If you are depressed: what to do and who to contact

Which doctor treats depression?

Depression is a mental disorder that becomes a chronic disease that has a detrimental effect on life. Over time, it can be caused by depressed mood, pessimism, excessive feelings of guilt and other reasons that poison a person.

The ability to recognize and respond in time to the first signs of the disease and understanding which doctor to contact for help with depression if the situation gets out of control will help prevent serious consequences.

Is it possible to cope with depression on your own?

To prevent depression and be able to overcome this psychological condition on your own without the use of antidepressants, which fight the consequences and not the cause of the disease, steps should be taken to strengthen the mental immunity of the individual:

Restoring the optimal daily routine. Problems in life affect your daily routine and lead to sleep disturbances: oversleeping or lack of sleep. Controlling your daily routine and rest time has a positive effect on improving your well-being.
Balanced healthy diet. We are what we eat. Stress is accompanied by overeating sweets or starvation. It is necessary to achieve nutritional control that will ensure the supply of all nutrients in the required quantities.
Active lifestyle. Daily exercise, active walking and sports will help you shift your attention away from your problems.
Avoid drinking alcohol and drugs, avoid smoking. Fighting the consequences does not solve the problem, but creates the appearance of a solution. It is not recommended to use over-the-counter antidepressants on your own initiative.
Make a list of close people, free or accessible things that bring happiness. In this way, it is possible to understand that there are many opportunities every day to do something that brings joy. For example, go for a walk with a friend, pet a cat, read a book, take a hot bath, etc.
Learn to love yourself. This is not selfishness, but the possibility of accepting oneself and understanding the inner world.
New hobbies. They will help you diversify your life, find new acquaintances and find yourself in something you have long wanted to try, but were afraid.
Charity. By doing useful things, it is easier to regain understanding of the importance of life.
Plan goals for the near future. When a person sets impossible tasks and does not achieve goals, his mood and well-being worsen. Having realized what is now possible to change, step by step you will achieve the desired effect.
Keeping a diary. It is recommended to write down the achievements and pleasant things that happened every day before going to bed.
Maintain relationships with family and friends, talk and be open. The understatement aggravates the predicament. Close people will help you cope with life's problems with attention and support.

When should you seek help from a specialist?

If you feel that you cannot cope on your own and a severe degree of the disease is approaching, you should understand where to go with depression.

A therapist will help you decide on a doctor, but it is important to distinguish between the specializations of people dealing with similar issues and not be afraid to ask them for help.

There are four main doctoral areas, whose specialists can help in certain situations.

Psychologist

You should go to a psychologist with mild depression. Through conversations, this specialist makes it possible to understand the root of the problem and guide the patient on steps to get rid of the disease.

They can help you deal with painful feelings, fears and uncertainty.

The patient who comes to the appointment must be sincere and take the opportunity to speak out. In most cases, spoken words lead to improvement. The psychologist’s task is to listen and guide the person to a solution. This is important to understand for those who expect these specialists to act and solve patient problems.

A psychologist is not a full-fledged doctor and does not have the right to prescribe treatment and medications.

Psychotherapist

A psychotherapist is a doctor who works with mental illness.

The initial work of the specialist is to talk with the patient. After listening to him, the doctor finds the reason for the patient’s condition and prescribes a psychotherapy session using psychotherapeutic methods:

cognitive behavioral therapy;
neurolinguistic programming;
hypnosis;
Gestalt therapy;
interpersonal therapy.

A psychotherapist may prescribe medication, which includes antidepressants and tranquilizers.

Psychiatrist

This specialist should be consulted by patients with a serious mental disorder. At this stage of the disease, a person has no desire to live, which is why there is a risk of obsessive thoughts about death, which requires immediate contact with a specialist.

The doctor uses both drug therapy and psychiatric treatment. Almost always, for the safety of the patient and surrounding people, treatment is carried out in a hospital.

In addition to drug therapy, the psychiatrist resorts to behavioral, electroconvulsive and rational therapy.

Neurologist

This specialist treats neurological problems with medication. Its tasks include the treatment of diseases of the central and peripheral nervous system: cancer of the brain and spinal cord, stroke, epilepsy and others.

Diagnostic methods

Doctors are able to make a diagnosis using diagnostics. There are test surveys (Tsung, Beck) that allow you to conduct an examination using scales of self-esteem, anxiety and other factors and identify the state of the problem.

Depending on age, there are signs of depression. In children - a change in activity, in older people - excessive anxiety and a bad feeling.

If during the week several of the symptoms are constantly characteristic: depression, devastation, lack of interest in life and pleasure from it, apathy, weight loss, insomnia, loss of strength and retardation of movements, helplessness and fatigue, feelings of guilt and uselessness, thoughts of suicide - You should immediately contact a specialist.

Source: https://eustress.ru/depression/k-kakomu-vrachu-obrashhatsya-pri-depressii

Which doctor should I see for depression?

Depression is a fairly common disease in the modern world. According to statistics, from 50 to 70% of the world's population suffer from this disease to one degree or another. Most of them have a mild form of depression that does not require special treatment, but for some people this disease causes a lot of trouble.

Depression is not just a bad mood and apathy, but a real mental disorder that not only deprives a person of the ability to enjoy life, but also causes various health problems. Therefore, it is necessary to be treated for depression. However, many people suffering from this disease do not know which doctor to turn to for help. Let's look into this issue.

Which doctor treats depression?

Depression is a mental disorder characterized by low mood, weakness, feelings of anxiety and uncertainty, tearfulness, and apathy towards everything. In severe cases, the disease can lead to attempted suicide.

Several specialists treat depressive disorders - psychologist, psychotherapist and psychiatrist. Some types of depression are treated by a neurologist.

Mild depression can also be addressed by a general practitioner – therapist.

Of course, he is not a specialist in the field of mental disorders, but he can prescribe antidepressants or sedatives, suggest whom to contact, or immediately write out a referral to a doctor of a narrow specialization.

But it is best to go straight to a psychologist, psychotherapist or psychiatrist. These specialists treat various mental disorders, so they will be able to correctly diagnose and select adequate treatment. Let's look at the capabilities of each doctor in more detail.

What symptoms should you see a doctor for?

Many people confuse depression and bad mood. However, depression is not only a decrease in mood. It includes a number of other symptoms. This includes:

loss of strength, fatigue, physical weakness, reluctance to do anything;
sleep disturbance (insomnia or, conversely, constant drowsiness);
sad, gloomy thoughts that haunt a person;
low self-esteem, lack of self-confidence, feeling of uselessness;
loss of appetite;
decreased or complete absence of sexual desire;
reluctance to communicate with people, isolation;
irritability, tearfulness, outbursts of aggression, emotional instability;
anxiety, fears;
decreased mental and physical activity;
negativism, pessimism.

The presence of at least half of the listed symptoms indicates the presence of depression. In this case, you should not delay your visit to the doctor, since delay contributes to the further development of the disease and the appearance of various complications. The sooner treatment for depressive disorder is started, the faster a person can get rid of his problem and regain the joy of life.

Source: https://yapsiholog.ru/kakoj-vrach-lechit-depressiyu/

Which doctor treats depression?

Depression is a pathological mental state characterized by the presence in the patient of the so-called “depressive triad”:

loss of mood and ability to enjoy current events;
thinking disorders accompanied by a pessimistic, negative outlook on what is happening in life;
motor retardation.

Outwardly, the state of depression looks like complete apathy to what is happening. At the same time, the patient himself resembles a “human robot”, without proper self-esteem, unable to think positively and automatically performing habitual actions. Often, a person susceptible to depression may become addicted to alcohol, narcotic or psychotropic substance abuse.

Today, depression is recognized as the most common pathological mental state. According to WHO, it affects 5% of children and adolescents, every 10 adult patients and every third elderly person over the age of 65 years.

Types of depression and reasons for their development

The appearance of various types of depression can be triggered by the influence of external or internal factors.

Reactive depression - the cause of development can be a person’s previous very strong dramatic experiences, for example, the death of a loved one, a break in a relationship with a partner, divorce, loss of a job, bankruptcy, violent acts against a patient, etc. In this case, the pathology of the mental state arises as a person’s reaction to the shock he has suffered.
Neurotic depression - a condition that can be triggered by frequent stress, psycho-emotional stress caused by overwork at work or an unfavorable family environment.
Somatogenic depression - the causes of pathology can be previous serious illnesses, chronic illnesses and pathologies of the body. For example, traumatic brain injury, Alzheimer's disease, diseases of the thyroid gland, female reproductive organs, arthritis, bronchial asthma, etc.
Endogenous depression is a consequence of the innate characteristics of the human psyche, which are characterized by frequent, causeless changes in mood.
Pharmacogenic depression – occurs due to long-term use of medications, such as corticosteroids, levodopa or corticosteroids.

Often, a depressed state of mind is preceded by a long period of heavy drinking, dependence on sedatives, sleeping pills or psychostimulants.

Signs of Depression

According to the ICD (International Classification of Diseases), all symptoms of pathology can be divided into main and additional signs of depression. The main signs of depression include the following conditions.

The patient's bad mood, which does not go away for 2 or more weeks.
Loss of interest in life and events occurring in it.
Stable loss of strength.

Additional symptoms of depression include the following:

Sleep disorders.
Pessimistic attitude of the patient.
Low self-esteem.
Unreasonable feelings of fear, anxiety or guilt.
Decreased attention.
Decreased ability to make quick or responsible decisions.
Sudden fluctuations in weight.
Lack of appetite or, on the contrary, excessive unreasonable hunger.
Unreasonable appearance of a sweet taste in the mouth.
Obsessive thoughts about suicide or death in general.

If we are talking about the development of depression in a child, then parents should pay attention to the presence of the following signs.

Loss of appetite.
Presence of nightmares.
Negative changes in the child’s character traits, for example, the appearance of aggressiveness, isolation.
Lack of interest in studying or going to school.

Moreover, to make an accurate diagnosis, the patient, both an adult and a child, must have two or all three main signs and at least three additional symptoms. And the degree of their severity indicates the severity of the pathological state of the psyche.

Professionals who treat depression

It is possible to provide the necessary assistance to the patient only after the main cause of depression, its type and the severity of the pathological process have been clarified. In each specific case, an individual patient treatment program will be developed.

For reactive depression, a visit to a psychotherapist or psychologist will be recommended.
For neurotic symptoms, visit a psychotherapist and psychologist.
In case of somatogenic depression, it is necessary to visit a therapist, a specialized specialist who treats the disease that led to depression, and a course of psychotherapy.
Endogenous pathology - treatment by a psychiatrist and a course of psychotherapy are provided.
Pharmacogenic pathology can go away on its own after discontinuation of the medications that caused the depressed state of mind.

If the patient has been identified as dependent on sedatives, sleeping pills, psychostimulants or alcohol, then he will be recommended to be examined by a therapist, treated by a narcologist and a course of psychotherapy.

Treatment of pathology cannot be carried out independently using antidepressants. Prescription and dosage of medications should only be carried out by specialized specialists. Otherwise, uncontrolled medication use can cause a sharp deterioration in the patient’s condition, increase signs of depression and the degree of suicidal manifestations.

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Note! The information on this page is provided for informational purposes only. To prescribe treatment, you must consult a doctor.

October 3, 2017

Source: https://DocTown.ru/kto-lechit/depressiyu/

Life on wheels. The whole truth about antidepressants from an expert Prospect.Media

Antidepressants - good or bad? Should you take "cheerful" pills if you're feeling blue? How to distinguish a “pichalka” from a clinic? Is it true that you can get hooked on antidepressants, and how much does a “chemical” mood cost? We talked with psychiatrist Andrei Khvatkov and realized: soon every second inhabitant of the Earth may become firmly hooked on “wheels.”

Andrey Khvatkov, psychiatrist-narcologist

Let's start with the basics. What is depression? This is a general inhibition of the central nervous system. Decline in physical, emotional, everyday, social activity - on all fronts.

Who diagnoses depression? Who should treat her? Not neurologists or therapists. We're not even talking about psychologists. Psychotherapists try to solve the problem of depression, but they cannot prescribe medications, so only a psychiatrist can treat true depression.

In what cases is such therapy prescribed? Anxious depression, apathetic depression, when nothing interests or makes you happy. Phobias, fears, everyone’s “favorite” panic attacks. Insomnia.

For insomnia - and immediately antidepressants? What about valerian? Herbal medicine - chamomile infusions, motherwort, valerian and so on - are just placebos, and people should know about it. You can drink them as much as you like, but you need to understand why you are doing it. Slightly reduce the disturbing background or fall asleep faster - okay. But herbs cannot change the chemical reactions in the brain.

So, and in what other cases? Chronic pain disorder – eg tension headache, migraine. In the West they have been treated with antidepressants for about 10 years now. Often the patient has something that hurts, aches, stings, pulls... He goes around to neurologists and therapists - no pathologies are found, and the quality of life is not so great. A psychiatrist can prescribe an antidepressant - and everything goes away. In such cases, we can talk about hidden depression. I have more and more such patients. They say: “I have been treated by psychologists for five years to no avail, but I could not think that my lower back hurts from severe stress.”

Depression is not just emotional manifestations: tears, apathy, guilt, resentment, “chewing” of the past... Depression occurs in the brain against a background of stress.

If you start looking for the reasons for your depression in electromagnetic storms or “getting off on the wrong foot,” you will achieve nothing. Against the background of stress, it is not the person himself who reacts, but his nervous system.

Medicine is prescribed not to solve some problem or life situation, but to increase the level of those neurotransmitters in the brain (serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine and adrenaline) that we want to influence. This is biochemistry.

Low serotonin - there will be anxiety and poor sleep. Decline of dopamine - there will be no opportunity to get pleasure, there will be “pichalka”. And so on.

Moreover, before prescribing antidepressants, you first need to undergo tests to exclude, for example, problems with thyroid hormones, anemia, deficiency of vitamins, iron and magnesium, low protein...

How to distinguish an ordinary spleen from a clinical case? If this condition lasts two to four weeks, it is best to consult a doctor. For some people, this lasts for years, and they simply get used to a condition that is not typical for them. These are immediately visible. What types of antidepressants are there? There are more than 100 types of antidepressants, they can be daytime, nighttime, fast-acting or for systematic use. They act more or less the same, but you need to select the drug and dosage purely individually. By the way, general advice: never read the instructions for medications. Annotations are for doctors, not for patients!

Let's be honest: is it possible to get hooked on antidepressants? No, they are not addictive. You can drink them for a month or two and stop. But if they have a positive effect, it means they were prescribed correctly, and the problem of your poor health lies in the brain, and not in the heart or stomach.

If an antidepressant is selected, you need to take it for at least six months. On average - a year or two. I have about a dozen such patients who have been taking antidepressants for several years, and they no longer want to return to that depressive state. Yes, they have a “chemical” mood. But they understand that they now have more stress, but they react to it much more calmly. And they regret that they started taking antidepressants only at 45 years old.

But it is important to understand that antidepressants are not “cheer pills.” They do not lift the mood, but bring it down to an even level.

How do you know when it’s time to stop taking the medicine? Or can you take antidepressants for the rest of your life? Can. And I will give an example with diabetics who have been injecting themselves with insulin for decades. Yes, they may not inject, but in a month or less they will have difficulties. What about people who constantly take hormone replacement medications? What about patients with epilepsy?

There are people who work 18 hours and cannot work less - job responsibilities, stress, money, business... To be on the level, they drink “chemicals” - the kind that can be bought with a prescription.

Can't you buy it without a prescription? Only if herbal antidepressants. St. John's wort, for example, slightly increases serotonin levels.

And how much does it cost to be on antidepressants? On average, 1500 rubles per month. Smoking is more expensive.

By the way, antidepressants reduce cravings for drugs and dependence on alcohol.

How often do you prescribe antidepressants to your Kovrov patients? Approximately 30-50%. According to statistics, more than 40% of the population in the United States already takes antidepressants. And the number of people suffering from depression in the world will only increase due to acute and chronic stress and external factors such as, for example, rising unemployment due to automation.

But don’t think that I’m encouraging everyone to take antidepressants. I live on my serotonin, and I don’t complain.

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Which doctor treats depression in adults - which doctor should I contact?

If alarming symptoms of depression occur, it is important to begin treatment for the disease in a timely manner. Specialists who understand this issue are a therapist, a psychologist, a psychiatrist, a psychotherapist, a psychoanalyst and a neurologist. Each doctor has different methods of influence in the treatment of pathology and provides assistance with varying degrees of depression.

Where to go first

If depression is left untreated, it can lead to problems with the heart and blood vessels. Constant, repeated episodes of illness tend to shrink the area of the brain involved in emotion and memory. In addition, depression can be a symptom of other dangerous pathologies, so if the disease manifests itself, you should seek help from a specialist.

Therapist

If the patient finds it difficult to choose a specialist whose competence includes treating depression, then first of all you should visit a therapist.

A general practitioner does not specialize in mental disorders, but he is able to make a primary diagnosis and recognize the form of depression by severity.

The therapist can also refer you for an examination that will confirm or refute the presence of other pathologies (their consequence may be bad mood and depression).

Depending on the severity of depression, the doctor will refer the patient to a specialist. Therapy for a mild form of the disease can be carried out under the supervision of the therapist himself.

With this degree of severity, there are no fundamental changes in the patient’s mood, and the disease responds well to treatment. At this stage, after identifying the cause of the mental disorder, the disease recedes without the use of medications.

If necessary, the doctor prescribes sedative medications and mild antidepressants and monitors the progression of depression.

Psychoanalyst

A psychoanalyst is a specialist in the field of psychoanalysis. This is a psychologist or psychotherapist who has received a higher medical education and completed an internship in Psychiatry.

He undergoes his personal psychoanalysis with a more experienced psychoanalyst, which allows him to have an understanding of the therapy from the patient and the specialist.

In addition, a more experienced psychoanalyst supervises the sessions of the future doctor and monitors his materials.

Treatment of depression with the help of a psychoanalyst is aimed at identifying hidden mechanisms of behavior, interpretation and elaboration of factors of human behavior. The ultimate goal of therapy is to reorient the patient and change life positions to more comfortable and satisfying ones.

What symptoms should you consult a doctor for?

Depression is a serious illness that, in addition to long-term bad mood, is accompanied by a number of other symptoms. These include:

gloomy, sad thoughts;
low self-esteem, lack of self-confidence, feelings of worthlessness and uselessness;
pessimistic mood, negative attitude towards everything around;
deterioration of mental activity;
the appearance of phobias, feelings of anxiety;
lack of pleasure from life;
lack of interest in anything.

Physical manifestations of depression:

Slowing down of speech and motor activity compared to the usual pace.
Lack of physical strength to do anything, weakness, fatigue.
Changes in the patient's weight (more often there is weight loss due to loss of appetite, less often - weight gain).
Increased heart rate.
Deterioration in the condition of hair (brittleness, dullness), nails, skin becomes dry. Patients often experience a uniformly broken eyebrow, which makes the person look older.
Difficulty in defecation.
Pain of unknown origin.
Decreased or complete loss of libido.
Menstrual irregularities in women, impotence in men. Changes in the central nervous system provoke a deterioration in reproductive function, which can lead to a complete absence of menstruation in women and impotence in men.
Sleep disturbance (insomnia or drowsiness). Insomnia in depression is characterized by early awakenings. The patient wakes up at 4-5 am and can no longer fall asleep. The patient may claim that he did not sleep during the night, but others saw him sleeping, which indicates a loss of the sense of sleep.

To diagnose depression, signs of the disease must be persistent. Even a healthy person can spend the day in bed with a lack of desire to do anything and a decrease in mood.

Changing external conditions in this case has a therapeutic effect: a walk, a change of environment helps to overcome apathy.

If such a psychological state lasts more than 14 days, and a change of environment does not contribute to positive dynamics, then we are talking about depression; there is a need to visit a doctor.

The most dangerous signs of depressive disorder are suicidal tendencies.

The fact that the course of the disease has worsened is signaled by the patient’s reasoning about the meaninglessness of existence and death. A general reluctance to continue life is characteristic of stage 1 of depression, distinct suicidal thoughts - for stage 2, planning of suicide - for stage 3, intentions - for stage 4. Any of these conditions should be a reason for urgent contact with a psychotherapist.

If you are depressed: what to do and who to contact

Suppose you are faced with manifestations of clinical depression.

You are sad, life seems meaningless, you have problems sleeping and eating, your thoughts seem to be moving in a fog, and every morning you are overtaken in turn and in any order by despair, the inability to answer the question “Why should I get up?” and overwhelming fatigue.

And this dubious pleasure lasts for several months. At the same time, your life may well not be objectively so bad, and you don’t understand yourself.

You try to have a positive attitude, think positive thoughts and smile at people, but it doesn't help. Relief doesn't come. At some point you decide to surrender to the hands of professionals.

Question one: where and to whom should I go?

Most likely, your local clinic has a psychiatrist or psychotherapist whom you can see free of charge, under compulsory medical insurance. What is the difference between them?

Psychiatrist - has a medical education and specialization that allows him to diagnose and treat a disease with the help of medications.

Psychotherapist - worked as a psychiatrist for at least three years, has undergone retraining and can use both medication and psychotherapeutic methods.

In practice, due to limited appointment time, there is no significant difference between these specialists in a government institution, and both use psychopharmacology as their main weapon.