Depressive episode exhibits a wide range of symptoms like fatigue, apathy, low mood, lower energy, hopelessness, slower motor functions, and unhappiness. Today, we’ll discuss what is neurotic depression; its symptoms, causes, and treatment.
Depression is a very common mental illness that impacts roundabout 16 million US people annually. You can treat this condition with the help of a professional.
What is Neurotic Depression?
Neurotic depression is a rare and unique form of depression found among people with pre-existing unstable emotional issues. It seems as a depression with additional distress of ruminative loop (consistently thinking about the same thing over and over again) of anxious and negative thoughts. Such thoughts would impact a person’s experiences, processing of emotions, perception, and behavior. Often, it results in the form of disorientation, internalization, anxious avoidance, and general chaos.
Neurotic depression (ND) often happens among people that are already experiencing substance use disorder, neurosis, and personality disorder.
Interestingly, ND doesn’t fall under any of the subtypes and subcategories of depressions. The DSM-5 (diagnostic and statistical manual mental disorders, fifth edition) has not included ND under its categories. In fact, ICD-10 (international classification of diseases) has ND from its tenth edition.
They have replaced ND with major depressions and persistent depressive disorder, but there are some presentation differences versus neurotic depressions. Some complicated differentiations and overlapping with other mental conditions make it different to recognize the exact signs relevant to neurotic depression.
Symptoms of Neurotic Depression
The symptoms of neurotics depressions comprise of integration of neurotics behaviors and depressive episodes. It has got a lot of similarities and differences with melancholic depressions or non-neurotics depressions.
The symptoms of neurotics depressions are the same as the other forms of depressions like despair, hopelessness, and sadness. They would be different when the person is young and tend to attempt suicide, have delusional thinking, memory issues, and lower level of melancholia. People with neurotics depression would exhibit more symptoms of anxiousness and lower melancholic signs.
Melancholic Depressions versus Neurotic Depressions
- Instable life and experiencing issues with work, finances, and relationship
- Diagnosis of a substance use disorder, mood disorder, and personality disorder
- Maladaptive coping and emotional reactivity
- Higher suicidal ratio as compared to the non-neurotics counterparts
- Self-perception and general negative attitude
Neurotic Depressions Symptoms
It comprises the ruminative loop that could paralyze a person and stop their capabilities to employ solution-oriented thought processing and managing skills. Experiencing anxiety in the long term has got associated with depression and it could yield neurotic symptoms. Some of them are as follows;
- Identity issues
- General life dissatisfaction
- Lower self-esteem
- Experiencing life issues like sense of purpose, finances, and relationship
- Avoiding triggering stimuli
- Negative and lower mood
- Catastrophizing
- Blaming yourself or others
- A maladaptive coping mechanism like substance abuse
- Fixation of your mind on negative memories and experiences
- Rumination
- Higher emotional reactivity
- Internalization
- Suicidal thoughts and attempting suicide
- Anxiety and anxiousness
Causes of Neurotic Depression
Researchers don’t know the exact and precise causes for the development of neurotic depression. Many experts believe it happens due to bad circumstances of life and how you process and interpret your life experiences. People that have gone through adversity, and would have difficulty regulating their emotions and following the healthier coping mechanism. Resultantly, they would engage in such behaviors and thoughts that would cause instability, emotional deregulations, and chaos.
Diagnosis of Neurotic Depression
The diagnosis of neurotic depression is unique and has got associated with the processing of circumstances and life events. Various issues would impact your daily routine life like fixation of your mind on catastrophic and negative experiences, substance abuse, avoidance, and emotional reactivity.
Such symptoms also manifest themselves in the diagnosis of other mental conditions like high neuroticism, personality disorder, depression, and anxiety. That’s why it’s difficult to diagnose neurotics depressions. However, it’s because of these reasons experts have excluded and left out ND from DSM and ICM.
Treatment of Neurotic Depression
The treatment plan for neurotic depression comprises medication and therapy. They’re as follows;
Medication
Doctors have been prescribing trazodone and benzodiazepine since the 1970s for the effective treatment of neurotics depressions. A study in 1979 showed that medications are effective in reducing the symptoms of anxiety and depression along with the placebo group. Additionally, practicing yoga and exercises help you to lower the symptoms relevant to depression and neuroticism.
Therapy
Therapeutic treatment is the most effective approach for dealing with any type of mental health issue. The therapist would help you to recognize your triggering factors and teach you techniques on how to avoid them in healthier ways.
Conclusion: What is Neurotic Depression? Symptoms, Causes, Treatment
After an in-depth study of what is neurotic depression; its symptoms, causes, diagnosis, and treatment; we have realized that neurotics depressions could badly disturb your daily life activities. If you’re experiencing its symptoms, then you should consult with the doctor as soon as you can.
Ahsan is an accomplished researcher and has a deep insight in worldly life affairs. He goes Live 3 days a week on various social media platforms. Other than research writing, he’s a very interesting person.
