What is depression?

Depression is one of the most common mental disorders, according to the National Survey of Psychiatric Epidemiology.

• Adults: 4.8%
• Adolescents: 7.2% (between 12 and 17 years old)
• Elderly: 6.8%

What are the symptoms of depression?

Symptoms can vary from person to person:

• Difficulty with memory or concentration
• Low mood, sadness, or feelings of hopelessness
• Loss of interest in previously enjoyed activities, or little pleasure in them, most days for at least the past few weeks
• Irritability (more common in children and adolescents)
• Crying for no apparent reason
• Loss of energy
• Insomnia
• Difficulty concentrating
• Anorexia or hyperphagia (not eating or compulsive eating) in addition to weight fluctuations
• Loss of sexual interest
• Feelings of guilt
• Excessive self-criticism
• Negative thoughts
• Suicidal thoughts or thoughts of death
• Constant worries that cause anxiety
• This can lead to physical symptoms such as tremors, fever, sweating
• Rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, fear of having a heart attack, or of imminent death.
• Depression can make even the smallest task feel like climbing a mountain.

Types of Depression

Major Depression

Chronic Depression:

This type of depression lasts two years or more.

Endogenous Depression:

This type of depression has a physical cause, such as an inability to retain serotonin.

Reactive Depression:

This type of depression results from a loss, death, job loss, or amputation.

Mild Depression:

This type of depression has very mild symptoms that only partially affect daily life and may improve on its own.

Moderate or Severe Depression:

This type of depression is treated with medication and psychotherapy. It is the type of depression that is debilitating or causes general impairment in patients.

How is depression treated?

Transfer of the depressed patient

Hospitalization is carried out when the patient endangers their own life or the life of someone else, whether a family member or someone in their social circle. Often, depressed patients lack insight into their illness and therefore do not seek specialized treatment. The depression progresses and can lead to suicidal thoughts, attempts, or suicide itself. It is often only at this point that help is sought, and when the risk of death is present, the patient needs to be transferred to the Margaritas Therapeutic Community.

We offer this service, which has saved many lives, and in the best-case scenario, it is not necessary to wait until this point to implement it.

We dispatch a transfer team with an ambulance, where the patient's mental state will be assessed, although in many cases, transfers are carried out based on the treating physician's instructions.

We offer compassionate care and will carry out the treating physician's psychopharmacological prescriptions, providing the family with all the necessary instructions on how the transfer will be carried out. The required documents will be signed.

It is necessary to notify the public prosecutor's office that an involuntary hospitalization is taking place, including the diagnoses upon admission to the clinic and the reasons for it.

This disorder can appear in men and women equally and at any age, with adolescence being a stage of greater risk.

• Nausea or vomiting
• Changes in heart rate
• Hallucinations
• Seizures or tremors
• Sweating
• Anxiety
• Restlessness or agitation
• Depression
• Confusion
• Dilated pupils
• Loss of control (inability to stop drinking)
• Irritability
• Headache
• Loss of appetite
• Temporary memory loss after drinking
• Tolerance: the need to drink increasingly larger amounts to feel the same effect

Occupational Therapy

In recent discoveries for the treatment of depression, cardiovascular exercise is of utmost importance. Thirty to forty-five minutes of daily exercise on a treadmill or running outdoors is recommended, as are activities such as yoga, movement therapy, or any activity that increases heart rate.

Activities that involve interaction with others, such as board games, or artistic pursuits like singing or playing a musical instrument, are also beneficial.

Manual activities are important, as is film screenings and discussions where participants can share their opinions about a film or play. These activities can take place at the Margaritas Therapeutic Community or at home with their caregivers or support group.

Organized outings are also beneficial for social interaction, such as going out for a drink at a restaurant or attending cultural events like movies or theater.

Reading the newspaper provides a connection to reality, but it's important to avoid news about murders, wars, or catastrophic events.

Psychotherapies

Cognitive behavioral therapy, interpersonal psychodynamic psychoanalytic therapy, couples therapy, or heterogeneous group therapy are indicated.

Cognitive behavioral therapy focuses on modifying the negative thought patterns and behaviors that contribute to triggering and maintaining depression. People with moderate or severe depression typically require 16 to 20 sessions over several months, although this will depend on the patient's individual characteristics.

Psychodynamic therapies should be brief and have limited objectives. Their aim is to identify the unconscious elements that are determining the depression. This is especially common in cases of loss that generate complicated grief, which people often haven't recognized. By bringing these elements to conscious awareness, ambivalent feelings toward lost family members or partners can be addressed.

Couples therapy

It is very important that the partner understands what depression is and its causes so as not to reinforce them with their attitude or behavior. In this way, they can form a therapeutic support partnership rather than a contributor to the depression.

Drug Therapy

The main medications used to treat depression are called antidepressants. These work by increasing brain activity and the levels of certain chemicals called neurotransmitters, which help improve mood.

There are several types of antidepressants. If you have information about antidepressants, you can consult with a specialist to see which ones gave you the best results.

It's important to keep in mind that antidepressants are not addictive, and you don't need to increase the dose to feel the same effects over time.

Most treatments take some time to show results, on average 20 days to a month.

Your doctor can inform you about the side effects that can occur with antidepressants. Although they are not addictive, when you stop taking them, you may experience reactions such as nausea, dizziness, anxiety, and headaches. These are usually mild, but sometimes the reactions are more intense.

In the case of the suicidal patient, an antipsychotic must be added to the antidepressant, which can be separate or in the same formula, such as Symbyax, which combines Fluoxetine with Olanzapine.