Demystifying the DSM: Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)

Dr. B here with our series on Demystifying the DSM. Today I'm going to talk about Major Depressive Disorder and it's kind of ironic to only be doing a 5-minute video on what is the most prevalent diagnosis that we see in our clinic. So many people are struggling with depressive symptoms, and so I want to really help our listeners differentiate the depressive symptoms in Major Depressive Disorder. We all experience symptoms of depression, of extreme sadness, and we often use depression as an adjective on how you feel, like, I feel depressed. If you follow my story, you know that I'm personally grieving the loss of my daughter recently and I have moments where I am depressed. I have not recently met criteria for Major Depressive Disorder. What I want to do here is help distinguish when you meet criteria for Major Depressive Disorder, that there is treatment, and oftentimes people will say, well, I don't want to take medication, I don't necessarily need it. Some of the previous disorders that we've talked about in this series probably need medication, right? There's a biochemical problem in schizophrenia. There's a biochemical problem in bipolar, one that really needs to be addressed from a chemical standpoint. There's also a biochemical component, and some people are predisposed to that and have it come without stress. But then there is this threshold that we can all get to, that puts us to the point where our neurotransmitters are not functioning well enough, right? So, it's okay to, even if you don't have this predisposition, even if you feel like maybe your depression is not bad enough, to need medication. Just think, what if there was something that would help you to be able to choose happiness more often and to get out of bed on a Saturday and do something fun, right? So, there is a strong cognitive behavioral therapy component to treating depression. It's okay to also take medication when you get to the point of meeting criteria for Major Depressive Disorder. I do want you to consider taking medication. Some of the symptoms: depressed mood most days or nearly every day. A market diminished interest in things that typically were pleasurable for you. Any significant weight loss, insomnia or hypersomnia like sleeping too much. Feeling agitated or excessively fatigued. Feelings of worthlessness, hopelessness, helplessness. If you have five or more of those symptoms please consider medication treatment, or at least getting an evaluation for that. So, those are some of the symptoms for Major Depressive Disorder, and one of the things that we talk about as well is that point of feeling like you want to hurt yourself or even kill yourself, feeling suicidal. If you are at that point, if you feel like hurting yourself, if you're cutting yourself, burning yourself. Doing some other kind of self-mutilation or you feel like you want to die. That is the point that is non-negotiable for me. You must consider medication. Your neurotransmitters are too low, and you need to bring those up. That is specifically major depressive disorder and the how we treat it as Mentally STRONG is you'll come in and get a full psychiatric assessment. We would set you up with a counselor that would do the Mentally STRONG Method. If we change the way we think, we can change our choices. Sometimes that depression is coming from this negative internal dialogue, the way that you're talking to yourself, and we're going to help you reframe that and find those positives so that you can make the choice to go out for a walk on a sunny day, or you can make the choice to exercise, which would naturally bring up those neurotransmitters, right? Find that balance, but if you meet criteria for Major Depressive Disorder, please get an evaluation and get some treatment. You deserve to be happy.
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Dr. Cristi Bundukamara, Ed.D, PMHNP-BC --- A Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner and a Doctor of Healthcare Education has experienced unimaginable trials that h