The Christmas holidays for many are filled with joy and laughter; however, for many it’s a time of sadness and outright depression. Memories of deceased loved ones, past friends, unmet expectations and multiple life failures rear their ugly head during Christmas.
The weight of these memories can bring on the dreaded emotion “depression.” To better identify this depression syndrome, a few definitions are in order. These definitions are taken from my major reference text Up to Date and for simplicity’s sake are divided into two major groups: mood disorder and major depressive disorder.
Mood disorder, the less serious of the two, consists of feelings of sadness, despair, anxiety, emptiness, discouragement, hopelessness and fearfulness. By definition, mood disorder lasts less than two weeks and may be a normal response to loss or disappointment.
In contrast, major depressive disorder is two consecutive weeks or more of five of the following symptoms: depressed mood, insomnia or inability to sleep, change in appetite, psychomotor retardation or agitation, low energy, poor concentration, thoughts of guilt and recurrent thoughts about death or suicide. Major depressive disorder, in a nutshell, is being down in the dumps for at least two weeks with serious health symptoms.
Treatment for these two syndromes maybe as simple as talking with a trusted friend and daily walks to as complicated as psychiatric hospitalization. Discussion of treatment will be the topic in next week’s column.
Until then, I hope this column is for you and not about you.
Dr. Charlie Barnett is a contributor at KnoxTNToday for a weekly column, DocTalk, providing his expertise on health and wellness management.
