Ongoing depression likely causes long-term changes to the brain, especially in the hippocampus. That might be why depression is so hard to treat in some people. But researchers also found less gray matter volume in people who were diagnosed with lifelong major depressive disorder but hadn't had depression in years.
“This means that the brain structure of patients with serious clinical depression is not as fixed as we thought, and we can improve brain structure within a short time frame, around 6 weeks,” said Eric Ruhe, from Rabdoud Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands .
According to the Mayo Clinic, patients with untreated long-term depression are more prone to sleep disruptions, heart disease, weight gain or loss, weakened immune systems, and physical pain. Depression can result in an unhealthy cycle.
It can impair your attention and memory, as well as your information processing and decision-making skills. It can also lower your cognitive flexibility (the ability to adapt your goals and strategies to changing situations) and executive functioning (the ability to take all the steps to get something done).
We call them "cognitive distortions" - where cognitive distortions are essentially things which distort the language in your brain, your thoughts, your cognitions, and the way things are being processed. So, one example to recognise that depression is distorting things is when you start thinking in the "absolutes".
The results suggested a possible association of number and length of episodes with increased levels of emotional reliance and introversion, respectively. Conclusions: The findings suggest that self- reported personality traits do not change after a typical episode of major depression.
Research on brain function and structure after discontinuing antidepressants is an ongoing area of study. Some studies suggest that the brain may undergo a period of readjustment, during which neurotransmitter levels and receptor sensitivity gradually return to their pre-treatment state.
Depression may result from injury to the areas of the brain that control emotions. Changes in the levels of certain natural chemicals in the brain, called neurotransmitters, can cause depression.
Depression can mimic dementia, and appropriate treatment can reverse depression-related memory deficits. “Correcting these issues may help improve memory loss,” Dr. Parulekar says. On the other hand, memory loss resulting from brain disorders like Alzheimer's disease and dementia cannot be reversed.
People who are depressed are far more likely to have other chronic medical conditions, including cardiovascular disease, back problems, arthritis, diabetes, and high blood pressure, and to have worse outcomes. Untreated depression can even affect your immune response to some vaccines.
Persistent depressive disorder is a continuous, long-term form of depression. You may feel sad and empty, lose interest in daily activities and have trouble getting things done. You may also have low self-esteem, feel like a failure and feel hopeless.
This is called high-functioning depression, although it is also known by two other names: persistent depressive disorder (PDD) and dysthymic disorder. High-functioning depression produces low-grade depressive symptoms that can last for years, unlike episodes of major depression which tend to recede in 6-12 months.
Studies found that people who have suffered depression for over ten years experience 30% more cerebral inflammation compared to those who suffer from a shorter period of depression. Since cerebral inflammation kills neurons, it can lead to many complications.
A PET scan can compare brain activity during periods of depression (left) with normal brain activity (right).
Depression is a disorder of the brain. It is a serious mental illness that is more than just a feeling of being "down in the dumps" or "blue" for a few days. For more than 20 million people in the United States who have depression, the feelings persist and can interfere with everyday life.
Numerous studies that focused on gray and white matter have found significant brain region alterations in major depressive disorder patients, such as in the frontal lobe, hippocampus, temporal lobe, thalamus, striatum, and amygdala.
If Left Untreated, Anxiety Wreaks Havoc on Our Brains
Untreated anxiety can result in changes to the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. This impaired functioning may increase the risk of developing neuropsychiatric disorders such as depression and dementia.
If you've only been taking the med for a few weeks, you may be able to reduce it in about a month. Someone coming off antidepressants after 10 years, or a higher dose, might have to gradually reduce their dose for several months.
If You Do Have to Take Antidepressants Forever, You Will Be OK. Some recent studies suggest long-term antidepressant use may come with side effects previously unknown to scientists. “These risks include an increased risk of gastrointestinal bleeding, especially for SSRI users,” Dr.
For people with recurring depression, staying on medicine can reduce the risk of future episodes, but won't prevent them completely. For this reason and many others, the decision to take antidepressants for any amount of time is very personal.
In addition, being introverted is linked to spontaneously remembering more negative life events. Together, both personality traits — neuroticism and introversion — are linked to depression and anxiety. On the other hand, people with stable emotions who are more extraverted are at lower risk of depression and anxiety.
Depressive personality disorder is a personality disorder with depressive features, such as chronic sadness, low self-esteem, or pessimism. The depressive features are chronic and seem more like personality traits rather than depression that occurs in episodes.
“Neuroticism was an especially strong predictor of the particularly pernicious state of developing both anxiety and depressive disorders,” said Richard Zinbarg, lead author of the study and professor of psychology in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern.