Bipolar manic depression In a clinical setting, a depressed mood can be something a patient reports (a symptom), or something a clinician observes (a sign), or both. The depressed mood is adaptive in that it leads the person towards altering his thought patterns and behavior or way of living or else continues until such a time as he does so. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) states that a depressed mood is often reported as being: "... Bipolar manic depression. Sometimes the depressed mood may relate more to internal processes or even be triggered by them. Vincent van Gogh, who himself suffered from depression and mitted suicide, painted this picture in 1890 of a man that can symbolize the desperation and hopelessness felt in depression. Laboratory tests can provide medical data for diseases such as diabetes and heart disease, but currently not for depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and other mental disorders. Meditation is increasingly seen as a useful treatment for some cases of depression. The current professional opinion on meditation is that it represents at least a plementary method of treating depression, a view that has been endorsed by the Mayo Clinic. Since the late 1990s, much research has been carried out to determine how meditation affects the brain (see the main article on meditation). Seasonal affective disorder may point to an atavistic link with behaviour in hibernation. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), also known as electroshock or electroshock therapy, uses short bursts of a controlled current of electricity (typically fixed at 0.9 ampere) into the brain to induce a brief, artificial seizure while the patient is under general anesthesia. Although a low mood or state of dejection that does not affect functioning is often colloquially referred to as depression, clinical depression is a clinical diagnosis and may be different from the everyday meaning of "being depressed". Meditation is increasingly seen as a useful treatment for some cases of depression. The current professional opinion on meditation is that it represents at least a plementary method of treating depression, a view that has been endorsed by the Mayo Clinic. Since the late 1990s, much research has been carried out to determine how meditation affects the brain (see the main article on meditation). Cognitive behaviour therapy has been demonstrated in carefully controlled studies to be among the foremost of the recent wave of methods which achieve more rapid and lasting results than traditional "talk therapy" analysis. A third treatment, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), may be used when chemical treatment fails. Depression of the central nervous system of an animal may be expressed as drowsiness or sleep, lack of coordination and unconsciousness. Cognitive behaviour therapy has been demonstrated in carefully controlled studies to be among the foremost of the recent wave of methods which achieve more rapid and lasting results than traditional "talk therapy" analysis. |