Depression after a stroke and possible causes of it. The article will highlight questions regarding the behavior of loved ones in case of a problem that is fraught with serious consequences. Post-stroke depression is a condition due to which a person can completely lose the taste for life, stop fighting for himself. The voiced problem occurs due to the fact that the patient is injured not only physically, but also emotionally. Based on the relevance of the sounded factor, it is worth understanding some aspects of its development.
What is post-stroke depression
Post-stroke depression (PID) is a common complication after such damage to the body and impaired blood circulation in the brain. More than a third of people who have suffered a stroke experience this mental pathology in the future. The development of this disease depends on many reasons, among which social and cognitive factors are leading.
Emotional disorder in the form of PID occurs after a stroke focus on neurotransmitters located in the brain. Further, due to the lack of emotion mediators in the form of norepinephrine and serotonin, post-stroke depression starts to start.
For some people, it is expressed exclusively in minor emotional instability, which is easily corrected. However, after the tragedy that happened to them, most of the victims are very acutely aware of all the manifestations of PID.
Causes of Post-Stroke Depression
As life practice shows, no problem arises out of the blue. After long-term research and observation, experts have identified the factors provoking the occurrence of post-stroke depression in the following way:
- An unstable emotional state in the past … There is a specific type of people who are already initially predisposed to being constantly under stress. Consequently, such a serious situation as a stroke, only exacerbates the emotional instability of the patient.
- Acute reaction to what happened … After partial or complete loss of professional and everyday skills, the likelihood of post-stroke depression increases. The patient develops a feeling of his own helplessness, which has an extremely negative effect on his psychological state.
- Severe consequences of a stroke … If the focus of the disease has covered the left side of the human body, then the likelihood of PID increases. In addition, it should be noted the localization of the center of the lesion in the optic tubercle and basal ganglia, which also leads to the likelihood of developing a stress state in the patient.
- Oxygen starvation of the brain … As already mentioned, the focus of a stroke has an extremely negative effect on the blood supply to this human organ. Consequently, the access of oxygen to the brain becomes problematic, which leads to a depressed emotional state.
- Lack of support from loved ones … The trouble is easier to endure only when there are loyal and attentive people nearby. In some cases, relatives perceive a family member after a stroke as a burden, which has an extremely negative effect on his psyche.
The listed causes of PID have both physical sources of education and emotional factors provoking the problem. In most cases, the onset of post-stroke depression is complex in nature, so you should not ignore the first warning bells, harbingers of impending disaster.
The main signs of post-stroke depression in humans
In this case, it is very difficult to give a clear definition of the current problem, because sometimes it has a rather hidden picture of pathological dynamics. However, according to some signs, you can easily identify a person who has post-stroke depression:
- Emotional instability … A similar violation is expressed in a person with a voiced problem in the form of a constant feeling of depression and unwillingness to perceive any pleasures of life. To this state is added a systematic premonition of impending disaster and general discomfort in the perception of reality.
- Behavioral changes … In post-stroke depression, deviation from the norm begins with a lack of initiative in the affected person with a pronounced unwillingness to further rehabilitation. As a result, the patient becomes irritable at times before the manifestation of aggression towards the close environment. It is expressed in motor restlessness, depending on the degree of damage to the body.
- Somatic deformities … Patients diagnosed with post-stroke depression quite often experience so-called “wandering” symptoms throughout the body, which cause pain. All this can be accompanied by asthenic syndrome and a feeling of discomfort in the chest due to lack of oxygen.
- The cognitive dissonance … Slow and difficult thinking is often the result of the voiced factor. At the same time, after a stroke, a person's concentration of attention decreases and a negative attitude towards society appears.
Features of the treatment of depression after a stroke
It is necessary to get rid of this condition unequivocally, because it has rather serious consequences. It is strictly forbidden to prescribe treatment based on the data of the Internet and the advice of friends, because we are talking about a serious psychological disorder.
Treatment of post-stroke depression with medications
At the first signs of the problem voiced, it is necessary to urgently consult a specialist. Treatment of post-stroke emotional disorders is challenging and may involve taking the following medications:
- Antidepressants … As already mentioned, the lesion focus negatively affects the accumulation of norepinephrine and serotonin in the victim's body. Therefore, it is necessary at all costs to make up for the lack of sounded substances. This will help drugs such as Cipramil, Sertraline and Paroxetine. These funds belong to the group of balanced antidepressants. Moclobemide, Fluoxetine and Nortriptyline will also be a salvation in the voiced problem. These drugs are classified as activating antidepressants. Mirtazapine, Fevarin and Agomelatine significantly reduce intellectual (cognitive) impairment after a stroke. They belong to the group of sedative antidepressants, and they should be taken exclusively as prescribed by a specialist.
- Atypical antipsychotics … Emotional disorder after a stroke is eradicated with the help of sounded drugs. A typical subset of these medications can cause Parkinsonian complications. As a result, the capabilities of the human motor apparatus are significantly limited. Quetiapine, Clozapine, Ziprasidone, Peritsiazine and Olanzapine can help solve the problem of post-stroke depression without any complications. The usual term for taking these drugs is 6 months.
- Psychostimulants … They can be prescribed by a doctor in combination with antidepressants. Social alertness, apathy and loss of interest in life are perfectly treated in this case with the help of Deoxinate, Ritalin, Focalin and Provigil. They must be used with great care and only as prescribed by a doctor, because they can cause mental dependence and even provoke stimulatory psychosis.
Treatment of depression after a stroke without medication
When treating post-stroke depression, medications can be dispensed with. To do this, you can use the techniques of psychotherapy, folk remedies, remedial gymnastics and massage. Consider the popular ways to help get rid of depression:
- Psychotherapy … It can be carried out both in groups and in personal contact with a specialist. This method of dealing with mental illness is definitely not a substitute for drug therapy. However, in the form of accompanying measures, when striving to find a life without stress, it will do just fine. The relatives and friends of the victim need to approach the choice of a specialist with great responsibility. He should have experience working with such patients who then found positive dynamics after sessions with a psychotherapist.
- Folk remedies … In addition to antidepressants, you can try to relieve stress after a stroke using recipes that have been proven for centuries. Angelica infusion has proven itself excellently, in which the roots are the most healing. Two tablespoons of crushed raw materials for 0.5 liters of boiling water must be insisted for an hour. Then you need to drink the resulting elixir of vigor every 6 hours (4 doses per day). Mint, lemon balm, cucumber herb, hops, chamomile and valerian root are also useful in the treatment of post-stroke depression at home.
- Patient massage … The natural way of toning the whole organism has always been a sounded remedy. Many rehabilitation centers offer their services under this plan. You can resort to the help of a massage therapist who will come to the patient's home. However, in this case, you must first inquire about the experience of the specialist and the recommendations available to him.
- Transcranial stimulation technique … Science does not stand still, so this progressive method of dealing with post-stroke depression began to be widely popular. The sounded procedure is that a weak current is directed to the victim's brain. Such manipulation irritates the motor cortex of the brain, triggering the patient's emotions in the future.
- Physiotherapy … The path of recovery from a stroke is never an easy and painless process. However, even at home, it is realistic to perform special exercises on a daily basis, which were advised by a specialist. As a result, the patient will have an incentive that will not allow starting the mechanism of the described mental illness.
Note! These methods of dealing with the disease after a stroke are quite simple and do not require significant material costs. However, in most cases, the use of antidepressants and antipsychotics is still indispensable.
Rules of conduct with a person with depression after a stroke
We present to your attention the recommendations for dealing with a person with post-stroke depression:
- Healthy microclimate in the family … Clarification of relationships in the circle of loved ones during this period is simply inappropriate, because it can only aggravate the post-stroke depression in the patient. It is necessary to bury the "hatchet of war" once and for all when there is an injured person in the family. If there is an urgent need to enter into a conflict with relatives, this should be done outside the home walls and not in the presence of the patient after a stroke.
- Behavior according to the scheme "you are not a burden" … Of course, both a stroke and a microstroke make significant adjustments to the life of the victim's family. He begins to painfully feel his limitations in many issues, while considering himself an inferior person. It is necessary to coordinate the life of the victim so that he can do things that are feasible and not burdensome for him.
- Organization of full-fledged communication … You cannot close yourself in four walls when a loved one has a stroke. There is no need to be afraid of visitors who want to communicate with the victim. Communication with familiar people will help to avoid the development of post-stroke depression.
- Maximum care … When organizing the life of a patient, it should be remembered that he was seriously injured both physically and mentally. A stroke is not the flu, in which it is enough to take antibiotics and stay in bed. Therefore, without going to extremes in the form of overprotectiveness, it is necessary to surround the victim with maximum attention.
How to get rid of post-stroke depression - watch the video:
Post-stroke depression is a factor that should alarm all family members of the victim. The close circle is able to get rid of the voiced problem if you make every effort to do so. You need to take care of your loved ones, because their psychological state after a stroke inflicted by fate can significantly complicate rehabilitation after a stroke.
