Depression: Understanding Intense Moods and Getting Treatment | Stanford

0:00 do you or someone you know struggle to get out of bed in the morning or accomplish the things you set out to do because of feeling depressed you're not alone in the united states in 2020 one in 12 adults and one in six adolescents had major depressive disorder amounting to a staggering 25 million people this number is likely increasing especially in the younger population worldwide clinical depression is the top reason people are unable to attend school go to work and live the life they want to live hello everyone i'm dr paula tran and i am a child adolescent and adult psychiatrist at stanford university in this video i will introduce you to major depressive disorder or mdd i will talk about how to recognize mdd and what

0:46 causes it before we dive into the specifics of mdd let's take a look at how our moods change with time on any given day you may experience many different moods represented here by different colors the horizontal axis represents time and the vertical axis represents how intense a mood is today you might have woken up feeling excited to try something new like surfing afterwards you thought about an upcoming test or meeting to prepare for and you started to feel nervous later in the day you might have felt sad and angry after an argument emotions can change and even exist together throughout the day and week but it becomes concerning when an emotion like sadness takes over the other emotions we all feel sad sometimes but when sadness stays and becomes the main emotion for more than two weeks then you

1:33 might have major depressive disorder feeling sad is a normal emotion it's part of being human but when you feel consistently sad and it starts to get in the way of things you want to do and how you function at home and at work and in your relationships then it becomes a clinical disorder what is major depressive disorder major depressive disorder describes a set of mental and behavioral changes that get in the way of a person's everyday life how they do at school at home at work and in relationships these symptoms can be different from person to person but at least five of these need to be present for at least two weeks the first symptom is mood individuals with mdd can feel down or sad for most of the

2:19 day for most days of the week the second symptom is interest often there is disinterest in things that once brought a lot of joy the third symptom is appetite appetite is often affected mdd can cause people to eat a lot more or eat a lot less sleep sleep changes are seen as well mdd can cause people to sleep a lot more or sleep a lot less activity level mdd can cause people to feel like they need to move around a lot be really restless and even agitated or they might feel that it's difficult to move at all energy there are often reports of feeling really tired with low energy throughout the day guilt people with mdd can have a lot of guilt

3:05 without a clear reason concentration there is often trouble concentrating or making decisions thoughts of death mdd can cause people to have recurrent thoughts about death and dying suicidal thoughts and attempts can occur major depressive disorder in adolescence sometimes presents similarly as in adults but oftentimes instead of a sad mood there might be an irritable mood parents sometimes report that their teenager is really grumpy throughout the day no longer interested in things they once enjoyed isolating a lot from their friends and in the teenage years a lot of identity revolves around socializing with peers so if a parent notices that their teenager is

3:50 isolating a lot more not doing things that they once enjoy doing that might be an indication that the child is depressed children and teenagers who are depressed may experience mainly physical symptoms like body pain a tummy ache or headache that cannot be explained by a medical reason observation from the school is also really important because kids and teenagers spend so much time at school if untreated depression symptoms in teenagers can continue into adulthood affecting them socially and academically the risk of suicide also increases in all age groups the symptoms of mdd can come and go and they can also vary in how severely they affect a person's functioning untreated depression puts an individual at risk of suicide having

4:37 access to a firearm or anything that can be used to hurt themselves is also a risk not having social support isolation loneliness are also risk factors as well what causes mdd if you or a loved one has mdd you are probably wondering what causes it the answer is not so simple mdd is rarely due to just one cause and often it is difficult to figure out what exactly caused it things that a person is born with like their genetics and personality can play important roles in increasing or decreasing a person's risk of developing mdd things that happen to a person like loss or trauma can also be risk factors things that a person is surrounded by

5:23 like the influence of their friends their family their community can also affect how likely they will develop mdd all of these things together contribute to mdd risk it is important to know that sometimes medical conditions can cause a person to feel depressed for this reason let your doctor know if you are noticing any meat changes so that your doctor can make sure you do not have a medical problem that needs to be addressed many times people self-medicate with alcohol to address their depressive symptoms but it's important to understand that self-medicating that way can sometimes make the depression symptoms worse depression is not a personal choice and people can't just choose to stop being depressed understanding this can really help support loved ones with mdd

6:10 following a regular schedule that includes spending time outdoors exercising sleeping and eating well can also help cognitive behavioral therapy or cbt can teach people with mdd how to closely look at their thoughts their feelings and their behaviors and change them children teenagers and adults with mdd can all benefit from participating in cbt in some cases of mdd antidepressant medications may be necessary to improve symptoms if there is concern about either you or someone you know having mdd it's really important to talk to your doctor so that you guys can sit down and talk together and figure out is this what i'm dealing with are there labs that need to be checked to make sure you don't have a medical condition that can be reversed

6:57 your doctor should be able to refer you to the appropriate resources get you connected to mental health care early intervention is important to make sure that there is the best outcome and that it interferes with your life as little as possible major depressive disorder is treatable and the right combination of social support lifestyle changes and professional help can help people with mdd regain control of their lives talk to your doctor and seek professional help if you think you might have major depressive disorder if you or someone you know is thinking about suicide please call the national suicide prevention lifeline at 1-800-273-talk that's 1-800-273-8255 or text hello to the crisis text line at

7:43 seven four one [Music]