Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Symptoms of Clinical Depression and Definition of Anxious

Contrary to popular belief that depression and anxiety are the opposites of each other, there is a close relationship between the two conditions. In fact, there are close overlaps between depression and anxiety in terms of the symptoms of depression so much that one would fail to accurately differentiate the two in real life scenarios. This relationship becomes important when one considers the general definition of anxious in relation to symptoms of clinical depression.

In general, depression and anxiety are related because the symptoms of both conditions have a strong effect on the emotional and behavioural patterns of affected individuals. Symptoms of both conditions are common and frequent in ordinary day to day life. For instance, the general definition of an anxious condition covers feelings such as long lasting tension which develops as a result of stress and anxiety. Such feelings last for a long time in an individual developing clinical depression. Also, feelings of restlessness, being fidgety and easily getting tired form the basic definition of anxiety.

One common symptom of clinical depression that is similar to anxiety is difficulty in concentrating, making decisions and staying awake. This is a common phenomenon in both depression and in conditions associated with general anxiety. Because of the severity of this symptom and the fact that it is a direct result of anxiety, there are a number of remedies that seek to reduce anxiety levels in individuals. Remedies such as conventional tranquilizers and other natural remedies such as alpranax, work by inducing a calming effect on affected individuals.

Another symptom of clinical depression is occurrence of long spells of sadness feelings of apathy. Individuals may experience general lack of interest in social activities as a result of prolonged feelings of sadness. A definition of an anxious person must take into account elements of severe depression, fear of stressful conditions, inexplicable phobias and perceived sensations that are based on illusions which affect the person. Individuals experiencing high levels of irrational worry about what to others are ordinary daily activities fit into the definition of being anxious. Feelings of being in danger cause the body to react as if they are one is in stressful conditions all the time. This causes individuals to experience loss in energy, disturbances in the sleeping patterns and even sensations of physical pain. 

These conditions are also similar to what constitutes the symptoms of clinical psychology. Exaggerated feelings of worry and anxiety breed agitation or retardation of the nervous system. Such a feeling may persist for several days in a person living with depression. Also, persons who experience a much diminished ability to think concentrate on a particular task or even make sound decisions in their daily experiences may be classified as having clinical depression. Such feelings, though similar to conditions that constitute what can makes the definition of an anxious person, are much recognized with clinical psychology because of their intensity.

In conclusion, symptoms of clinical depression bear a close resemblance to those exhibited by individuals having generalized anxiety disorder. Since depression and anxiety bear a close resemblance in terms of signs and symptoms, any definition of an anxious person must take into account elements similar to cases of depression.

Cure for Anxiety in Major Depressive Disorder: Important Things to Note

Anxiety plays a major role in the development, treatment and final management of Major Depressive Disorder. As a result of this, it is common to find that many patients having Major Depressive Disorder almost invariably require that a good cure for anxiety be administered early enough in the course of the treatment. Apart from this, there are several important things that one needs to know when using anti depressant drugs and natural supplements to cure anxiety in patients with Major Depressive Disorder.

Careful Use Of Anti Depressants

The first thing to note is that anti depressant medications should be used with care. This is so because of a number of reasons. For instance, it has been found out that the effectiveness of these drugs depends on whether or not they are used early enough at the onset of the condition. In fact, delayed use of anti depressant medication in the case of severe Major Depressive Disorder reduces their efficiency. Also, before using anti depressant drugs, one should consider the history of the patient in terms whether there is a history of having harmful side effects when using similar drugs. However, use of natural supplements such as alpranax can be used a good cure for anxiety in Major Depressive Disorder patients without the fear of possible side effects.

Need for Psychotherapy

The second important thing to note when taking treatment for Major Depressive Disorder is that it may be necessary to incorporate psychotherapy in the course of treatment. This is so because many patients experiencing mild levels of Major Depressive Disorder also have interpersonal problems which need psychotherapy in addition to the remedy chosen for the condition. Such an approach that combines psychotherapy with anti depressant drugs or supplements such as alpranax works effectively as a cure for anxiety in patients who have mild levels of Major Depressive Disorder.

Need For Repetition

Thirdly, the method of treatment selected can be repeated in subsequent periods. This is a common phenomenon in the case of patients who fail to adhere to the treatment regime because of a number of possible reasons. For instance, individuals who have also been found to have problems with alcohol and other substances tend to fail to follow the treatment plan. In such a case, however, it is important that the repetition be done to minimise the side effects of the drugs.

Recurrence of Symptoms

The last important thing to note about treatment of patients with Major Depressive Disorder concerns the possibility of recurrence of symptoms of the disease. Since the disease occurs in episodes, some patients may experience further episodes even if they are undergoing medication. This is why the need to continue treatment during the continuation and maintenance phases of the treatment is necessary. Depending on the choice of treatment chosen and the severity of the condition, repeated use of the medication is necessary to ensure that a complete cure for anxiety and other symptoms of Major Depressive Disorder is achieved.

It is very important that these things be taken into account when administering medication to individuals with Major Depressive Disorder. This is because they determine whether an effective cure for anxiety is attained or not.

Depression Disorders

Depression is a physical and mental condition in which a person feels that he is discouraged, unmotivated, sad, disinterested in life or hopeless in general. So depression disorders are the ailments that occur when someone is suffering from that state of hopelessness or discouragement. 

Anxiety on the other hand is a general medical term used for several disorders that cause someone to be nervousness or having the desire to do something with an uncertain outcome accompanied with a feeling of worry or uneasiness about the imminent task or event.

Depression disorders and anxiety disorders are two different disorders, but people suffering from depression often experience symptoms that are similar to those of an anxiety disorder, such as nervousness, sluggish movement of body limbs, irritability, and sleeping problems and lack of concentration.

Anxiety or depression disorders have their own causes and their own emotional and behavioral symptoms. It is worthy to note that all these disorders whether anxiety or depression disorders can be cured using alpranax which is a drug that help the brain to function properly, removes muscle tension and other physical manifestations of stress in the body and helps the body to adapt and decrease the physical and mental signs of anxiety.

Comorbidity

Major depression disorders at most times co-occur with other psychiatric problems like anxiety and this is what is referred to as comorbidity. A survey carried out in the years 1990–92 on National Comorbidity Survey (US) reports that 51% of people suffering from major depression also suffered from a lifetime of anxiety. Anxiety symptoms are known to have major impacts on the course of suffering from a depressive illness, which slows down the recovery, increases the risk of a relapse, leads to greater disability and the patient has suicidal attempts.

Types of depression

There are three main types of depressive disorders which can occur with any of the anxiety disorders, they are major depression, dysthymia, and bipolar disorder.

Major depression – This depression disorder is characterized by the patient feeling very sever depressive mood that can go for period longer than two weeks. It involves at less than five of these symptoms - Persistent sad or  mood of emptiness, having mixed feelings of hopelessness and pessimism, restlessness and irritability, having low appetite that co-occurs with weight loss or overeating that co-occurs with weight gain, having decreased energy, high fatigue and feeling "slowed down". Some patients with this depression disorder may feel that their life is not worth living and they will attempt to commit suicide.
Dysthymia – This is a less severe but long-term and chronic form of depression disorder. It has symptoms that are similar to major depression. This disorder can manifest itself either as stress with or without irritability and mild anhedonia - which is inability to see or feel pleasure from most activities. People with this depression disorder might be thought of as the kind of people who are always seeing the glass as half empty.
Bipolar disorder – This depression disorder once called manic-depression and it is characterized by a mood cycle that shifts from periods of severe highs (mania) called “blues” or periods of mild highs (hypomania) to times when the patient feels severely low (depression).

Treatment

Psychotherapy – This is where the patient attends therapy sessions where the therapist changes how he views things, his feelings towards certain matters and this can be supplemented with medication. The therapies can be administered by a psychiatrist, psychologist, social worker or guidance counselor.
Medication – In this case the patient is given antihistamines, Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or Alpranax. Alpranax is a medicine that can be used to treat depression disorders because it reduces panic, irritability & tension.

Using Anti-anxiety Herbs to Manage Signs and Symptoms of Depression?

There are many signs and symptoms of depression. It is worth noting, however, that many of these signs and symptoms are things that are experienced by many individuals on a daily basis. This does not mean that all individuals experiencing these feelings once in a while are actually suffering from depression. Far from this, an individual having extreme levels of anxiety may find it difficult to function normally. This may necessitate the use of anti anxiety herbs to manage the condition. This does not necessarily mean that such an individual is suffering from depression. What matters is how frequent and intense the feelings are and how they affect the functioning of individuals.

Many signs and symptoms of depression affect one or several aspects of a persons’ life. There behaviours, emotional stability and thought patterns may be greatly affected. Many individuals suffering from depression experience emotional disturbances. Feelings of being overwhelmed, disappointed and completely apathetic to the reality are a common feature in such individuals. So intense are the feelings of anxiety that individuals living with depression are constantly in unstable emotional conditions. These symptoms can be managed by the use of conventional anti – anxiety drugs, which have a tranquilizing effect or natural remedies such as anti anxiety herbs, which reduce the level of anxiety.

Such depressive emotional states lead to signs and symptoms that affect the thought patterns of affected individuals. These include persistent thoughts of failure and inadequacy, self effacing thoughts and even suicidal thoughts, in severe cases. Since suicidal thought develop as a result of intense and longstanding feelings of stress and anxiety, effective use of anti anxiety herbs and other supplements can help in managing anxiety thus avoiding further degeneration of the condition.

Also, an individual’s behaviour may be affected in many ways. For instance, patients usually experience changes in their social behaviour. Many tend to avoid social engagements and retreat into a state of complete lack of interest in hobbies and other social activities. In other cases, individuals lose the ability to concentrate, remember things for long and make good decisions.

The last signs and symptoms of depression is its effect on the physical well being of individuals. These ranges from fatigue, listlessness and headaches to the more severe symptoms like sleep problems, drastic changes in body weight and changes in appetite. One important thing though, is that feelings of headache and grogginess may also result from the side effects of anti anxiety drugs. However, the use of non addictive remedies such as anti anxiety herbs and supplements such as alpranax eliminates such symptoms associated with ordinary tranquilizers.

In conclusion, there are many signs and symptoms of depression. Although many of them are general feelings that normal individuals may experience on occasions, there severity is what matters. Many of these signs and symptoms affect either one or several aspects of a normal individual. Individual behavioural patterns, physical functioning, emotional stability and thought processes may be affected. The severity of the symptoms, however, depends on whether an individual uses remedies to counter their effects. Although many of the symptoms may be severe, some of them, specifically those that affect emotional stability of individuals, may be remedied by use of anti anxiety herbs and other drugs.

Treatment for Anxiety

Treatment for anxiety is a broad topic to discuss because it ranges on various activities that can are natural anxiety medications (from herbs, shrubs and plant roots), over the counter prescribed medications, guidance and counseling therapies, lifestyle practices like jogging, meditation and even yoga have been known to be treatment of anxiety.

Natural remedies

There are some known herbs used for the treatment for anxiety which include Chamomile, Kava, Valerian root, Phellodendron bark, Passionflower, Omega fatty acids, Skullcap and St. John's Wort. The over the counter drug that is prescribed by a physician - Alpranax - contains several of these herbs as part of it’s main ingredients. Some of these herbs like St. John’s Wort should not be used with other drugs but should instead be used alone or in very small quantities just as it is in the drug Alpranax.

Other herbs like – B vitamins, valerian and passion flower - can be taken with other drugs either to complement or to supplement the main drug. One thing that the patient should note is that self medication with either of these herbs is not encouraged but one should visit a herbalist or a doctor for the prescription of these drugs. It should be duly noted that natural remedies for the treatment of anxiety are not just herb plans but there are also vitamins, minerals and amino acids that treat anxiety.

Prescription medicine

For the longest time treatment for anxiety has been through medication. The medical treatment for anxiety is done through several drugs such as benzodiazepines, antidepressants, beta-blockers and tricyclics. Alpranax falls under neither of the categories because it achieves much more than the previously named drug types. These medicines are used to control just some of the physical and mental symptoms.

Alpranax treats the chemical imbalance of the patient’s brain that is associated with anxiety. What it actually does is that it calms the brain and mind so the patient feels a mild sedative effect on the brain. Alpranax is taken in an assortment of dosages as prescribed by your doctor. Over the counter prescription medication for treating anxiety is quite expensive and has some side effects.

Counseling

This form of treatment for anxiety is whereby the patient seeks advice and for help from a therapist, psychologist, psychiatrist, counselor or a clinical doctor who specializes in therapeutically healing anxiety disorders. These forms of therapy include psychotherapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy or a combination of therapies. For psychotherapy, the patient and therapist explore the causes of the anxiety and the possible ways of coping with the symptoms. Cognitive behavioral therapy is a form of anxiety treatment which involves the therapist changing the patient’s thoughts. The patients are asked to explain how they feel towards certain things or occurrences that have caused them to have the anxious behavior.

Other methods of managing anxiety

Apart from the named forms of treatment for anxiety, there are other recommendations that help the patient to have a quick recovery from any anxiety ailment or to take preventive measures to prevent the occurrence of an anxiety attack. They are just some lifestyle changes that someone can practice and they are yoga, meditation, jogging and eating healthy balanced diets. These methods seek to trains you to relax, to breathe slowly and to move your body in a calm manner so that the mind and the heart rate can experience a calming and soothing effect.

Treating Anxiety

Treating anxiety is the best method of dealing with anxiety unless the ailment is in its developing stages; hence someone has to take preventive measures against the ailment. One thing that someone has to realize is that how you accept that you are ailing from anxiety leads to faster recovery.

The first step in treating anxiety is acceptance of the patient that he has a disease and that he won’t recover from it unless he takes the necessary measures. Most therapist and psychologists since they are ones who are used to dealing with people of this kind always take the first initiative of letting the patient know that this ailment is curable and it is not fatal. Since some patients are psychotic and some are having comorbidity with depression it is at this stage where the doctor gets to understand where the patient is coming from before he can even get to examining him.

The second step in treating anxiety is choosing a plan of action and by this I mean you choose you the type of treatment you would like to be taking. This is usually deliberated between the patient and the doctor as soon as the doctor has done his examination and evaluation. The doctor sits with the patient and explains the different types of treatment that are there. To name just but a few they are, natural or herbal remedies treatment, over the counter medicines, lifestyle change practices and different forms of therapy.

The third stage in treating anxiety is medication and lifestyle change. This is the stage at which the patient starts taking his medication and adjusts his lifestyle to suit the doctor’s recommendation and prescription. This is so because some of the medication used to treat anxiety should not be taken with any other medication or consumed with alcohol or certain foods like milk. Also the side effects of some of these drugs lead to lack of appetite, insomnia, fatigue, drowsiness, dullness, slow brain activity, weight loss or weight gain. This therefore calls for the patient to adjust his life accordingly so that he will not be overcome by the changes that his mind or body will start to experience.

Still under medication there are lifestyle changes that can be good and help in the faster recovery of anxiety. These are doing activities like yoga, meditation, reducing the consumption of caffeine, tea, cola, alcohol, cigarettes, cannabis and chocolate, performing regular exercises, eating food that is healthy, practice deep abdominal breathing in the case of an anxiety attack, taking long warm baths and replacing negative self talk with positive self talk. When treating anxiety the patient needs to go for regular and often checkups so that the doctor, therapist or physician can monitor his progress and the changes that are taking place. In the meantime the patient can check with his doctor or pharmacist to find out if the prescribed medicine has chemicals that may contribute to anxiety or allergies.

As a conclusion the final stage is recovery. The patient is now tasked to see that he takes his medication as required so that he can recover and relapse. This is the sure way of ensuring a speedy recovery. As the patient is recovering he should ensure that he practices preventive measures and caution throughout the entire medication period.

How to Treat Depression Disorders?

Many of us feel anxious, sad, low or depressed at some point of time or other. But depression disorder (also commonly known as clinical depression) is a kind of mental state where a person feels depressed mostly all throughout the day. A person suffering from this disorder, quite often suffers from anxiety disorder too and vice versa. They need medical or expert help to get over it because it’s a form of illness.

There can be many reasons for depression disorders. Losing a loved one, losing a job, substance or alcohol abuse, long illness and genetics are just a few of them. If left untreated this depression disorder can have very severe consequences.

Symptoms of depression disorder

• Feeling depressed or sad and low all day for weeks at a stretch.
• Losing interest in day to day normal work life, feeling lethargic, fatigued and non – motivated all the time.
• Irritability and restlessness for very trivial reasons
• Either losing weight drastically (without dieting) or gaining sudden weight.
• Insomnia ( sleeplessness at night) or hypersomnia (too much sleeping)
• Lessened ability to concentrate on anything or think about anything. 
• Having anxiety attacks and getting panicked.
• Having suicidal feelings

Treatments for depression and anxiety

There is no exact way of treating anxiety or depression as every person reacts to the treatment in a different way. So the best way out is to stay as knowledgeable as possible about the treatment choices.

Psychotherapy - It is the term used for a treatment where depression or anxiety is treated by talking to a therapist.  There are several forms of effective therapies like cognitive behaviour therapy, exposure therapy, and interpersonal therapy. 

Medication- A huge number of antidepressants and medications are available in the market to treat depression and anxiety disorders. But it is not easy to find the right medication because every medication has its own effects and side effects. You need to consult a doctor or an expert before taking any form of medication for depression disorder.

Herbal treatment - there are many natural remedies and herbal treatments for anxiety and depression that often provides the same results as medications. Some of the tried and tested herbs that have been confirmed to work are Passionflower, Kava, Valerian, St. John’s wort, Magnolia bark, Skullcap and lemon balm.

Lifestyle changes – a simple yet a very powerful way to treat depression and anxiety. A number of studies have shown that eating right and exercising can help to reduce depression. Also the intake of alcohol, too much of caffeine and sugar aggravates depression and anxiety so patients of depression need to stay away from all the above.

Yoga - Yoga makes a person feel relaxed. It trains to breathe in a particular manner that makes the body and mind feel calmer. The yoga-asana or postures when done under a trained person helps to soothe the nervous system and thus helps the mind to feel relaxed and free.

Meditation – Studies have shown that people who practice meditation as a treatment for depression gain positive results. Mediation helps to bring a sense of peace and calmness to the mind and body. It relieves the body from stress and thus brings down the blood pressure and palpitation rate and relaxes the mind.

One needs to eat right, think positive, and lead a healthy lifestyle to get over the feelings of anxiety and depression. But in extreme cases genuine medical help is needed.