Archive for December 14th, 2007

Early Detection of Depression

Friday, December 14th, 2007

The health worker should recognize the signs and symptoms related to depression.

Thinking disturbances include:

  1. Incoherent talking showing that the person is unable to think clearly.
  2. Irrelevant talk changing the topic in a confused manner.
  3. Day dreaming in an unreal world of his own imagination.
  4. False believes that can’t be corrected by reason or evidence.
  5. Thoughts which the person knows don’t make sense and he cannot control them.
  6. Fear and dread of certain situations, such as being in a crowd, flying, public speaking etc.

Consciousness disturbances include:

  1. Insomnia: the depressed person in particular sleeps very little.
  2. Confusion: The patient doesn’t seem to understand what is going on around him. He may misunderstand and may be upset.
  3. Delirium: It is a state of mental disturbance with confusion.

Memory and orientation

Loss of memory is called amnesia. More often the lost of memory is for recent events. Amnesia may be sudden or come slowly. Depression may take various forms. There is a feeling of sadness and dejection. Mood swings from depression to happiness, and back again to depression. A mentally ill person may show some great excitement over some little thing which may not excite a normal person or the mood may suddenly change to unfriendly or aggressive behavior for no real reason.

Personality disturbance may be noticed in a change of a behavior. E.g. the husband may notice his wife’s behavior has changed and is causing problem in home. She may have become moody, suspicious, and dependent. Or in the work situation a person may have noticed to have changed and becomes irresponsible, careless, etc. The person may become depersonalized. He is not sure that what is he and what he is not. Due to depression he moves towards drugs. Additions to drugs or alcohol indicate that a person is unable to obtain enough satisfaction and self esteem in his personal life. He may not be aware of the serious effects of these drugs on his life of his addiction. Close relatives are the one who detects the early symptoms of depression in the patient.

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