Depression
Clinical depression is a common mood disorder, in which a person's enjoyment of life and ability to function socially and in day to day matters is disrupted by intense sadness, melancholia, numbness, or despair.
Clinical depression differs from the common term depression. It is diagnosed medically, and treated by therapy and possibly antidepressant drugs. There are several subtypes, some of which meet the popular perception of sadness, agitation and disruption of sleeping and eating, and others of which do not disrupt enjoyment of good things but create a highly disruptive cycle of inner paralysis and lethargy.
Clinical depression affects about 7–18% of the population.
At Orange Coast Recovery, we see clients break through years of depression everyday. Through our private one-on-one therapy sessions with trained professionals, individuals can be fully open and honest and explore what their real core issues are. By working with therapists in over 10 individual sessions per week, our clients are able to heal and live full, meaningful lives.
If you suspect that you or some one you know suffers from depression and substance abuse, please give us a call 24 hours a day at 1-866-REHAB-85 or 1-866-734-2285, and we will do all that we can to help.
Diagnosis of Depression
According to the DSM-IV-TR criteria for diagnosing a major depressive episode, five (or more) of the following symptoms must be present for a period of at least two weeks and represent a change from previous functioning.
Feelings of sadness or the seeming inability to feel emotion (emptiness)
- A decrease in the amount of interest or pleasure in all, or almost all, daily activities.
- Changing appetite and marked weight gain or loss.
- Disturbed sleep patterns, such as insomnia, loss of REM sleep, or excessive sleep (hypersomnia).
- Psychomotor agitation or retardation nearly every day.
- Fatigue, mental or physical, also loss of energy.
- Intense feelings of guilt, nervousness, helplessness, hopelessness, worthlessness, isolation/loneliness and/or anxiety.
- Trouble concentrating, keeping focus or making decisions or a generalized slowing and obtunding of cognition, including memory.
- Recurrent thoughts of death (not just fear of dying), desire to just "lie down and die" or "stop breathing", recurrent suicidal ideation without a specific plan, or a suicide attempt or a specific plan for completing suicide.
Other Depression Symptoms
Other symptoms often reported but not usually taken into account in diagnosis include:
- Self-loathing.
- A decrease in self-esteem.
- Inattention to personal hygiene.
- Physical aches and pains.
- Fear of "going mad".
- Change in perception of time.
- Periods of sobbing.
- Possible behavioral changes, such as aggression and/or irritability.
- A feeling that something bad is going to happen soon.
- Avoiding social situations or being late often.
- Feeling that one's situation will never improve (hopelessness).
- Excessive procrastination.
Treatment of Depression
How Can We Help?
There is hope for the depressed individual. Through intimate one-on-one therapy sessions with a licensed therapist, clients at OCR are able to identify and work through their core issues that cause their depression. Our clients leave saying that they have never felt better about themselves in their entire lives.
If you suspect that you or some one you know suffers from depression and substance abuse, please give us a call 24 hours a day at 1-866-REHAB-85 or 1-866-734-2285, and we will do all that we can to help.