Symptoms, causes and treatment of endogenous depression

Endogenous depression: what is it?

Many people are interested in: endogenous depression - what is it? This term refers to an emotional state that is provoked by a hormonal imbalance in the body and a violation of the level of neurotransmitters. This pathology is characterized by deterioration of mood, deterioration of motor activity, and inhibition of thinking.

The main manifestations of the disease include a feeling of depression, a feeling of loneliness, and a lack of positive emotions. People often experience lethargy and apathy, they move little, cannot remember new information, and have difficulty solving mental problems.

To determine the causes, symptoms and treatment of endogenous depression, you should consult a doctor. To diagnose a disease, a specialist conducts a clinical conversation, observes the patient, and prescribes psychological tests. The main method of treatment is the use of medications. Psychotherapy sessions are also conducted and biological treatment methods are used.

Folk remedies

You can cure yourself by using traditional recipes. Remedies proven over generations help normalize mood, tone the body and relieve lethargy. They should be used with caution, as some components can cause allergies and provoke chronic diseases.

Popular folk remedies:

1. Tea made from oregano and St. John's wort. Mix one spoon each of dried St. John's wort and oregano, pour a liter of boiling water and leave for 10 minutes. Take 3 glasses per day. You can add one spoon of honey. If necessary, the amount of water can be adjusted.
2. Valerian infusion. Grind the dried valerian roots, take one tablespoon and pour into 250 ml of boiling water, let it brew under the lid for at least 8 hours. Drink 50 ml 4 times a day.
3. Motherwort grass. Pour 300 ml of boiling water over one spoon of motherwort and leave for 2 hours in a closed container. Drink half a glass three times a day shortly before meals.
4. Passionflower. Pour a glass of boiling water over one spoon of dried passionflower and leave for at least 10 minutes. After filtering, you can start taking it. It is recommended to drink 50 ml before bedtime.
5. Melissa. Pour one spoon of lemon balm into 150 ml of boiling water and leave for 15 minutes to infuse. Take half a glass three times a day before meals, adding a little honey.

You can also prepare various decoctions from Chinese lemongrass, hop cones or chamomile. Carrot juice will be useful, but only freshly squeezed. Additionally, you can take a bath by throwing a myrtle plant into it.

Types of depression

Doctors distinguish 2 main types of depression - psychogenic and endogenous. They have certain differences. Psychogenic depression is the most common. It is also often called exogenous or reactive.

This term refers to the reaction of the psyche to negative external factors. These include constant stress, difficult situations, serious illnesses, loss of loved ones, and sudden deterioration in financial situation.

Endogenous depression is a type of emotional state that is caused by internal reasons. This form of the disease accounts for only 5–7% of all cases of depressive conditions. The reasons for its appearance have not been precisely established. However, many scientists are confident that the development of pathology is based on a hereditary predisposition.

Doctors say that there is a certain set of genes that are responsible for a person’s high susceptibility to any stress factors. Such people have difficulty coping with even minor problems.

Diagnosis and treatment of depression

Diagnostics is performed in a specialized medical institution by a psychiatrist. To make a diagnosis, additional information may be required, in particular, interviewing people who are in regular contact with the patient. The disease is treated with drug therapy. Antidepressants for endogenous depression and other groups of drugs are prescribed individually, depending on the course of the disease.

In modern psychiatry, complex treatment methods are very popular. In addition to antidepressants, the patient must regularly take mood stabilizers. This group of medications can improve the patient’s mood and prevent the development of secondary symptoms.

Before starting treatment, the specialist must identify the cause of depression. The work of psychologists with the patient during the treatment process will improve the patient’s personal assessment and identify the cause of the disorder.

Recovery does not happen immediately. In the first few weeks after starting antidepressants, there is a gradual decrease in depression and anxiety. Mental retardation subsides 16-20 days after starting medication. Suicide attempts, delusional ideas and hallucinations can persist for 4-5 weeks.

Antidepressants are taken throughout the entire treatment course. Stopping treatment on your own will worsen the patient's condition.

Causes

The development of this disease is based on endogenous factors. These are physiological characteristics that are determined by the type of nervous activity, the functioning of the immune system, the state of the endocrine system, and genetic characteristics. Also, the causes of endogenous depression are due to severe somatic pathologies and the influence of harmful factors on the body.

The key causes of pathology include the following:

1. Hereditary predisposition. Features of the production of bioamines are transmitted at the gene level. There is evidence that people whose relatives have this disease more often suffer from endogenous depression.
2. Pathologies of the endocrine system. A deficiency of dopamine and serotonin results in people being unable to experience joy in everyday life. People with hormonal imbalance often experience depression, weakness, and apathy.
3. Nervous system lesions. Problems in the emotional sphere are associated with an imbalance in the transmission of impulses. Symptoms of depression are the result of neurological pathologies that arise in the perinatal period or early childhood.
4. Character accents. Provoking factors for the appearance of endogenous depression include the peculiarities of response to difficult life situations. The disease is caused by pedantry, increased anxiety, and uncertainty. Also at risk are people with a heightened sense of responsibility and suspiciousness.

Symptoms of the disease

Signs of endogenous depression are considered Kremelin's triad. Severe symptoms of the disease are characterized by depression, slow thinking and tremor. The main signs of the development of the disorder include:

1. Pathological melancholy. This type of vital character is accompanied by pain in the head, chest and cervical region.
2. Reduced idiomatic thinking. The thought process cannot be accelerated, the patient is unable to make decisions even in emergency situations.
3. Mimic-motor retardation. The face of a person suffering from depression becomes like a mask. The patient may fall into numbness or stupor, feel extreme despair, which leads to suicide attempts.
4. Anhedonia and depersonalization. In this state, the patient sees the world around him exclusively in black. For such patients, time passes more slowly, emotions are absent, and the person is indifferent to everything.

The manifestation of symptoms of a mental disorder in women is accompanied by a feeling of worthlessness. This happens because a woman’s emotional background is more unstable than a man’s. Delusional ideas or paranoia, panic attacks and hallucinations may occur. Defensive reactions to external danger are reduced.

Symptoms of endogenous depression

To understand what endogenous depression is, it is recommended to familiarize yourself with the symptoms of the disease. It can be difficult to detect the first manifestations. This pathology is often hidden behind a bad mood, fatigue, laziness or psychological problems.

With endogenous depression, symptoms of depression, worsening mood, and lethargy occur. To make an accurate diagnosis, you should pay attention to the following manifestations:

1. Periodic attacks of bad mood. They arise for no apparent reason. Sometimes the symptoms of endogenous depression weaken, but after a short period of time they appear again. Moreover, they have an even more pronounced character. Mood often worsens in spring and autumn. Depending on how busy your day is, symptoms may occur in the morning or throughout the day. By evening the manifestations pass, but at night they can return again.
2. Retardation of movements and psyche. A person faces a deterioration in concentration, difficulties with thought processes, and slower perception. People with this diagnosis find it difficult to concentrate on a specific goal. They may not hear or notice those around them.
3. Increased fatigue. It is present even if a person does nothing. Fatigue is associated with a reluctance to perform certain actions.
4. Self-accusation of sins, shortcomings, character flaws. Pessimism accompanies people with this diagnosis everywhere, even in their dreams. At night, a person remains anxious.
5. Insomnia. People with this problem take a long time to fall asleep, but wake up after a few hours. The patient has difficulty falling asleep. People with depression often toss and turn until the morning.
6. Loss of appetite. The person eats little or refuses food completely. This causes severe weight loss, hungry fainting, and digestive problems. People with this diagnosis often experience the development of gastritis.
7. Symptoms of pain. There is no physical pain with this diagnosis. However, people complain of other symptoms of pain. With endogenous depression, melancholy, increased anxiety, and constant thoughts of suicide often occur. The prolonged presence of the pathology provokes aching pain in bone tissue, joints and muscles.
8. Decreased self-esteem, development of self-doubt. These symptoms are very dangerous for those people who live alone and do not have support from loved ones. Thoughts of suicide prompt a person to end his life, but he does not follow through. Death is a difficult step that people who are weak in spirit cannot take.

If you analyze the life of a person with such a diagnosis, you can see a gloomy and empty picture. Depressed people can lie in bed all day and experience no desires. This is not due to laziness, but to a lack of interest.

Joy hormones are not synthesized in the brains of such people. Therefore, they experience only suffering. Thoughts of suicide can lead to attempts to end one's life. However, this disease leads to death only in the most difficult cases.

It is important that people suffering from endogenous depression are not alone. Such patients have difficulty opening up to dialogue, they are completely immersed in their anxieties, and are constantly in the same position. It often seems to others that a person is disconnected from life.

The endogenous form of depression is not a mental disorder, but to a certain extent the diseases are similar. If a person is able to carry on a conversation, then the main topics are a feeling of heaviness in the soul, a depressed state, and uselessness. The longer the patient is in this condition, the more the prognosis worsens. When endogenous depression develops, symptoms and treatment should be reviewed by a doctor.

Treatment

After the final diagnosis is made, the patient is selected the most effective and safe treatment for him. The course of therapy usually takes a huge amount of time and can be repeated many times. The standard treatment for such depression includes taking medications. If they do not help, then the doctor prescribes similar medications that may be more effective.

How to treat endogenous depression:

1. Antidepressants (“Amitriptyline”, “Pirlindol”, “Sertraline”). They normalize the production of hormones, improve general condition and relieve symptoms.
2. Vitamin complexes (any with lithium). Stabilizes mood and suppresses negative emotions.
3. Anticonvulsants (Clonazepam, Valproic acid). Reduce the likelihood of nervous breakdowns.
4. Antioxylytics (Lorazepam). Suppresses anxiety and relieves unreasonable fears.
5. Homeopathy (Vita Mag, Vita Iperico). Normalize the condition, reduce the severity of symptoms.

In addition to medications, psychotherapy is prescribed. It is selected individually, taking into account all the characteristics of the patient. Usually, programs are chosen that will be most effective and will not lead to negative consequences.

Psychotherapy options:

• psychodynamics - correction of the condition through self-analysis; after classes with a doctor, the patient will be able to use the technique independently;
• cognitive – normalization of the patient’s ideas about others, restoration of self-control, increased sociality;
• existential – increasing the patient’s self-esteem, searching for life goals and values, restoring aspirations;
• interpersonal – the return of lost social skills, assistance in adaptation and communication with others.

Diagnostic methods

A doctor must determine what endogenous depression is and the symptoms of pathology. If the presence of an illness is suspected, the examination is carried out by a psychiatrist or clinical psychologist.

The main tasks of diagnosis include identifying genetic predisposition and characteristic manifestations of the disorder. It is also necessary to differentiate the endogenous form of pathology from the psychogenic one.

Additionally, consultations with specialized specialists – an endocrinologist, a neurologist, a therapist – may be required. They help identify diseases that can provoke depression.

Specific diagnostic tests include the following:

1. Conversation. The doctor must analyze the history and clinical picture of the pathology. He pays special attention to the presence of traumatic factors, the duration of depression, and the dependence of the appearance of signs of the disorder on the seasonal factor and time of day. In difficult situations, the conversation is carried out in the presence of a relative. It helps complete the information.
2. Observation. Specialists assess a person’s behavior and emotional reactions. This disease is characterized by apathy, lethargy, and slowness. People with this diagnosis have a so-called pained expression on their face. The pathology is characterized by a decrease in the motivational-volitional component. This manifests itself in a lack of initiative and instability of contact. To maintain a conversation, the patient requires external stimulation - encouragement or requests, repeated repetition of questions.
3. Questionnaires. Complex techniques can be used for diagnostic purposes. An excellent option is the Standardized Multifactor Personality Research Method. Narrowly focused tests are also often used. These include the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and the Hamilton Scale. Such procedures help determine the severity of depression, the persistence of symptoms, and the threat of suicide.

If there is a suspicion of the presence of a disease, laboratory tests are carried out. They should include an assessment of hormone levels, hemoglobin parameters and other indicators. This helps to establish the causes of the violation.

Diagnostics

Endogenous and exogenous depression are very similar. They have identical symptoms, but their difference lies in their origin. The first occurs without the influence of any external factors, and the second develops as a result of a person experiencing serious stress or psychological blow. Both variants of the disease differ slightly in the type of treatment, which is why it is very important to separate them. The differential diagnosis is made by the psychotherapist treating the patient. To do this, he conducts a survey, investigates various root causes of the disease, and also prescribes a number of examinations.

Diagnostics includes several stages:

• hormone research;
• Zang scale;
• Balashova test;
• study of the psyche according to the Beck scale;
• additional tests.

Consultations with other specialists are also sometimes prescribed. This may be necessary to assess general health, find the root cause of depression and identify chronic pathologies.

Incorrect diagnosis and prescription of medications for another type of mental disorder can lead to worsening of the condition.

Treatment methods

Many people are interested in whether endogenous depression is treatable or not. The violation is based on internal causes. Therefore, assistance to the patient is aimed at increasing the activity of neurotransmitters. During therapy, it is imperative to correct destructive ideas and treat associated pathologies. Treatment of endogenous depression should be comprehensive.

Drug therapy

Medicines are selected individually. It is recommended to use antidepressants that help reduce motor and intellectual inhibition. They also help cope with depression, suicidal tendencies, and delusional thoughts.

An additional method of therapy is the use of mood stabilizers. The treatment regimen includes 2 months of monotherapy, which is carried out under the strict supervision of a physician. Then, treatment is carried out for six months to consolidate the results obtained. After which remission is formed for 1 year.

Psychotherapy

In addition to drug treatment of endogenous depression, individual psychotherapy sessions and group trainings are conducted. This therapy is indicated at the stage of improving health.

With the help of psychotherapeutic techniques, it is possible to quickly cope with negative emotions, obtain effective strategies for neutralizing stress factors, and adjust values ​​in order to achieve flexible psychological adaptation.

To master the methods of positive psychology, you should watch the video of psychologist Nikita Valerievich Baturin:

Biological correction

Phototherapy is often used to combat pathology. It involves treatment with light that exactly replicates the characteristics of solar radiation. Thanks to this, it is possible to activate the synthesis of serotonin and endorphins.

Another way to change a person’s condition is sleep deprivation. This method consists of purposefully creating a stressful situation, which causes increased production of catecholamines and normalization of emotional tone.

Complications

The patient believes that no one needs him, he is overcome by sadness, and he completely lacks the desires that a healthy person might have. The condition gradually worsens, and all symptoms become more pronounced. This leads to even greater sadness of the person, which creates new difficulties for relatives. Social adaptation will become almost impossible for him.

In some cases, the disease can cause progression of existing pathologies. They will require additional treatment, which is not always possible, as it may be incompatible with anti-depression medications. Sometimes other mental disorders also develop. Psychiatry should pay special attention to this during treatment.

The main problem for everyone who is faced with endogenous depression is suicidal tendencies. The patient thinks about it regularly. This is especially common among those who suffer from severe illness. Therefore, relatives have to constantly monitor that the patient does not do anything dangerous to himself. Often, depression itself deprives you of this opportunity, since inhibition and lack of strength force you to abandon the idea.

Forecast

Endogenous depression is a complex disease that requires long-term treatment. Quite often, patients are prescribed antidepressants for several years, and then are prescribed maintenance therapy for a long time. This approach allows you to avoid relapses in the future.

In general, the prognosis depends on the severity of depression. Unfortunately, if the cause of the disease is a lack of serotonin and other mood hormones, some time after stopping the drugs, a relapse of the disease is possible, as the biochemical processes in the brain and nervous system return to their original state.

To avoid relapses and the disease becoming chronic, you should consult a doctor when the first signs of depression appear and begin treatment.

Features of the disease

If you notice the first symptoms of endogenous depression, you need to consult a specialist as soon as possible

The word “endogenous” describes the internal causes of the development of a particular disease. Endogenous depression occurs spontaneously, and at first glance has no objective causes or provoking factors.

Unlike other types of depressive disorder, endogenous depression is characterized by a protracted or chronic course, with periodic exacerbations. In this case, exacerbation occurs spontaneously, and not under the influence of any traumatic factors.

Due to the nature of its course, endogenous depression is difficult to treat. Having discovered the first alarming symptoms, you should consult a doctor as soon as possible, but do not try to treat yourself. Severe endogenous depression in its advanced form is a dangerous mental disorder that can lead to disability and social isolation.

Reference. In ICD-10 there is no separate diagnosis of endogenous depression. This disease is designated by code F33.2 - recurrent depressive disorder.

At the same time, many doctors consider the term “endogenous depression” not entirely correct. The fact is that recent studies have shown that depression is caused by a number of factors, and the set of triggers is individual for each person. Thus, some doctors oppose the division of depression into endogenous (caused by internal causes) and psychogenic (caused by traumatic events), proposing to combine these two concepts.