Dawn LaGrone MD
(972) 820-9681
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    • Depression
    • Bipolar Disorder
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Depression

Although the mood is often sad/depressed it does not have to be. Mood can be irritable, anxious or apathetic. Other symptoms often include:
  • Sleep disturbance (insomnia or sleeping too much)
  • Change in appetite and/or weight (loss of appetite but more commonly “stress eating”)
  • Impaired cognitive functioning (trouble concentrating, remembering and/or making decisions)
  • Change in energy level (fatigue or agitation)
  • Feeling overwhelmed and as if everything is harder than it should be
  • Loss of interest in normally enjoyable activities (avoiding people or situations or just “going through the motions”)
  • Low self-esteem
  • Excessive guilt
  • Hopelessness
  • Feeling helpless to change the situation or oneself
  • Pessimism
  • Thoughts of escape or death (suicidal thoughts or a wish something would happen to end the suffering)

Psychotic depression includes at least one of the following in addition to the above:
  • Hallucinations (seeing visions, hearing voices) 
  • Delusions (beliefs out of touch with reality such as paranoia—not simply excessive self-consciousness)

Treatment for Depression

Goal — Resolve the current episode and prevent (as much as possible) another from developing.

Steps
  1. Calm down the acute symptoms with nonaddictive antidepressant medication if indicated.
  2. Regulate hormonal status if needed.
  3. Assess the stressors—either those causing the symptoms or resulting from the depression (i.e. job loss, relationship disruptions, etc.)
  4. Teach ways to undo the current problems and/or symptoms and prevent their development in the future through helping the patient acquire new skills for managing emotions.
  5. Incorporate the four cornerstones of health into every day life (good diet, exercise, proper sleep, socialization)
  6. Develop a strategy for early identification of depressive symptoms in the future and preventative measures to be taken.

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