Areas of Specialization - Adults
Depressive Disorders
Depressive disorders are illnesses that impact one's body, thoughts and emotions. Depression affects a person's appetite, interferes with sleep and impairs ones ability to concentrate and make decisions. It changes the way people feel about themselves and how they views others, their future and the world around them.
While everyone tends to experience periods of sadness or irritability in reaction to stress and upsetting events, a depressive disorder does not disappear in a few hours or days. A depressive disorder is not a sign of personal weakness, a lack of motivation, or something that can be willed away. Depressive symptoms can last for weeks, months or years, and have a high likelihood of reoccurrence without appropriate treatment. The three most common types of depressive disorders are:
1. Major depression, which significantly interferes with the ability to work, study, sleep, eat, and enjoy once pleasurable activities;
2. Dysthymia, a less severe type of depression that tends to be chronic and keep one from functioning at an optimal level, frequently resulting in low self-esteem
3. Bipolar disorder, or manic-depression, that is characterized by mood changes cycling between extreme highs and lows.
Depression in Women
Women experience depression approximately twice as often as men. The increased rate of depression in women may be explained by hormonal factors such as menstrual cycle changes, pregnancy, miscarriage, postpartum period, pre-menopause, and menopause. Most women have additional stresses due to balancing multiple roles such as responsibilities both at work and home, single parenthood, and caring for children and aging parents. Read information on the group "Becoming Mothers… Staying Women".
Depression in Men
Men frequently conceal their depression with alcohol or drugs, or disguise their distress with the socially acceptable habit of working extremely long hours. Depression may be difficult to recognize in men as it's characteristic presentation is irritability, anger and apathy, instead of "expected" feelings of helplessness and sadness. Even if a man recognizes that he is depressed, he may be more reluctant than a woman to obtain help. Cognitive behavioral therapy can be particularly beneficial in treating depression as anger management skills target improving relationships both at work and home.
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