Masked depression, or subdepressive state

Masked depression is a disease characterized by painful physical symptoms and signs indicative of somatic diseases( cardiovascular system, gastrointestinal- intestinal tract, respiratory system).

However, at the same time, clear organic manifestations that make it possible to attribute these signs to certain diseases are, as a rule, completely absent or hidden.

Depressive mood in this case is almost invisible to others and is felt only by the patient. The tendency to hide( mask) under the symptoms of internal diseases is the most characteristic feature of masked depression.

It should be noted that such masked subdepressive states are quite common and currently make up about 30-80% of all depressive disorders. The psychotherapist for such people often becomes the last instance after the latter have undergone a long period of examinations and treatments that have not yielded positive results.

And this is not at all the low qualification of doctors who do not have the opportunity to diagnose a patient complaining about, for example, pain in the heart or problems with the digestive tract, instrumental examinations of which have not shown any specific changes in the internal organs. Often, under the symptoms of physical ailments, the patient's mental problems, or more precisely, the masked, or hidden( bipolar, somatized) depression are hidden.

Symptoms and symptoms of masked depression ^

This type of depressive disorder can manifest itself in a variety of options. Its peculiarity is that it, as a rule, does not contain the main manifestations characteristic of the main types of depression: depression of mood, ideas of guilt, self-destruction, etc.

The leading symptoms in the clinical picture of masked depression are precisely somatic disorders such as:

• generalbad feeling;
• vegetovascular dystonia;
• difficulty breathing;
• increase in blood pressure;
• dizziness, migraine;
• cardioneurosis;
• irritable bowel syndrome;
• hyperventilation syndrome;
• itching;
• eating disorders( bulimia, anorexia);
• sexual dysfunction;
• painful syndromes of a diverse plan, etc.

A characteristic feature of latent depression is a change in somatic symptoms, in which a person appears to develop several diseases at once. Seasonality of exacerbations of "illnesses" and a certain fence of patients from the surrounding world are also noted. Often they, without receiving assistance from specialists of official medicine, begin to appeal to representatives of its alternative directions.

An indication that the existing symptoms of the disease are a manifestation of hidden masked depression is also the lack of results of clinical examinations confirming diseases of internal organs. All this can be established only after a series of diagnostic tests conducted by the attending physician-therapist.

And, finally, the most characteristic sign of latent depressive disorder is the lack of improvement in the condition of a person with prescribed treatment for suspected somatic diseases.

The correct diagnosis often helps to clarify the relationship of the disease with the resulting mental trauma - the death of a loved one, complex relationships in the family, at work, etc.

Treatment of masked depression ^

Two approaches are distinguished in the treatment of masked depression:

• psychological
• psychotherapeutic.

Since the basis of depressive disorders, according to modern research, is the inadequacy of the production of serotonin in the brain, involved in the transmission of nerve impulses in the body, modern methods of drug treatment of depression, based on the use of antidepressants, are often justified. These drugs are very effective and in most cases guarantee the rapid disappearance of somatic manifestations of the disease.

However, the most effective is the combination of drug treatment with psychotherapy, which allows to solve problems of external sources of depressive disorders - for example, the patient's relationship with colleagues at work or with close people.

In the arsenal of modern psychotherapist there are many directions and approaches that allow to provide psychological support to a person and resolve his external or internal conflicts. Psychotherapy easily solves many seemingly insoluble problems:

• helps to work out deep internal complexes,
• to reduce painful affective tension,
• to find alternative methods for solving the psychotraumatic situation.

Despite the fact that masked depression is difficult to diagnose, it is very treatable. It is important not to ignore your unstable psychological and physical condition, but to pay close attention to the body and get help from a qualified specialist in a timely manner.
We also recommend you to watch a video of the famous psychotherapist Elman Osmanov about symptoms and modern methods of depression treatment: