Over the weekend, it became known about the death of 53-year-old music producer Alexander Rudin. He was the husband of the singer Natalie.
Photo: Personal page of the hero of the post on the social network.
According to various sources, 20% of adolescents and young people experience symptoms of depression after covid. Adults: from 20 to 30%. The elderly (in some countries): one in two faces post-COVID depression, exacerbated by cognitive decline. According to family friends, the singer Natalie’s husband, found in the visor at the entrance to a high-rise building, could have committed suicide as a result of such a complication after prolonged covid – depression.
Does it have any specific features? We asked PhD, psychiatrist and psychotherapist Dmitry Petelin:
– We had a lot of people with the so-called post-covid depression, but I can’t say that they somehow stood out from the general picture: the same symptoms, the same manifestations. In general, depression is a highly diverse multifactorial disease. I would not associate its occurrence exclusively with covid. Plays a role and heredity and immune status and psychological factor. Therefore, it is difficult to say for whom depression will “trigger”: for those who suffered from covid with ease or difficulty, it is always necessary to look at the big picture as a whole.
– Specialists from the National Center for Medical Research. VM Bekhtereva believes that after COVID-19, patients experience symptoms characteristic of the so-called post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), that is, does covid really hit the psyche so seriously?
– Yes, there were such cases, but one cannot say that often.
Is post-COVID depression harder to treat than normal depression? There is a difference?
– No, it is not more difficult, but when treating depression, you should always select individual therapy: for someone, a course of drugs and a couple of sessions with a doctor will be enough, and someone will be treated for years. It is impossible to say that post-COVID depression is in any way very different. But it should be noted that covid in general disrupts neural connections in the brain, affects protein metabolism, and reduces serotonin production. Actually, the same thing happens with the development of ordinary depression. But the virus comes from outside, perhaps it is more terrible for a person, like any external enemy that he cannot cope with. Especially if a person has not previously encountered this disease. And it is more difficult for him to recognize it.
SYMPTOMS OF DEPRESSION
There are basic criteria for depression, which are indicated in the international classification of diseases. They are the same regardless of the nature of the disease: it is “post-covid” or completely normal.
* decreased mood;
* anhedonia – a decrease in the ability to receive joy, feel positive emotions, sometimes even their loss.
Of the additional symptoms (which may not be, or on the contrary, may be all at once):
* Alteration of circadian rhythms, that is, lack of sleep at night and feeling sleepy during the day.
* Decreased appetite or, conversely, overeating. Due to this fluctuation in body weight.
* Apathy – a feeling of lack of strength.
* Inhibition, indecision.
* Constant “chewing” of negative or disturbing thoughts in the head (rumination).
* Impaired concentration, forgetfulness.
* A pessimistic view of yourself, your achievements, the future.
TWO SIDES: THERE IS NO JOY AND WITH A SMILE IN THE “LOOPHOUSES”
– Now there’s a new term – high-functioning depression. That is, a person as a whole is as active as before, doing all the work, household chores, continuing to observe a healthy lifestyle. But he only has one symptom of depression: he stops experiencing joy, sports, work done, the success of his family. Everything is fine, but there is no joy.
– I would not call it a separate disease, but a subcategory, a kind of depression (and it has many faces). It is very good that now they are starting to talk about this, it is important, first of all, for the patient himself – to understand that something is wrong with him, to seek help.
– Does “smiling depression” belong to this category, where a person hides an abyss of despair behind a smile?
– This is also a special subcategory, which can be much more difficult to recognize. Smiling depression is made up of a person’s internal beliefs, some social framework and norms that a person is used to observing: “I am always in a good mood, I am always ready to help, all my difficulties are just my difficulties.” In this case, it is very important to notice the nuances in behavior, talk, ask, clarify. Very often, these patients do not seek help until the end. A person can get out of depression on their own (yes, this happens when depression goes away without taking pills, albeit for much longer), but the condition can come back. And any depression with each repetition becomes more difficult. There are even studies that long-term depression affects brain volume reduction. Consequently, all vital functions.
