Depression is a mental health disorder that affects about 17.3 million adults in the United States each year. Although people with depression experience emotional and cognitive issues, they may also struggle with physical symptoms.
At Klarity Clinic, our skilled medical team provides innovative solutions for treatment-resistant depression that doesn’t respond to traditional medications. We offer ketamine infusion therapy to quickly relieve the mental and physical issues depression causes, so you can enjoy a higher quality of life.
Depression is a mental disorder that causes persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness that lasts for more than two weeks. Symptoms of depression can vary in severity from person-to-person. They may go away for a period of time and come back or remain persistent for months or longer.
The root cause of depression involves an imbalance of chemicals in your brain that affect how you think, feel, act, and make decisions. Imbalances in body-regulating hormones can also trigger depression symptoms.
These imbalances can be the result of:
People of any age can develop depression, even if their circumstances are positive and they are in good physical health.
The physical symptoms of depression originate from activity in your brain and neurotransmitter levels. Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers that tell your body what to do. When these levels are low, they can lead to both psychological and physical symptoms.
Psychological symptoms of depression are commonly known and include sadness, guilt, hopelessness, and worthlessness. People with depression may also experience physical symptoms that are less understood.
Here are four physical symptoms linked to depression:
A persistent lack of energy is common in those with depression. This may be caused by dysfunction in certain neurotransmitters in your brain, including dopamine.
Your appetite is regulated by hormones that stimulate hunger sensations. With depression, you may experience appetite changes like increased hunger or a reduction in your appetite.
Brain function can disrupt REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, an early sleep stage that plays a role in mood, memory, and learning. In people with depression, ongoing brain activity can keep you in an awake state, which prevents you from reaching or staying in REM sleep.
The link between chronic pain and depression may be because of shared neurological pathways in the brain. Your body produces chemicals like serotonin in response to pain. These chemicals also affect your mood, so imbalances in brain chemicals can increase your risk for physical pain during depressive episodes.
Traditionally, a combination of antidepressants and psychological counseling is an effective way to manage depression in the long term. However, some people with depression don’t respond well to these therapies.
Our Klarity Clinic physicians specialize in ketamine infusion therapy that works directly on the brain to boost neurotransmitter levels. Treatment can also stimulate the growth of new neural pathways that support quick and lasting relief of depression symptoms.
Ketamine therapy can also be a beneficial treatment option if you can’t find relief of chronic pain from depression or other chronic diseases.
Call the Klarity Clinic office near you to schedule a depression evaluation, or book an appointment online today.
