depressive state, and only after differentiate its type.
Thus, the basis of the clinical picture is a feeling of depression, a lowered mood, an interpretation of all the events that take place in a negative way. At the same time, increased nervous system augmentation supplements a person’s condition with such characteristics as anxiety, emotional lability, and pathological physical activity that accompanies many mental disorders. Symptoms in women are usually brighter than in men. This is due to the gender characteristics of the human mental apparatus and the cultural aspect.
Who is located for the disease?
Talking about what can lead to agitated depression or depression in general is very difficult. The human psyche is a very complex mechanism in which reactions to external events occur, as well as processes caused by changes in the hormonal background, the development of neurotransmitters.
But an agitated type of depression rarely has an organic affliction. The most common factor for the development of this disease is senile age. According to statistics, an illness is most often encountered by people who retire, lose their professional authority, and change the rhythm of life.
That is why psychologists recommend that relatives close to the moment of retirement of an elderly family member. At this time, it is important to make it clear to the person that his opinion is still important, and help is in demand. Otherwise, there is a serious risk of depression.
Symptoms
Agitated depression, the symptoms of which differ from classical, should be considered in two tricks: as a usual depressive disorder and as a psychological state of increased excitability.
A depressive factor is usually expressed in the general mood of a person: he is not able to experience joy, relax, he is dominated by a pessimistic mood. In depression, a person usually wakes up in a bad mood, often in the first half of the day there may be causeless tears, tantrums, nervous breakdowns.
But if a person suffering from classical depression is inert and inactive, has scanty facial expressions and does not seek communication, then a sick agitated form of depression, on the contrary, is mobile, nervous.
In order to see the clinical picture of the disease more precisely, it is necessary to consider 5 conditional stages through which the patient passes.
Stages
- The first stage of agitated depression is very difficult to diagnose. At this stage, anxiety is the predominant symptom, but the person still retains the ability to reason sensibly, so his anxious thoughts do not look like a manifestation of delirium. He may be afraid of a common disease, loss of savings. But as the disease progresses, anxiety spreads to all spheres of life and even has a fuzzy character: for example, it may seem to a person that something terrible will happen to someone close to you soon.
- At the second stage, external signs of the disease begin to appear, for example, anxious verbigeration. This term characterizes the speech of a person permanently in a state of anxiety. First, a person does not want to discuss things that go beyond his fears, so any conversation comes down to a problematic topic and goes around in circles. Secondly, the patient’s speech itself is lexically scanty, sandwiched, he speaks in short phrases, constantly repeats the same words.
- At the third stage, a period of motor agitation begins. The person is active, he feels the desire to constantly move, walk, move his arms, change postures. This is caused by chronic muscle tension due to the constantly activated sympathetic system. Causing a person’s desire to move, the body thereby tries to “release” pathological stress from the body.
- At the fourth stage, suicide attempts are most often noted. Anxiety rises, along with it increases muscle tension and, accordingly, the desire to move. In this state, a person is able to consciously or not inflict bodily harm to himself and even kill himself.
- With incomplete suicide attempts at the previous stage, a person develops delusions in various forms.
Psychotherapeutic treatment
In the early stages, depression can be treated with psychotherapy sessions. The main task at this stage is to relieve a person’s tension, teach him to deal with stress correctly, and distract him to classes that will cause him positive emotions. Taking into account the fact that senile age is the most common factor for the development of the disease, a specialist should help the patient adapt to life in a new mode.
In order for the agitated depression, the treatment of which is carried out without antidepressants, to be cured, the support of loved ones is very important. The atmosphere in the house, the involvement of the patient in solving important problems and tasks - all this allows a person to recover and get out of a depressed state faster.
At the same time, doctors do not recommend protecting a person from stress. On the contrary, this approach can aggravate depression, so it is important to help the patient cope with problems correctly from a psychological point of view.
Drug treatment
Prolonged depression cannot be eliminated without the use of antidepressants. This is because with the disease there is an imbalance of neurotransmitters. But with agitated depression, it is important to choose drugs with a calming, anti-anxiety effect. Sometimes antidepressants can be supplemented with tranquilizers for good sleep, vegetostabilizers to eliminate panic attacks.
A patient's treatment plan requires the competence of a doctor, especially if an elderly patient has chronic diseases that limit the list of drugs that he can take. Otherwise, a cured protracted depression will cause serious functional disorders in the liver, kidneys, and heart.
Prevention
Reactive depression is much easier to prevent than to treat. The best defense against this ailment is "psychological immunity." It gives a person the opportunity to be distracted from problems that cannot be solved at the moment, and solve those tasks that require attention.
But such immunity is developed over the years, so the second way to rid yourself of the risk of facing depression is an active lifestyle after retirement. Communicating with family, friends, hobbies, traveling, all of this will direct the activity of the nervous system in the right direction.
Knowing what age-related mental disorders are, symptoms in women, men, stages and method of treatment, it will be much easier to cope with the disease and avoid it.