Depression Treatment Center

What Are Depressive Disorders?

Depressive disorders, also known as depression disorders, are mental health mood-related conditions characterized by persistent sadness, hopelessness, and a lack of interest or pleasure in once enjoyable activities. 

These disorders can significantly impact a person’s thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and overall well-being. Most often, an individual who suffers from depression will experience deep sadness that interferes with normal, productive functioning. 

Someone suffering from depression likely has a reduced interest in once-enjoyable activities and might struggle to fulfill their daily obligations, like work or school tasks.

Depression Symptoms

Depression is a widespread mental health condition. Its symptoms can vary significantly from one individual to another, depending on the person’s unique experiences and circumstances.

Symptoms of depression often include the following:

• Feelings of unrelenting despair
• Declining or loss of interest in once-enjoyed activities
• Fatigue or loss of energy
• Poor self-image or persistent self-criticism
• Loss of concentration or inability to focus
• Changes in appetite that lead to weight gain or loss
• Irrational feelings of guilt
• Decline in efficiency or failure to complete tasks
• Irritability or moodiness
• Thoughts of self-harm or suicide
• Trouble committing to decisions
• Loss of memory

The above symptoms can cause significant lifestyle disruptions, such as job loss, failure at school, and loss of friends or intimate relationships.

If left unaddressed, depressive disorders can start to affect physical well-being. Poor eating habits can cause weight fluctuations that jeopardize cardiovascular health. Sleep disruptions can cause vulnerabilities to infection and make daily tasks—like driving—dangerous.

Causes of Depression

The precise cause of depressive disorders is unknown. However, people with a family history of depression are statistically more likely to experience symptoms. 

Outside of genetics, numerous factors exacerbate depression, many of them physiological, including:

• Chemical imbalance in the brain
• Hormone fluctuations
• Chronic health issues, especially long-term illnesses
• Drugs or alcohol misuse 
• Chronic stress
• Trauma
• Ongoing pain conditions
• Poor diet
• Sleep troubles, including insomnia 
• Loneliness
• Negative thinking, including anxiety and intrusive thoughts
• Environmental factors
• Medication side effects
• A sedentary lifestyle
• Unresolved grief

Types of Depressive Disorders

Our depression treatment center in Florida can identify and treat several types of depression, including the following:

• Major depressive disorder (MDD)
  MDD, also known as clinical depression, is marked by overwhelming despair, negative thoughts, sleep disorders, loss of focus, and lack of interest in activities that last more than two weeks.
  
• Persistent depressive disorder
  While less severe than major depressive disorder, persistent depressive disorder is a serious condition that causes feelings of emptiness, sadness, and irritation. Persistent depressive disorder often interferes with accomplishing tasks, concentrating, and sleeping restfully. While major depression and persistent depression can overlap, they are two distinct conditions.
• Premenstrual dysphoric disorder
  Premenstrual dysphoric disorder is a severe form of premenstrual syndrome that could be related to hormone fluctuations during the menstrual cycle. When the hormone changes cause severe serotonin deficiency, psychological symptoms like extreme fatigue, paranoia, sleep disruptions, despair, lack of impulse control, confusion, and uncontrolled crying may occur.

Major Depressive Disorder vs. Depression

The critical distinction between major depressive disorder and general depression lies in the clinical diagnosis and severity of symptoms. 

MDD is a severe and persistent form of depression. To receive an MDD diagnosis, an individual must meet specific criteria, including experiencing several depressive symptoms over a particular duration. These symptoms often include:

• A persistent low mood
• Complete loss of interest or pleasure in activities
• Changes in appetite or weight
• Severe sleep disturbances
• Fatigue
• Feelings of worthlessness or guilt
• Difficulty concentrating
• Active thoughts of death or suicide

MDD typically requires treatment, which may involve psychotherapy, medication, or a combination of both, to manage and alleviate its symptoms.

On the other hand, “depression” is a broader and more general term used in everyday language to describe a wide range of mood states and emotions. People might use “depression” to express unhappiness, sadness, or low spirits, but it doesn’t necessarily imply a formal clinical diagnosis of major depressive disorder.

Individuals can experience varying degrees of depression, from mild to severe, without meeting the specific criteria for MDD. While “depression” encompasses these feelings of sadness, it may not always require formal psychiatric intervention or treatment.

Do I Have Depression?

It is essential to understand that self-diagnosis should never be used as a replacement for a professional mental health diagnosis. 

If you experience depression symptoms regularly or struggle with depression due to a substance use disorder, we recommend a formal evaluation and diagnosis at our depression treatment center in Florida.

If you or a loved one are actively experiencing thoughts or actions of suicide, call 9-1-1 or the suicide and crisis lifeline at 9-8-8 now.

The Tie Between Substance Abuse, Alcohol, and Depression

Depressive disorders and substance misuse frequently coexist. People with unmanaged depression often turn to mood-altering substances to address debilitating symptoms. Over time, the corrosive effects of substance misuse intensify depression symptoms, causing a greater reliance on illicit substances.

Unfortunately, relief from substances is fleeting, and the consequences can be severe. Over time, using drugs or alcohol can make depression symptoms worse. It can lead to increased feelings of hopelessness, more anxiety, and a deeper sense of despair.

Ironically, the very substances that seemed like a solution can quickly become a problem of their own. People might use drugs or alcohol more often, chasing that elusive feeling of relief. This can lead to a dangerous cycle of addiction, where they feel trapped by both their depression and their substance use.

Breaking free from this cycle is challenging, but it is possible with the right support provided by a substance use and depressive disorder treatment center. 

If you’re living with unrelenting depression symptoms and a substance use disorder, your best choice may be drug, alcohol, and depression rehab.

Beach House: A Leading Inpatient Depression Treatment Center in Florida

You deserve to feel your best again.

Beach House provides personalized, dedicated mental health treatment in our beautiful, safe, campus-based facility in Florida. 

Our team of mental health clinicians, addiction specialists, and psychiatric providers offer decades of experience treating psychological disorders and co-occurring addiction, helping a diverse population of patients achieve freedom from addiction.

Please contact our experienced and compassionate admissions counselors for more information about our depression and substance abuse treatment programs.