Depression

Depression causes relentless misery that endures for months or even years without treatment. The board-certified neurologists at Neurology Care’s offices in Waxahachie, Mesquite, and Mansfield, Texas, are experts in brain function who can help you recover from depression. Neurology Care specializes in depression medical treatment, which involves boosting neurotransmitter levels in your brain to reactivate its mood center. Call Neurology Care or book an appointment online today to benefit from specialized depression treatment. 

What is depression?

Depression (major depressive disorder) is a serious mental health condition that lowers your mood and affects your thinking. While everyone feels depressed after a bad day, these feelings soon pass. With depression, the negative feelings persist, and nothing you do improves your mood.

Common symptoms people experience with depression include:

• Continual overthinking
• Social withdrawal
• Difficulty sleeping or oversleeping
• Heightened sensitivity
• Irritability and impatience
• Appetite and weight changes
• Headaches
• Chronic fatigue

The feelings and thoughts experienced when suffering from depression can be overwhelming. You may feel self-loathing, extreme sadness, hopelessness, and shame. Anxiety — continual worry and fear — is also common in people with depression.

It may become so difficult to think clearly or find any motivation that you can no longer function normally. As depression worsens, people sometimes think about suicide. Depression leads to many deaths each year because the burden of living under its shadow becomes intolerable.

What causes depression?

There’s no simple cause for depression; it’s usually a combination of responsible factors, including genetics, environment, and stress. Common triggers for depression are: 

• Bereavement
• Job loss
• Relationship breakdown
• Traumatic experiences
• Pregnancy and childbirth
• Chronic illness
• Financial problems
• Moving home

Many people go through these experiences without getting depressed, but they can be a tipping point for someone vulnerable. However, it’s not uncommon to develop depression without any significant trigger.

What is common in people with depression is an imbalance of brain chemicals called neurotransmitters. These substances enable your brain’s neurons (nerve cells) to communicate with each other, which is vital for healthy brain function.

People with depression usually have low levels of dopamine and serotonin, neurotransmitters that help regulate their mood.

How is depression treated?

Medication is often vital when treating depression. Neurology Care doctors use their expertise in brain chemistry to help you find the most effective drugs.

Antidepressants have several forms, including selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), tricyclic antidepressants, and monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs). These drugs work differently, but all aim to improve your mood by addressing the brain’s chemical imbalances.

SSRIs, which help you retain serotonin in your brain, are usually the first medication Neurology Care prescribes to people with depression. There are different kinds, so if one doesn’t work, another might. Or you might find another class of antidepressants is more effective.

Call Neurology Care today or book an appointment online to learn more about depression treatment.