DEPRESSION
Paxil, Prozac, and Zoloft
There
are nearly 17.5 million Americans who suffer from depression.
Do you have a hard time enjoying the things you used to? Do you frequently feel overwhelmed?
Have uncontrollable feelings of guilt or worthlessness and low motivation? Find
it difficult to concentrate? Notice that you're sleeping too much or too little?
Many of the signs of depression are easy to miss. These symptoms are often your
mind's way of telling you something is wrong.
Depression is a notoriously ignored and untreated disease; in today's society, it can be difficult for an
individual to even admit that they're depressed. However, it is estimated that
nearly 17.5 million Americans suffer from depression every year. With today's
prescription medication for depression, there is no reason for this misunderstood
disease to go untreated any longer.
A depressive disorder is an illness that involves the body, mood, and thoughts. It affects the way a person eats and sleeps, the way one feels about oneself, and the way one thinks about things. A depressive disorder is not the same as a passing blue mood. It is not a sign of personal weakness or a condition that can be willed or wished away. People with a depressive illness cannot merely "pull themselves together" and get better. Without treatment, symptoms can last for weeks, months, or years. Appropriate treatment, however, can help most people who suffer from depression.
TYPES OF DEPRESSION
Depressive disorders come in different forms, just as is the case with other illnesses such as heart disease. This pamphlet briefly describes three of the most common types of depressive disorders. However, within these types there are variations in the number of symptoms, their severity, and persistence.
Major depression is manifested by a combination of symptoms (see symptom list) that interfere with the ability to work, study, sleep, eat, and enjoy once pleasurable activities. Such a disabling episode of depression may occur only once but more commonly occurs several times in a lifetime.
A less severe type of depression, dysthymia, involves long-term, chronic symptoms that do not disable, but keep one from functioning well or from feeling good. Many people with dysthymia also experience major depressive episodes at some time in their lives.
Another type of depression is bipolar disorder, also called manic-depressive illness. Not nearly as prevalent as other forms of depressive disorders, bipolar disorder is characterized by cycling mood changes: severe highs (mania) and lows (depression). Sometimes the mood switches are dramatic and rapid, but most often they are gradual. When in the depressed cycle, an individual can have any or all of the symptoms of a depressive disorder. When in the manic cycle, the individual may be overactive, overtalkative, and have a great deal of energy. Mania often affects thinking, judgment, and social behavior in ways that cause serious problems and embarrassment. For example, the individual in a manic phase may feel elated, full of grand schemes that might range from unwise business decisions to romantic sprees. Mania, left untreated, may worsen to a psychotic state.
Clonazepam is used to treat panic disorder,
nocturnal myoclonus, bipolar affective disorder and to resist depression.
Prevent
panic disorder with Clonazepam.
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