What does untreated depression turn into?

Untreated clinical depression is a serious problem. Untreated depression increases the chance of risky behaviors such as drug or alcohol addiction. It also can ruin relationships, cause problems at work, and make it difficult to overcome serious illnesses.

Does untreated depression change the brain over time?

Ongoing depression likely causes long-term changes to the brain, especially in the hippocampus. That might be why depression is so hard to treat in some people. But researchers also found less gray matter volume in people who were diagnosed with lifelong major depressive disorder but hadn't had depression in years.

What can major depression do to your body?

Depression often gets worse if it isn't treated, resulting in emotional, behavioral and health problems that affect every area of your life. Examples of complications associated with depression include: Excess weight or obesity, which can lead to heart disease and diabetes. Pain or physical illness.

How does untreated depression affect the brain?

Depression may cause the release of glucocorticoid in the brain, a type of steroid that can damage the hippocampus and other areas of the central nervous system. When this occurs, you may experience symptoms associated with neurocognitive disorder (dementia), such as memory loss.

Can depression permanently change you?

A depression not only makes a person feel sad and dejected – it can also damage the brain permanently, so the person has difficulties remembering and concentrating once the disease is over. Up to 20 percent of depression patients never make a full recovery.

What happens if people don't receive treatment for depression?

What type of depression is permanent?

Persistent depressive disorder is a continuous, long-term form of depression. You may feel sad and empty, lose interest in daily activities and have trouble getting things done. You may also have low self-esteem, feel like a failure and feel hopeless.

What depression does to the brain?

Depression causes the hippocampus to raise its cortisol levels, impeding the development of neurons in your brain. The shrinkage of brain circuits is closely connected to the reduction of the affected part's function. While other cerebral areas shrink due to high levels of cortisol, the amygdala enlarges.

What happens if mental health is left untreated?

Without treatment, the consequences of mental illness for the individual and society are staggering. Untreated mental health conditions can result in unnecessary disability, unemployment, substance abuse, homelessness, inappropriate incarceration, and suicide, and poor quality of life.

Can your brain go back to normal after depression?

And, since depression is often a long-term disease, people needs long-term treatments for it. “There are clear differences between a healthy brain and a depressed brain,” Dr. Katz says. “And the exciting thing is, when you treat that depression effectively, the brain goes back to looking like a healthy brain.”

Can untreated depression cause dementia?

A number of studies have suggested that there is a link between depression and dementia. It now appears that individuals with long histories of clinical depression (particularly depression that goes untreated) have a greater risk for developing dementia.

Can major depression be permanent?

Major depressive disorder isn't something that eventually “passes.” While most people feel sad at times in their lives, major depression is when a person is in a depressed mood most of the day, nearly every day, for at least two weeks.

What are the 5 effects of depression?

Depression doesn't just affect the mind; it also affects the body. Some of the physical effects include erratic sleep habits, loss of appetite (or increased appetite with atypical depression), constant fatigue, muscle aches, headaches, and back pain.

Can depression cause your body to shut down?

If you're depressed, it's harder to make good lifestyle choices. You may not sleep or eat well, you may not get much exercise, or you may drink, smoke, or use drugs. All of these factors can increase the risk of illness and poor health, which, in turn, makes a person more likely to die prematurely.

Does depression cause long term damage?

According to the Mayo Clinic, patients with untreated long-term depression are more prone to sleep disruptions, heart disease, weight gain or loss, weakened immune system, and physical pain.

Can you be depressed for 5 years?

In general, nearly everyone with depression has ongoing feelings of sadness, and may feel helpless, hopeless, and irritable. Without treatment, symptoms can last for many years. This condition is most often treated with medicine, therapy, or a combination of both.

Does depression affect intelligence?

However, there is also a lot of research that shows that depression actively leads to a detrimental development of the frontal lobe, ultimately affecting your intelligence and lowering your IQ because you're simply too depressed to think straight, or can't complete certain cognitive tasks anymore.

How to live without antidepressants?

What part of the brain shrinks with depression?

The hippocampus, an area of the brain responsible for memory and emotion, shrinks in people with recurrent and poorly treated depression, a global study has found.

What can ignoring mental health lead to?

How long can you have off with mental health?

As an employer, you must provide your staff with statutory sick pay (SSP). This is given to an employee who can't work due to their mental or physical health. Statutory sick pay is provided up to a maximum of 28 weeks.

How many years does mental illness take off your life?

According to the World Health Organization, people with severe mental health disorders have a 10–25-year reduction in life expectancy. Schizophrenia mortality rates are between 2 and 2.5 times those in the general population, while individuals with depression have a 1.8 times higher risk of premature mortality.

Is depression a chemical imbalance?

Research suggests that depression doesn't spring from simply having too much or too little of certain brain chemicals. Rather, there are many possible causes of depression, including faulty mood regulation by the brain, genetic vulnerability, and stressful life events.

What can trigger your depression?

Depression episodes can be triggered by factors such as stressful events, loss, illness, lifestyle habits, and substance use.

Can depression cause forgetfulness?

Can depression cause memory loss? The short answer is: yes. Research shows that there is a link between depression and memory loss, including confusion and forgetfulness. Symptoms of depression also make it challenging to focus and make good decisions.

What is the most serious form of depression?

Clinical depression is the more-severe form of depression, also known as major depression or major depressive disorder. It isn't the same as depression caused by a loss, such as the death of a loved one, or a medical condition, such as a thyroid disorder.