What is the medical term for depression

What is the medical definition of depression? Can you be prescribed medical CBD for depression? What medicine is given to you for depression? Is depression considered a medical disability?

WebMD offers a glossary of basic types of depression.

Antidepressant - Anything, and especially a drug, used to prevent or treat depression. Anxiety - A feeling of apprehension and fear. The term is now little used but has been used sometimes broadly to indicate any depression without psychotic features and sometimes more narrowly to denote only milder forms of depression (dysthymic disorder). Dysthymia, sometimes referred to as mil chronic depression , is less severe and has fewer symptoms than major depression.

With dysthymia, the depression symptoms can linger for a long period of. Depression is not the same as a passing blue mood. It is not a sign of personal weakness or a condition that can be wished away.

Also called major depressive disorder or clinical depression , it affects how you feel, think and behave and can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems. This may be due to your genes, behaviors you learn at home, or your environment. Often, it is a combination of these things. Symptoms must last at least two weeks for a diagnosis of depression. It may feature sadness, difficulty in thinking and concentration and a significant increase or decrease in appetite and time spent sleeping.

Mil sporadic depression is a relatively common phenomenon experienced by almost everyone at some time, but hospitalized patients are particularly susceptible to feelings of depression and a sense of loss and despair. Modified Mini-Mental State Examination. It is not yet clear whether treatment of depression when another illness is present can improve physical health. However, it is still important to seek treatment. It can make a difference in day-to-day life if you are coping with a chronic or long- term illness.

People with depression are at higher risk for other medical conditions. For some, this condition lingers for many years, and scientists now strive to understand how that might affect the brain, and how treatments. Mood disorders are biological illnesses that involve changes in brain chemistry.

During pregnancy, hormone changes can affect the chemicals in your brain, which are directly related to depression and anxiety. Long- term , it can also affect their body in ways that may be serious.

In this article, learn about the physical effects that doctors. But when these feelings of sadness and other symptoms make it hard for us to get through the day, and when the symptoms last for more than a couple of weeks in a row, we may have what is called clinical depression. The term clinical depression is usually used to distinguish the illness of depression from less difficult feelings of sadness. Proper diagnosis of geriatric depression can be difficult.

The first medical point of contact for older adults is typically their regular doctor. If they are in an assisted living facility, care. The medical model views mental health conditions in the same way as other physical illnesses, which means that such conditions can also be treated with medication. Biological explanations for depression focus on factors such as genetics, brain chemistry, hormones, and brain anatomy. Endocrine, neurologic, infectious, and malignant processes ( Table ) and vitamin deficiencies ( Table ) could be causing your patient’s depression.

MedTerms medical dictionary is the medical terminology for MedicineNet. Our doctors define difficult medical language in easy-to-understand explanations of over 10medical terms. MedTerms online medical dictionary provides quick access to hard-to-spell and often misspelled medical definitions through an extensive alphabetical listing.

These conditions are often worse when depression is present. Sometimes medications taken for these physical illnesses may cause side effects that contribute to depression. Chronic depression is defined as lasting at least two years. Psychotherapy and treatment with an antidepressant may achieve remission, though long- term maintenance use of medication may be needed to prevent relapse. is a scientific and medical writer. Medication treatment of anxiety is generally safe and effective and is often used in conjunction with therapy.

Medication may be a short- term or long- term treatment option, depending on severity of symptoms, other medical conditions, and other individual circumstances. Left untreate postpartum depression can last for months or years. The potential long- term complications are the same as in major depression.

Untreated postpartum depression may put you at risk of harming yourself or your baby. If you lose your job after returning from approved short- term disability, hire an employment lawyer. The most common type of antidepressants are known as SSRIs.