Have you ever wondered what depression is? In simple words, depression is a type of mood disorder. In order to understand depression, we should first look into the definition of mood disorders.
Mood disorders are elevated or depressed moods over a period of time that affects the ability of a person to function well. There are two common types of mood disorders, mainly:
- Major depression
- Bipolar disorder (manic depression or mania)
On the other hand, depression is a disorder characterized by few common symptoms, such as:
- Depressed mood
- Lack of energy
- Sleep disturbances
- Abnormal eating patterns
- Feeling of guilt, despair and misery
- Inability to concentrate or making decisions
- GI pain, joint pains or headaches
- Obsession with death
- Avoid being around with other people
- Lack of interest in personal appearance or sex
- Hallucinations
- Delusions
Pathophysiologic explanation on depression involves three main neurotransmitters; norepinephrine, dopamine and serotonin. This explanation is divided to two hypothesis, the monoamine hypothesis and the permissive hypothesis.
Monoamine hypothesis.
In monoamine hypothesis, depression is caused by decreased concentrations of both norepinephrine and dopamine, alongside serotonin in the central nervous system.
Permissive hypothesis.
Permissive hypothesis explains that a decrease in both serotonin and norepinephrine precipitates depression. On the other hand, decreasing serotonin and increasing norepinephrine causes mania (bipolar disorder).
In the next post, I would go on further into causes of depression.
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