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Reactive depression. Reactive depression symptoms and treatment causes

Reactive depression is complex psycho-emotional reactions to influence various kinds negative factors.

Her main feature– a person’s concentration on a certain negative and traumatic event, an attempt to restore the course of actions to the smallest detail and a painful rethinking of what happened.

Unlike depression, the causes of which lie “inside” the person himself, autogenic depression begins “outside”, at the moment when the psyche cracks in the form of a nervous breakdown.

A person can be pushed towards it both by smaller problems, gradually accumulating and making themselves known at the most inopportune moment, and by severe stressful situations, causing almost irreparable damage to the psyche.

Moreover, the daily or seasonal nature of fluctuations emotional background weakly expressed, stable low mood is noted.

People who are depressed are identified by physical signs:

Dejected look;
hunched back;
drooping shoulders;
painful bluish tint to the skin;
haggard face and absent look.

Their consciousness is occupied by a feeling of guilt, ideas of their own sinfulness, wild melancholy and despondency.

Why does it appear

The reasons are often due to many factors, which determine whether they will outgrow negative emotions into depression, and whether a person can prevent further development of the disease.

The primary reason is the changes in life that entail severe stress and pushing a person out of their comfort zone.

Primary Causes of Depression

Death close relative;
own serious illness;
divorce from a spouse or separation from a loved one;
financial collapse;
imprisonment;
dismissal from work or loss of a stable source of income;
sexual problems;
family troubles;
a loss pet;
death of an idol;
debt pit;
the presence of harmful addictions.

The changes that have taken place in life are perceived by a person from a negative point of view, have a purely personal connotation and are an individual “catastrophe”. They have a significant impact on all areas of life.

Options for the development of the disease

If the reaction to a traumatic event occurs immediately, depression is called acute (short-term, lasting no more than a month).
If the disease develops as a result of constant, but not intense exposure to negative factors, depression is called prolonged, with a total duration of one month to two years.

Secondary causes

Genetic and psychosomatic predisposition – presence in previous generations mental disorders and own diseases;
age-related changes;
accentuation of character;
organic brain damage;
constitutional features.

In the presence of favorable circumstances, the likelihood of depression increases in people who are directly exposed to certain risk factors:

Social role and self-realization

Professional affiliation

People who, by calling their profession, are forced to bear great responsibility, are constantly exposed to strong emotional influences.

Addiction

It affects not only physical condition, but also on the mental, acting as an irritant and detrimentally affecting the central nervous system. As a result, a person may often not be aware of his actions.

Educational culture

From childhood, norms of behavior are imposed, in which one cannot show one’s negative emotions, but must “keep everything to oneself.”

Kinds

How to recognize depression and distinguish it from depression? First of all, by definition and symptoms. There are true depressive disorders, anxiety-depressive disorders and depression of hysterical personalities. Let's look at each in order.

True depressive disorder

This diagnosis is appropriate when a depressed state is observed long time, accompanied typical symptoms depression: sadness, despondency, apathy, melancholy, lack of appetite and sleep. The patient falls into despair from the hopelessness of his situation and the inability to somehow influence the course of things. All of the above may be accompanied by delirium in its various manifestations, as well as ideas of one’s own sinfulness and guilt, up to self-torture and thoughts of suicide.

Anxiety-depressive disorder

The patient is overcome by fear, which can later develop into panic. Panic anxiety only intensifies depression, blocking normal perception of the world, sometimes accompanied by attacks of unmotivated aggression and causeless anxiety.

A person is under constant emotional stress, which provokes the production of stress hormones: adrenaline and cortisol, which, in turn, suppress the central nervous system, undermining both the immune system and the psyche.

The main symptoms are:

Cardiopalmus;
heavy sweating;
chest pain;
lack of air;
dyspnea;
nausea;
dizziness;
fluctuations in body temperature;
numbness of the limbs;
manifestation of hidden phobias;
animalistic primal fear;
and suddenly fear of something inevitable and inexplicable.

Depression of hysterical personalities

Depression as a character trait is identified through personality surveys and conversations with a specialist. It may be accompanied by melancholy and reflection. In this case, psychotherapy for individuals with accentuation of character is prescribed in case of worsening well-being and a prolonged depressed state that cannot be self-healed.

Forms of the disorder

There are two forms of reactive depression:

Explicit, open form – in which the symptoms of the disease are pronounced and protracted.
Dessimulative, hidden– in which the signs of the disease are masked (hidden). The patient does not exhibit various types of abnormalities, but this does not mean that they are absent. Often, the manifestation of suicidal tendencies in a person comes as a real surprise to his family. In the subtle manifestation of symptoms, somatized depression is similar to the dissimulative form of reactive depression.

Symptoms

Reactive depression is preceded by a state of shock with accompanying manifestations:

The symptoms of the disease itself have a variable range, which can be divided into two conditional categories: general, inherent in almost every patient, and individual, which occur depending on the constitutional characteristics of the person.

General symptoms

Emotional instability, depression and pathologically low mood. The patient sees the world through the prism of cynicism and skepticism. Former joyful and happy events no longer evoke bright feelings and emotions; they are replaced by all-consuming melancholy and original despondency. A person becomes irritable, responding with outbursts of anger to his family’s attempts to find out from him the reason for his bad mood.
Eyes are wet. Any memory from the past can cause a fit of crying, or even real hysterics. A person becomes very vulnerable; at the slightest mention of a tragic event, he only withdraws into himself even more, replaying the situation over and over again. An annoying question appears: “What would happen if...?” From a rational point of view, it has no value, but only aggravates the process of introspection and self-flagellation.
Human behavior changes. The patient is no longer interested in previous affairs; he becomes apathetic and completely inert.

It is important to understand that depression manifests itself differently in everyone. Overnight, some symptoms may be blurred, while others may be overly pronounced.

Individual symptoms

Individual manifestations of depression vary depending on the type of temperament, character traits and personality type, but in general they include:

Irrational fear at the mention of tragedy;
ideas of one’s own guilt in what happened and deep regrets;
thoughts about your helplessness and insignificance;
attempts to avoid talking about a sore subject;
periods of insomnia, followed by reflection and melancholy;
decreased or even lack of appetite, severe physical exhaustion;
loss of sexual desire;
prostration;
decreased self-esteem;
autonomic disorders: temperature gradation, shortness of breath, excessive sweating, etc.

Some symptoms may be short-term and disappear after psychotherapy, without taking medications. If you experience suicidal tendencies or painful depression, you should urgently seek medical help.

What complications can there be?

Depressive disorders are serious mental disorders that, if not promptly diagnosed and treated, can lead to a worsening of an already serious condition.

Science knows of clinical cases in which reactive depression transformed into endogenous depression, with manifestations typical of the latter.

Drug treatment

Taking medications for reactive depression is prescribed extremely rarely and depends on the severity of symptoms, the intensity of exposure to traumatic factors and individual characteristics.

Treatment for overt short-term depression often takes about three weeks and includes:

Neuroleptics that eliminate anxiety and psychomotor agitation;
antidepressants, the action of which is aimed at raising mood and supporting the nervous system;
tranquilizers, which are designed to calm and allay fears;
hypnotics that normalize sleep and relieve stress.

Therapy can be individual or group, often supplemented by training or coursework.

How to prevent depression from occurring

To prevent the dangers of relapse, it is necessary to carry out prevention, including:

Get healthy sleep for at least eight hours a day so that the body can replenish its energy reserves during rest.
Communication with family and friends. If you share the problem with someone other than yourself, it will become smaller.
A well-designed diet, daily routine, alternation of mental and physical work– all this in order to avoid overwork and exhaustion.
Changing your lifestyle. Sometimes change pushes you in the right direction and opens up a wide field of possibilities. There is no need to be afraid of change, you need to change yourself.
Good habits - yes! Down with alcohol and smoking, new life requires new hobbies. Develop a routine, stay busy - this is one of the best medicines accessible to everyone.

Conclusion

Unfortunately, in life, not everything always happens the way we would like it to. Sometimes events happen that are difficult to believe, and even more difficult to accept and survive. At such moments, the psyche is especially vulnerable, since it takes the entire blow upon itself - the risk of developing depression increases.

The person in in a state of shock careful special treatment, attention and understanding are required. Timely support from loved ones health care and competent psychotherapy is the key to successful and rapid treatment of reactive depression.

Reactive depression is a severe disturbance in a person’s psychological and emotional state that develops as a reaction to a traumatic event.

As the name suggests, reactive depression is a reaction to any mental trauma or prolonged exposure to stress loads. In other words, the patient develops after a certain event or a number of such situations occurred in his life, which he perceived as negative.

It should be understood that this disease does not develop for certain “standard” reasons. How traumatic an event is for a person’s psyche is determined by many factors - from social to hereditary. In fact, even whether grief or other negatively colored emotions transform into depression largely depends on these factors.

Risk factors

In the presence of predisposing circumstances, the likelihood of abnormal psycho-emotional depression becoming much higher:

Belonging to a certain profession. People who, due to their professional employment, are often exposed to excessive stress or are forced to bear responsibility for the health and lives of other people (medics, firefighters, law enforcement officials, etc.). In this case, the apparent habituation to stress and resistance to it has the character of a “mask”, under which processes constantly occur that weaken the nervous system and have a depressing effect on the psyche.
Social status. Lonely people are more susceptible to depression, including reactive depression. According to experts, this is due to the inability to discuss with someone an event that caused mental pain and thus help oneself reduce the level of anxiety in the process of speaking one’s thoughts.
. Being a strong depressant, alcohol negatively affects the human nervous system. In this regard, the degree of psycho-emotional reactions is inadequate to the real state of affairs, and in the presence of any seriously traumatic event, emotions are completely out of control.
Hereditary predisposition. A tendency to psycho-emotional disorders can be transmitted from parents to children, which becomes a risk factor for development for the latter depressive states.
Features of education. People who grew up in families where showing emotion is considered weak, and who have witnessed domestic violence, are more likely to experience depression.

Important: reactive depression often develops after a traumatic event, which is defined as severe by general standards (financial collapse, divorce, death of a loved one).

But sometimes this condition occurs in response to a negative or tragic development of a situation that is personal to the patient.

This could be the loss of a pet, the death of an idol whom a person has never met, etc. Therefore, assessing the severity of psychological trauma should not be done in terms of generally accepted standards.

Symptoms of the disease

The symptoms that manifest this type of mental disorder are quite diverse and variable. But it is more appropriate to address their description to the patient’s family and friends. This is due to the fact that a person suffering from this condition may not be aware of the changes that have occurred to him. Usually he is aware that after a certain event in his life and worldview something “broke”, but he considers this a natural manifestation of grief, sadness, melancholy and other negatively colored emotions. And those who are close to the patient need to see in time the signs that a person close to them needs help.

Symptoms of reactive depression can be divided into general (characteristic of any person suffering from this disease) and individual (determined by a number of personality traits of the patient).

TO general symptoms include the following:

Individual manifestations of reactive depression directly depend on the patient’s personality type, and can vary widely:

the person begins to avoid any forms of communication, withdraws into himself, and when trying to start a conversation with him, he answers briefly and monosyllabically, and does not maintain the conversation;
the patient tries, at every opportunity, to start talking about the event that traumatized him, obviously tries to relive it, and builds the conversation around the expected development of the situation if the circumstances were different (“If I had called an hour earlier,” “If I had not then overslept for work”, etc.);
the emotional picture is dominated by a feeling of guilt, which is expressed in regrets that something was not done that could change the course of events. With a reasoned explanation that the patient is not to blame for what happened, he finds new “points of application” in order to confirm his guilt;
the patient experiences irrational fear that the traumatic event will happen again. He constantly expects to be told bad news (about someone's death, about a refusal to hire, etc.).

With a long course of reactive depression, its symptoms may be accompanied by signs of other health disorders, and not only mental ones. So, often people suffering from depression develop sleep problems - from difficulty falling asleep to. In patients, appetite decreases or is completely absent, gastrointestinal disorders develop (dyspepsia, etc.), there is a decrease in libido, etc. Autonomic disorders manifest themselves in attacks heavy sweating, episodes of rapid heartbeat, etc. Symptoms of reactive depression of a physical nature depend on the individual characteristics of a person’s health status and can vary greatly.

But with all the diversity and variability of manifestations, this kind of depression has only two, truly “unique” signs by which it is distinguished from other similar conditions:

Important: the described symptoms can be combined in different ways, and with a long course of depression or the patient suppresses his emotions, they can be completely unnoticeable. Only a specialist is able to distinguish, for example, grief or natural process adaptation to financial collapse from depression.

Treatment

highest value depends on how long a person has been suffering from this condition and from manifestations of psycho-emotional depression.

Let's take a closer look at effective methods.

Drug treatment

Depending on the severity of symptoms, the following groups of medications may be prescribed:

Antidepressants (Fluvoxamine, etc.), which alleviate the symptoms of depression, increase positive emotions and eliminate motor symptoms depression (stiffness, tightness, obsessive repetitive movements, etc.).
Tranquilizers (, Alprozolam, etc.) reduce the level of anxiety and restlessness, alleviate fears, and improve the quality of sleep.

In case of prolonged or severe course of such depression and the resulting vegetative disorders, medications may be prescribed to normalize heart rate, blood pressure, increased appetite, etc.

Important: their dosage and duration of treatment can only be carried out by the attending physician. Great importance the professional and daily activities of the patient influence the choice of medications. This is due to the fact that a number of medications have a negative effect on the ability to concentrate and are dangerous for use by people who manage vehicle those caring for young children and working in other areas where decreased attentiveness poses a potential threat to themselves or others.

Psychotherapy

This disease requires integrated approach, and for the fastest possible recovery, it is extremely important to “live” the traumatic event and leave it in the past - something that the patient is unable to cope with on his own.

Psychotherapeutic assistance in the form of individual or group sessions conducted under the supervision and guidance of an experienced doctor provides invaluable assistance in this matter.

The general objectives of the classes are:

eliminating negative feelings about the traumatic event;
training in methods of controlling fears and anxiety;
restoration of adequate psycho-emotional reactions;
return to normal social and personal life;
training in the rules of psychological hygiene that help prevent a similar situation from developing in the future.

If necessary, the psychotherapist supplements the general course of psychotherapy with coursework and trainings that eliminate the so-called “blocks” that “lock” the problem at the subconscious level. In some cases, with the consent of the patient, hypnotherapy can be used.

Important: psychotherapy is a powerful tool for treating this type of depression. If medicinal methods- “the first line of defense”, allowing you to quickly eliminate acute manifestations depression, this is the most important stage of treatment, restoring a person’s quality of life and preventing complications of depressive conditions.

Reactive depression is a type of depression that, unlike the endogenous form, develops as a result of severe psychological trauma or constant exposure to milder stress over a certain amount of time. In the reactive form, the patient’s condition is usually stably depressed, but it can be extremely severe.

What it is?

Depression has several various forms, which differ in the reasons that provoke them, the nature of their course, severity, and the presence of other disorders. Reactive depression is one of the common forms and usually occurs as a result of external factors, develops quite quickly, almost immediately after psychological trauma. This form of the disease can occur at any age; it does not depend on gender or other characteristics.

In this case, in addition to the traumatic situation, the development of the disease can be influenced by the state of the person’s health as a whole, and genetic predisposition to disorders of this kind. The most common factors that provoke reactive depression include events such as the death of a loved one or being in an extreme situation that threatens life and health. Reactive depressive disorder can develop due to a constant stressful environment at work or school, or when losing a job.

The most common variant of the disease is reactive depression with moderately severe psychopathological symptoms. Depending on the severity of manifestations of this disease may be assigned various options treatment: from simple psychotherapy with a minimal amount of drugs to full hospitalization and quite heavy medications.

ICD-10 code for depressive disorders F30 – F39. In most cases, psychiatric diseases are named precisely by ICD codes, without mentioning the disease itself.

Important! When diagnosing depression, a differential approach is extremely important, since depressive phases occur in other disorders, which at the same time have completely different origins and development mechanisms.

Reactive depression in children and adolescents

The reactive form of the disorder is quite common in childhood and adolescence. Problems at school and at home usually influence the development of the disease. If parents suppress their child, they do not use the most positive methods education, the family is dysfunctional, the likelihood of the disease increases.

At school, this form of depression can arise due to problems with teachers, excessive workload for which the child is not ready, or in the presence of conflict situations with other students.

A child with reactive depression may come across as extremely ill-mannered, lazy, and aggressive. In children, the symptoms of the disease are slightly more pronounced than in adults. Children often need more help psychotherapist to combat depression.

Important! It is also worth considering that psychological trauma in childhood may be factors in the development of various psychiatric disorders in adulthood.

Symptoms

When making a diagnosis, attention is usually paid to the presence of the following signs of the disorder. Almost all of them must be present to one degree or another, and they can have different severity.

Symptoms of a shock reaction. These may include anxiety, sometimes without expressed reasons, rapid development of phobias, mutism, constant feeling of fear. Motor retardation or, on the contrary, constant movement and tics may occur. Similar condition may persist for several weeks.
Then the second stage of depression develops. Usually there is increased tearfulness, constant severe fatigue, and irritability. Anxiety and constant fear remain, in severe stages suicidal thoughts and tendencies develop, sometimes auditory hallucinations. With depression, self-esteem drops and thoughts arise about one’s own uselessness. Sleep and appetite are disturbed.

These are the main symptoms of this disease. In addition, patients with reactive depression may constantly replay memories of traumatic events in their heads. Patients may experience feelings of guilt, regret, and come up with ways to avoid negative situation, its consequences. The patient’s thoughts may constantly revolve around the events that led to psychotrauma.

Important! But sometimes psychological trauma itself is not recorded in the patient’s memory, so the help of a psychotherapist is required to restore traumatic events in memory and work through them.

Also usually used differential diagnosis, since similar symptoms can occur with other mental disorders. This requires a consultation with a neurologist, conducting various tests and surveys, and monitoring the patient’s condition over a certain period of time.

How to treat?

Used for therapy various methods corrections. Severe psychological trauma usually requires therapy with a psychotherapist. It is important to work through the trauma, understand yourself, working with a psychotherapist will help you get rid of fixation on the experience, and find ways to solve the problem.

If the condition is extremely severe, various medications, helping to relieve the main symptoms of depression.

Various tranquilizers are usually used, for example, Diazepam, Phenozepam, Atarax and others. The medicine is selected depending on the severity of the symptoms.
Antidepressants, such as Fluoxetine, may be used. Similar drugs can negatively affect the body if taken irrationally, therefore they are prescribed exclusively by the attending physician.

If there are suicide attempts or extremely intense suicidal thoughts, hospitalization and inpatient stay may be required. However, in most cases of reactive depression, symptoms begin to disappear when proper operation with a psychotherapist. Also good result help to achieve combined methods treatment.

Prevention

It is extremely difficult to insure against this disorder, since it is impossible to completely avoid stressful situations that can traumatize the psyche. However, stress tends to accumulate, so if you find yourself in a situation or environment that negatively affects the psyche, you need to urgently get out of it, for example, change your place of work if the situation there is negative.

You also need to deal with the consequences of stress in a timely manner; you should not suppress aggression, anger, or resentment. You need to be able to release negative experiences, it is worth choosing suitable methods for working with stress.

Reactive depression has an exogenous nature, it is caused by objective factors, but this does not make it a more explainable phenomenon than endogenous. Somatic causes and any influence on the nervous system should be excluded. chemical substances, - in the broadest sense, from taking medications that have side effects to drinking alcohol. Previous illnesses and the use of certain drugs also cause depression, but a different picture can be seen there. In this case, we are talking about the reaction of the psyche to an unseemly situation. And it may be somehow connected with the body. To make everything clearer, let’s illustrate this by comparing two situations.

Reactive depression - mental illness arising as a reaction to an experienced negative situation

The patient suffered a traumatic brain injury, which disrupted the functioning of certain parts of the brain. If he shows signs of depression, then most likely it is a somatic mental disorder.
After the amputation of a limb, the person had a mental condition that is difficult and unnecessary to diagnose. Surgery department he left as normal as possible after such a disaster. A few months later he fell into a deep depression. All criteria for detecting a large depressive disorder. This is reactive depression, and it arose as a result of awareness of one’s inferiority, limited capabilities, and eternal disability. Somatic problems caused a flood of emotions, the mind assessed the situation strictly negatively, which is generally fair, and this already created a stressful situation and MDD arose.

One should not think that the formula “eliminate the cause, the effect will disappear” works in direct connection with the original object. Yes, of course, the cause needs to be eliminated. But in terms of the psyche it is:

feeling of inferiority;
loss of a loved one;
some kind of irreparable loss.

You can’t sew an arm or a leg back, you can’t resurrect a dead husband, and you can’t always get a lost job back. For example, if a 35-year-old military pilot is transferred to the reserve. Out of grief, he started drinking, lost his health, had to relearn how to civil aviation I can’t do it at my own expense due to lack of money and alcoholism. This is also an irreparable loss...

Reactive depression often occurs due to the loss of a loved one, serious illness and other sharply negative situations.

Intangible causes of reactivity

The reason needs to be removed, but it does not have a material or legal form. It is in assessments, in impressions, in memory. It also causes depression, which “rolls up” from the inside, as if it were endogenous. The difference is that at the level of cognitive behavioral psychology, the cause can be discovered. It all started after it happened This. Is it true, This happened not only to an individual patient. Many people are injured, many are abandoned by their loved ones, many are betrayed by friends, their homes and hopes are burned down. People are dying. Only one has a hard time, it hurts, there are also symptoms of depression, but they, each in their own way, somehow get out, continue to live and search. Others give up, turn into mummies and cannot do anything. Even own wish shake up looks faded and does not lead to any shake-ups.

Reactive depression has exactly the same symptoms as any other disorder of this type, which means the treatment is the same. Moreover, the cause of depression at the level of psychoanalysis may turn out to be completely different, not what the patient himself thinks about.

The disease is difficult to cure, although some manage to cope with depression on their own

Narrow thinking in depression

The whole problem is that sometimes even an experienced psychotherapist cannot detect the debut if something bad happens to him and this leads to depression. After about three weeks, you may unexpectedly discover that for an hour you have been methodically going over methods of suicide in your head. You might think that a specialist is simply obliged to find this himself. Nothing like that... Depression blocks the ability to think broadly. This is one of the characteristic features of thinking at the time of a suicide attempt, which crisis psychologists are well aware of. A “tunnel” is formed, and only the idea of the impossibility of satisfying the need and death as a way out of the situation is placed in it. But this is for people who are ready to commit suicide. With depression, these can be thoughts of death, or just extremely dark thoughts.

However, in a state of such narrowness, one can think like this:

I feel very bad and there is no way out. It will never be better.

But it's very difficult to think like this:

For some reason, I always think that I feel very bad and that there is no way out.

It is no coincidence that psychotherapists very often find themselves visiting each other, not only in anecdotes. In fact, it is extremely difficult to “see” your thoughts from the outside, analyze them and note changes in emotions.

In most cases it is necessary professional help psychotherapist

Simple example

Here is an example of the simplest reactive depression. My husband drinks. Once upon a time there was love, tomatoes bloomed in the garden beds. But then he got drunk, began to turn into an animal, and became aggressive. There can be no talk about treatment - he doesn’t want to listen. My wife has the most real depression. Moderate or medium shape. It’s hard to imagine something more reactive. Divorce is not difficult because of children. She really didn’t want to return to her parents.

A course of antidepressants with anti-anxiety effects was prescribed. These should not be confused with tranquilizers - they have a rather sedative effect. And it was because of what... As it’s seven o’clock in the evening, she has all the signs anxiety disorder. Be that as it may, therapy quickly enough allowed her to make her own decision. They divorced... The depression stopped quite quickly.

Whether he got married a second time - history is silent. However, everything was simple here. Force a member of the cosmonaut corps, with their stable psyche, to live for a couple of years with an alcoholic, especially if this is a person close to him, and his nerves will also start to go awry. Astronauts are not made of granite either. Take away the alcoholic, troublemaker and rude person - at least back into space.

The task of psychotherapy

So, reactive depression occurs due to the presence of the following pattern:

source of discomfort, something causing stress;
own experiences, assessments, thoughts that are triggered by stress;
reaction to experiences in the form of emotional, mental disorder.

It is important to drive away negative thoughts and try to get rid of the source of worries, come to terms with the problem

The task of psychotherapy is to work with feelings and thinking, to help the patient change his thinking, which will allow him to reconsider his attitude towards the source of stress or teach him how to “throw him out” of his life.

Reactive depression Reactive depression is a disorder mental sphere, arising as a response to an extremely traumatic situation experienced by a person.

Reactive depression is a mental disorder that occurs as a response to an extremely traumatic situation experienced by a person or prolonged exposure to a combination of several less significant stress factors. This depression has maximum number factors provoking its occurrence, which to one degree or another influence the human psyche. Traumatic events that she is unable to bear become catalysts that trigger destructive process negative personality change.

Prolonged reactive depression, except for one’s own extremely unpleasant symptoms, is dangerous because it can provoke neuroses, anxiety and astheno-depressive syndrome, pathologies of perception, manic psychosis. Depression of this kind cannot be ignored; it will not go away on its own, so professional treatment will be needed to restore your health.

Causes and forms of reactive depression

The reasons for the development of this type of depression are negative, powerful changes in a person’s life that provoke severe or prolonged stress and, as a result, the appearance of symptoms of the disease. This could be: a serious or long-term illness or the loss of a close relative. The reasons may also be: separation from a husband or wife, a loved one, major financial losses, troubles at work, problems in one’s own family, imprisonment, bad habits, death of a beloved pet.

In addition, the appearance and development of reactive depression are influenced by:

genetic predisposition;
features of upbringing;
accentuation;
disturbances in the chemical balance of the brain;
features of the constitution;
chronic somatic diseases;
organic brain damage.

The intensity of depression is determined using a special scale, which includes those very traumatic events perceived by the vast majority mentally normal people like serious tragedies.

This form of depression can develop in 2 ways: in the form of an acute reaction, lasting up to 1 month, and prolonged, lasting from 1 month to 2 years. Short-term reactive depression usually develops very quickly and immediately after exposure to stress factors on a person’s mental sphere.

Prolonged reactive depression is expressed in causeless tearfulness, a pessimistic attitude towards the present and future, extremely depressed mood, a sharp decrease in energy, ideas of self-blame, and hypochondriacal thoughts. The behavior of patients is characteristic: they are weak-willed, apathetic, focused on internal experiences, lose interest in performing duties and in entertainment.

True depressive disorder

This form of reactive depression is typical for those who are constantly in a sad, dull and indifferent state (apathy), do not eat and hardly get enough sleep. They are also characterized by other symptoms: despair and reluctance to somehow change the unpleasant situation that has arisen, delusional thoughts and ideas that lead to self-torture and thoughts of suicide.

Anxiety-depressive disorder

The main feeling that patients experience with this form of reactive depression is fear, which turns into panic, which only intensifies the symptoms of depression, makes it difficult to have a positive outlook, and, as it further develops, is accompanied by attacks of aggressiveness and anxiety. Patients constantly live in strong emotional stress under the influence of stress hormones, which negatively affect the immune system and unstable psyche.

Risk factors

Reactive depression develops much more rapidly in those who are included in the following risk groups: single and unmarried people who live alone and feel a lack of communication; managers or responsible employees experiencing chronic emotional exhaustion; people who are used to keeping all their feelings to themselves and people with addictions. In the presence of these conditions predisposing to the development of reactive depression, the likelihood of its occurrence increases significantly.

Symptoms of reactive depression

Reactive depression begins with a classic state of shock, which is combined with individual characteristics, varying depending on the constitutional qualities of a person: excitability, emotional instability, critically depressed mood, depression, a tendency to look at the world with skepticism and cynicism. Patients perceive their surroundings in black colors, do not rejoice or have fun, but fall into grave despondency and all-encompassing melancholy. They become extremely irritable, respond angrily to the efforts of loved ones to talk to them, and cry almost constantly and for no reason.

In reactive depression, the general emotional condition patients can be defined as consistently low. They are so depressed that it even shows in their appearance:

they have drooping shoulders;
hunched back;
bowed head;
downcast look.

On external stimuli patients with this depression react completely differently: either they freeze in a stupor, not reacting to the events happening around them and the words addressed to them, or, on the contrary, they demonstrate their feelings too emotionally, sob loudly, desperately gesticulate, and stage demonstrative theatrical scenes.

For those who suffer from reactive depression, mental activity is aimed at excessive and aimless analysis of the tragic events that happened to them, which they cannot forget and let go. Often they also blame themselves for what happened, finding some kind of secret pleasure in it.

Turning their thoughts to the traumatic event, they try to restore it in memory in the smallest detail, tire themselves and the people around them with assumptions about what could have been done to prevent the negative event. At the same time, they want to receive sincere understanding, empathy for their problem and genuine sympathy.

The emotionality of patients is so heightened that every mention of the tragedy causes them a new surge of despair and pain, expressed in excessive tearfulness. Many of them are even afraid to fall asleep, since the traumatic event does not let them go even in their sleep. Sometimes, when this type of depression intensifies, delusional ideas of persecution are added to the inexplicable anxiety that patients experience.

Reactive depression can be expressed by agitation turning into a panic attack, tachycardia and heart pain, rapid breathing, muscle weakness, low blood pressure, disorientation, severe dizziness, hyperhidrosis.

The main mental symptoms of reactive depression are:

a feeling of complete hopelessness and deep despair;
a feeling of futility and hopelessness of the future;
violation normal mode and sleep duration;
changing previously selected food preferences.

Reactive depression is complicated by the fact that when it reaches its maximum, the patient begins to develop various phobias, thoughts of suicide, and sometimes auditory hallucinations. These symptoms indicate deep mental damage and require immediate treatment.

Treatment of reactive depression

Reactive depression in its not advanced form responds well to treatment with psychotherapeutic methods, even without the use of medications. The goal of psychotherapy is to teach a person to overcome their own fears and conflicts, normalize the psycho-emotional background and restore an optimistic attitude towards life. But, if depression took over acute form, the patient developed panic attacks or suicidal thoughts, you will need medication.

The following medications have a good effect on this depression:

antidepressants(drugs from the SSRI group), which perfectly stabilize and elevate mood, reduce anxiety levels, and remove feelings of panic and fear. The minimum course of therapy with these medications is 3 weeks.
benzodiazepine tranquilizers, having excellent hypnotic, muscle relaxant, sedative and calming effects;
neuroleptics, eliminating too strong psychomotor agitation and anxiety;
hypnotics, filming mental stress and normalizing sleep.

An excellent effect in the treatment of reactive type depression is obtained by combining medications and cognitive course, as well as rational psychotherapy in combination with hypnosis sessions.

Reactive depression is a very serious mental disorder, so if it is not treated, it will develop further, which will only make it worse negative impact. But you can’t self-medicate; any depression should be treated by a doctor with the necessary knowledge and experience.

How to prevent depression: prevention

To prevent reactive depression from spoiling your life and returning again, you need to carry out prevention:

sleep at least 8 hours a day so that the brain can rest and the body replenishes energy reserves in the cells;
communicate more with family and friends, without hiding your problems from them;
Healthy food;
alternate work and rest, do not overwork;
change your job to an easier one;
eliminate bad habits.

All these measures, if not neglected, will reduce the likelihood of developing reactive depression and depression in general, help maintain mental health and eliminate the need to think about how and how to treat such diseases.

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