Clinical depression in focus [what does science say about brain changes if depression persists for many years]

Introduction

Clinical depression can be referred to as a deep and persistent symptoms of feelings of sadness for an extended period of time, also known as major depressive disorder (MDD). it goes ahead to negatively affect an individual's feelings, thinking and actions. This depressed mood can last from weeks to years. It is a common mental disorder, which, if not properly attended to, can have severe consequences which may lead to disability or even suicide

Clinical depression is a mood disorder where individuals experience changes in the way they feel. This affects millions of individuals all over the world, and is characterized by some of the most extreme feelings like the thought of suicide. Others include, extreme depression, feelings of helplessness, frequent mood swings, pleasure experience reduces, sleeplessness, changes in energy and appetite. In cases of MDD, the chemistry of the individual's brain has been altered

There are times people come out of a cinema after seeing some sort of sad movie, and the first sentence you hear from them is "Damn! that was one hell of a depressing movie right there". This kind of sentence is often used to relate how the movie ignited feelings of sadness, anxiety, depression, and the likes. Nobody ever says disturbing words like "Damn! That movie was clinically depressing". This is because you cannot just categorically say someone is clinically depressed, until those symptoms have persisted for a while, and is beginning to affect the relationship between the individual and his friends and family.

Neuroscientists still doesn't have a pin point at a specific cause of clinical depression. The causes of this disorder may stem from genetic, biological, or environmental factors. Lots of research have been carried out on the subject matter, and lots more will be, in order to improve our understanding on this common enemy of mankind, so as to device even more advanced therapeutic approaches to this illness.

So, where do we draw that line between just feeling sad and clinical depression

We must be very careful, because this is quite sensitive, and therefore should be treated delicately. Most people often mistake clinical depression for feelings of sadness, until the disorder worsens, and get really complicated. This mostly happens because the symptoms are quite similar.

I have a family member who was has been experiencing major depression for a while now. As well as i can remember, he started off with frequent late night restlessness, down to always wanting to be alone. He one day came to me and told me directly "Promise, i think i am depressed". I saw those symptoms in him, but i had no ide they were leading to somewhere really severe, so i paid very little attention to him.

Sadness is a feelings that meets up with everyone at different times of our lives. Its hard and people often detest the feeling, but it's part of what it is to be human. We sometimes experience that feeling of sadness for hours and even days sometimes. But, if this depression persists more than normal, i mean for a period of about 2weeks or more, and it goes ahead to affect the quality of an individuals life, like their everyday work, relationship, family (Relationships, children, spouses), then you most likely have a case of clinical depression in your hands.

Sadness is a feeling everyone must feel at different points in our lives. A set back at work, a breakup, loss of a loved one, a problem with a child, and many others. But where do we draw that line between just feeling sad and clinical depression. Some characteristics of sadness includes a feeling of loss, or regrets (from certain chioces/events), moderate negative feelings such as disappointments, feelings of helplessness, moderate emotional intensity which doesn't impair the individual's functioning or normal behaviour. Sadness can be quite encompassing, and can dominate one's thoughts for a while, but in no time, we get over those life situations that makes us feel down.

On the other hand, clinical depression is way more severe physiological/psychological illness which distorts an individual's daily functioning. This kind of depression can consume your life and compromise your mind, by rewiring the normal neurological pathways in your brain. You should be more careful if you have experienced normal depression in the past, because you are twice as much likely to experience clinical depression in the future

People who are clinically depressed, often feels empty, anxious, hopeless, sometimes unnecessarily guilty without any explanation, loss of energy, what used to interest them, now interest them no more, regularly feeling tired with no cause, inability to remember in details, lack of concentration, insomnia, hypersomnia, irregular eating behaviour (Sometimes overeating and sometimes have no appetite for food), thoughts of suicide and suicidal attempts. If you or anyone you know is experiencing or experiences some of these symptoms mentioned above, do well to seek the attention of a clinical psychologist

Depression isn't stereotypic, there are types

Depression is one disorder that is very much misunderstood. Most people tend to stereotype depression, making it look like the everybody that experiences this disorder fall into the "typically depressed", and are sad all the time, and hates everything about the world. Even though this isn't very far from the truth, depression has different types, and these different types are characterized by different intensities, symptoms, and causes. here are different types of depression, that will help you further understand this abnormality

• Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder

People suffering from this kind of depression often experiences an outburst of temper (both physical and verbal), and it happens for about 3 times a week. This is one major symptom. Others include, feeling sad or moody at least thrice a week. People that suffer from this, also experiences severe outbursts. You should really pay attention to these symptoms, especially if they have been there for about a year.

• Major depressive disorder (MDD)

This is also known as clinical depression, which is our major focus for today. Hence, i'l leave it totally blank, as its explanation is scattered all over this post.

• Persistent depressive disorder

This is also known as dysthymia. Its symptoms are not as clear as the case of major depressive disorder. However, they occur almost daily for at least 2 years in adults and at least 1 year for children and adolescents. Its symptoms includes change in appetite, disrupted sleep cycle, low energy, decrease in self esteem, frequent forgetfulness, concentration issues, and they often lack motivation to do anything

• Premenstrual dysphoric disorder

Like the name implies, this depressive disorder is peculiar to women, and it is known to be disabling about 3-8% of women, and the reason for this, isn't specific yet. Most of its symptoms are usually present during the menstrual cycle, and diagnosing this illness would require at least 5 of its symptoms to be present.

These symptoms include: Mood swings, patients have feelings of hopelessness and overwhelmed, feeling tired always sluggish, increased sensitivity, low motivation, insomnia or hypersomnia. Patients also experiences certain physical symptoms like joint pain, tender or swelling breast, weight gain, bloating. This disorder goes ahead to affect the individual's life, affecting her school or work and relationships with family and friends

• Substance/Medication induced depression

This is the kind of depression that shows up during medication or substance abuse. Patients often experience different depressive episodes, and are often irritated by lots of things around, temper issues, a sense of hopelessness, lack of interest in activities. These symptoms can occur during medication or substance abuse, they can also occur during withdrawal.

• depression due to another medical condition

Some disturbing medical conditions like HIV, stroke, arthritis, etc can all land an individual in depression. Its symptoms includes a persistence in a mood of depression, lack of interest in anything, irritability, and elevated mood

If you experience any of these, do well to see a doctor, especially if symptoms persist.

Some clinical depression symptoms and how it relates to this relation of mine

From the consensus of resources on clinical depression, some of the symptoms may include: loss of interest, decrease and increase in appetite, depressive moods, insomnia or hypersomnia, loss of energy, restlessness, diminishing ability to concentrate, difficulty in decision making, hopelessness, hating oneself, worthlessness feeling, unnecessary regrets, weight loss or gain.

One major symptom I must point out specifically is known as ** anhedonia ** which is the inability for someone to experience pleasure in activities that normally give them pleasure. One very common example is when parents no longer enjoy spending time with their kids, causing problems in relationships

This relation of mine is a really close one, and we grew up together. So, i came to understand his likes and dislikes, this guy loves technology, he is almost addicted to his phone, he loves movies and music a lot, he loves to hang out with friends. Fast forward to today, he just told me he wants to sell his about 6months old Android phone (Techno CX Air), which he only used about 5% of the time, since this clinical depression started.

He has pulled out from his friends, no one calls him no more, he has gained a lot of weight, nothing really interests him no more, always complaining of being tired and always lacking concentration, etc.

Science of depression, and does genetics have a hand in this

Fast forwarding the story about my brother. His case later went serious, and he was taken to a hospital and given a bed. I decided to have a personal conversation with the doctor assigned to him, who later told me that there could be a high chance that genetics plays a role in this case

"Could this doctor be correct?" was as question I pondered upon for a while. I know for sure that there have been some cases of this same kind of depressive disorder in his family line

The doctor went ahead to explain that in cases where clinical depression is genetic, the issue could just lie there for a long, while the individual lives a normal life, until certain life activities trigger this disorder. Thinking of this, and the very fact that the individual in question fasted twice for five days each, within the space of less than two months, just before his case got severe. This was also coupled with the fact that he was having school issues in his final year (Studying a course he had virtually no passion for) and other issues.

It was all of these, including sleeplessness, restlessness and others that got me thinking if the doctor was correct after all. Well, let's see what science have to say about clinical depression and genetics

Most modern drugs (especially the ones influencing serotonin levels) have some sort of effect on our brain cells, making us understand the reason why most serotonin drugs helps certain individuals. But serotonin drugs actually promotes other chemicals which ends up in stimulating neurogenesis (Growth of new neurons), making some scientists to come to a conclusion that depression treatment should be targeted on drugs that directly affect neurogenesis

A research Finding from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, also known as ** Add health ** revealed that variations in the transporter gene (Serotonin) resulted in more vulnerability of people to depression

This of course leads us to Genetics in depression

For those that really understand genetics, we know that everybody has two copies of genes, which we get one from each of our parent. Each of the gene we get, are either short or long. 800 adults were studied over a period of 5 years. The study concluded that 33% of individuals with one short gene and one long gene, became depressed after going through much of life's stresses. The case of depression was even worse in individuals with two short genes. However, the individuals with two long genes were less likely to experience depression, under thesame conditions

Is there a possible link between excess acetylcholine and depression?

Sometime in August 2014, a 24-week randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study was carried out. The idea behind this study, was to check the treatment of clinical depression, using botulinum toxin A. The study concluded that around half of the patients who received botox treatment for wrinkles, actually found relief from depression, and that botulinum toxin A, may be a safe and sustainable intervention in clinical depression treatment

If you are familiar with botulinum toxin A, you already understand that it works by suppressing acetylcholine release. Researches are now looking at acetylcholine (in high levels) as a possible root cause of depression in people

Acetylcholine like we know it, is synthesized from chlorine, which is high in wheat germ, animal products, bruccel sprouts and broccoli. According to Wikipedia Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, or nAChRs, are receptor proteins that respond to the neurotransmitter acetylcholine.

When present in the brain, and repeatedly exposed to stimulants, nAChRs can become easily desensitized (Gradually reduce in sensitivity), hence recent drugs for antidepressant has been targeted towards these Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors

Here is my further thoughts on this

In our day to day lives, most of us consume a high amount of chlorine rich foods. From the above, we now clearly understand that we sensitize a whole lot of acetylcholine. As we constantly get exposed to this much acetylcholine, coupled with other stimulators of nAChRs, this gradually reduces the sensitivity of nAChRs in our brains. This is particularly where Botox comes in, cutting the supply of acetylcholine for a while, thereby leaving more room for the Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors to be even more sensitive again

In conclusion, do well to carefully let go of any habit or food that will decrease the sensitivity of nAChRs in your brain. Example of substances capable of altering your brain nAChRs includes, alcohol, recreational drugs, nicotine, etc. Botox is contained in soils, so try gardening and horticulture to reduce clinical depression. Avoid having excessive acid in your mouth. Do this, in order to avoid the inactivation of enzyme that largely helps in acetylcholine breakdown

Deep message from an anonymous depressed fellow

Hi,

I suffer from depression. I'm not mental, i just have an illness that can't easily be seen, but can be deadly. Some people think I can just shake myself out of it, and i really wish i could. If you remember your first broken heart, or the pain of a loved one dying, you'll know that pain was bad, but eventually you could see your way out, I mean you could still feel the good with the bad. Depression doesn't let you, all the negative words and actions from people go around your head, and you can hardly get rid of them, and you eventually believe them

I feel I have no worth, and that it wouldn't be a big deal if I wasn't here. This feelings go round in my head till the early hours, sleeping is poor and I feel so tired. I lie in bed, close my blinds, and keep away from everyone. I was getting better this last month, but today is not good. To think, react, or do anything, is hard. Like my mind is constantly jumping to something else I can't stop on

I sit for hours looking out of a window, at nothing. I feel like a failure, and I sometimes wonder how to kill myself. I have it down to two options. I cry when no one is around. I wonder why I continue. Today I heard that Robin Williams died (sad). Some people don't seem to understand, they are saying "he is rich, got a nice family, makes everyone laugh". Depression does not take that into account

The chemicals in your brain are going wrong, it takes you to a dark place, a place you dont want to go. It sucks away your drive, love, and happiness. Depression is a real killer. I have 3 beautiful kids and I still struggle. I am getting help, I take 200mg of sertraline a day, I am not mental. If you are going through the same thing, be strong, talk to someone. There are people trained to help, let them help. Let me know you are ok, people do love you!!! and there would be a hole if you were gone

Today I make a promise, to start to love myself. Make me that same promise too, love yourself. Others already love you. Maybe you don't see it yet, every star in the sky, every kiss, touch, laugh and smile, are just some of the reasons to fight this illness. I can be another reason, and there are millions out there, who can be your reason too, DON'T GIVE UP!, let's fight it together, not goodbye just, farewell for now.

Conclusion

Depression is a real illness. People need to be educated about it, like we have done with cancer and other critical illnesses. Genetics also plays a role, as this disorder is a biochemical disorder with a genetic contribution. Depression is not just a feeling of sadness, it is an illness. if you have or suspect you may have a clinical depression, or are having suicidal thoughts, it is dangerous to solely rely on suggestions from friends or family members, it is best you visit your doctor who will either refer you to an expert in the field of clinical depression or possibly diagnose the real issue with you.

This is a link to distress help lines round the globe, and it is not just for individuals with suicidal thoughts

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Reference

[1] Overview of major depression, webmd

[2] Depression and serotonin, wedmd

[3] Depression and genetics

[4] Biochemical basis of depression

[5] Depression symptoms, webmd

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