Major depression is officially called major depressive disorder. The treatment of these two disorders is significantly distinct. The difference does not lie on clinical presentation alone. The treatment of these two disorders is enormous.
Major depression is a primary psychiatric disorder characterized by the presence of either a depressed mood or lack of interest to do usual activities occurring on a daily basis for at least two weeks.
Other patients develop psychosis—hearing voices (hallucinations) or having false beliefs (delusions) that people are out to get them. Moreover, about 15% of depressed patients become suicidal and occasionally, homicidal. They become socially withdrawn and can’t go to work.
If manic depressive disorder is left untreated, patients get worse. Tearfulness or crying episodes and irritability are not uncommon. In addition, patients afflicted with this disorder also suffer from feelings of hopelessness and worthlessness. Just like other disorders, this illness has associated features such as impairment in energy, appetite, sleep, concentration, and desire to have sex.
The difference does not lie on clinical presentation alone. The treatment of these two disorders is enormous. The difference in understanding manic depression does not lie on clinical presentation alone. Because the difference between these two disorders is enormous. You know why?
Each time I encounter a chorus of questions like these, I am enthused to provide answers. “Is there any difference?” “Are they one and the same?” “Is the treatment the same?” And so on. Countless number of patients and their family members have asked me about manic depressive disorder and major depression.
The maniaco-depression is a primary education type of psychiatric disorder characterized by the presence of the principal depression (as described above) and the episodes of the mania which last during at least a week. When the mania is present, the patients show the opposite of signs of the clinical depression. During the episode, the patients show the euphorism significant or extreme irritability. Moreover, the patients become talkative and strong.
Moreover, this type of patients does not need much sleep. The night, they are very occupied phone calls of manufacture, cleaning the house, and launching new projects. In spite of the apparent lack of sleep, they are always very energetic in morning - loan to establish new efforts of businesses. Since they believe that they have special powers, they comprise in not very reasonable businesses of businesses and not very realistic personal projects.
Recently, new antipsychotics, for example risperidone, olanzapine, and quetiapine, have been shown to be effective for acute mania. While major depression needs antidepressant, manic-depression requires a mood stabilizer such as lithium and valproic acid. In fact the treatment of these disorders is completely different. This manic depressive disorder episode has treatment implications.
I know a manic patient who thinks that he is the presence of mania. Like depressed patients, manic patients develop delusions (false beliefs). One–night stands can happen resulting in marital conflict. They also become hypersexual — wanting to have sex several times a day.
In general, giving an antidepressant to manic–depressed patients can accomplish their action worse because this medication can accelerate a about-face to berserk episode. Although there are some exceptions to the aphorism (extreme depression, abridgement of acknowledgment to affection stabilizers, amid others), it is bigger to abstain antidepressants amid bipolar patients.
When because the use of antidepressant in a depressed bipolar patient, clinicians should amalgamate the medication with a affection balance and should use an antidepressant (e.g. bupropion) that has a low addiction to account a about-face to mania for effective manic depressive disorder treatment.
