Treatment
This type of depression has people having sleep problems which can be excessive or deprived. They show low energy or fatigue and they have low self-esteem, poor appetite or overeating, they find it hard to concentrate and make concrete decisions with a tinge of hopelessness. Usually, PDD is treated with the help of medication and psychotherapy.
Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder
Around 10% of women who belong to the childbearing age go through this thing called premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). This severe cases of PMS result in the triggering of depression, unhappiness, anxiety, or irritability with a few other extreme symptoms. This takes place within about 7 days from when a woman has her period.
A Struggle For Women
“It can be really uncomfortable, disabling, and interfere with a woman’s day-to-day life,” explains Dorothy Sit, MD, who is also an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences teaching at the Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. She reveals that this kind of depression as it affects only women is something all women must help spread awareness about.
Light Therapy
Scientists have claimed that the women who have an abnormal sensitivity to hormonal changes during their menstrual cycle cause this depression. Using antidepressants, a selective amount of serotonin reuptake inhibitors, before a month or 14 days of their period is advised by Dr. Sit says. Staff at the University of California San Diego are currently working on light therapy to treat women with PMDD.
Bipolar Depression
Extreme changes in the mood and energy that goes from ecstasy to self-loathing, are the key signs of bipolar depression which can also be called bipolar disorder or manic-depressive illness. To have this kind of depression, a person must have gone through at least one incident of mania. Bipolar disorder usually shows symptoms in young adults.
The Right Treatment
Even though women and men are diagnosed in equal numbers, researchers have pointed out the possibility of gender differences when it comes to bipolar depression. Men usually show a more manic behavior while women become very depressed. Bipolar tends to intensify if not treated but can be regulated using mood stabilizers, antipsychotic medicines, and talk therapy.