KETAMINE FOR DEPRESSION IN ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND

Have you ever been in a depressed mood? Have you felt sad for no reason? Understandably, residents of the Washington Metropolitan Area suffer from their share of anxiety and depression.

We all know how it feels to be in a bad mood sometimes. Yet, some people experience depression that prevents them from functioning.

Depressed patients with major depressive disorder may have suicidal thoughts on a regular basis. They may have difficulty getting out of bed in the morning.

Clinical depression is a serious mental health condition that should be treated by a medical expert. Treatment resistant depression presents a difficult challenge, because the patient’s depressive symptoms persist, no matter what medications are prescribed.

Of course, therapies such as cognitive behavioral therapy and other treatment options can help. Yet, when symptoms are severe, the patient may have difficulty focusing on therapy.

Types of depression include major depressive disorder, persistent depressive disorder, postpartum depression, seasonal affective disorder, and bipolar disorder. So, if you are depressed all the time, or if you just feel a little sad once in a while, you may have one of these forms of depression.

The word “depression” refers to major depressive disorder. When a person is diagnosed with depression, we sometimes refer to it as unipolar depression.

Unipolar depression means that the person has a depressed mood most of the time. Without treatment, their mood is always low, so they rarely, if ever, get very excited or happy.

Bipolar depression, or bipolar disorder, is a condition where mood fluctuates between being very low and very high. A bipolar person may be sad and unable to get out of bed during one period, and during another period, they are excited and very active.

The upswing in mood is referred to as a manic state. A manic person may make poor decisions, such as spending too much money or engaging in dangerous substance use.

While bipolar disorder is a form of depression, psychiatrists tend to prescribe different medications for it. They attempt to prescribe drugs that will stabilize mood, preventing manic episodes and depressive episodes.

Depression may be a genetic condition, or it may be related to childhood trauma. Very likely, it is a combination of both. Depression is often associated with anxiety disorder, where the patient avoids social situations where they may experience panic attacks.

A person who is predisposed to major depressive disorder may be functional for many years, until an event triggers them to enter a more symptomatic state, where they are no longer functional. To family members, it may seem as if the depression started at this point, but the person was already either in a mild depressive state, or at risk for becoming depressed.

Depression can also begin later in life with a traumatic life event. A person may experience sadness and other depressive symptoms for a limited time, or they may progress into a chronically depressed state.

When a person is mourning, after the loss of a loved one or the ending of a relationship, they may seem depressed. Grieving is a process that people undergo that will eventually resolve in time. Doctors must be careful not to overmedicate grief, because the process can then be prolonged or delayed.

It is important for doctors to differentiate between true mental illness and normal responses to life stresses and traumas. For example, if a person is depressed because they hate their job, changing jobs is a better solution than starting antidepressant medications.