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Citation |
Zdanowicz A, Wierzbiński P. Psychiatr. Psychol. Klin. 2017; 17(2): 115-119. |
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Copyright |
(Copyright © 2017, Medical Communications) |
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DOI |
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PMID |
unavailable |
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Abstract |
Psychotic depression is a severe affective disorder often of heterogeneous and variable psychopathology. It is still debated whether it is a variation of depression, or should be considered as a separate disease entity because of its clinical course and psychopathology. Psychotic depression is characterised by feelings of guilt, a lack of daily mood swings, psychomotor slowing or agitation, often accompanied by a high level of cognitive disorders, anxiety, hopelessness, hypochondria and somatic complaints. Episodes of psychotic depression are longer, and are associated with significant impairment of the patient's functioning. It has been shown that approximately 30% of patients with psychotic symptoms will also suffer them in subsequent relapses. An extremely important issue is psychotic depression in women during the postpartum period, due to suicidal behaviour. Suicide is the leading cause of death for women within one year after childbirth. As many as 70% of women with a history of postpartum psychosis take away their life within that period. The sudden drop in the levels of estrogen and progesterone, which can adversely affect the pathways associated with mood regulation, has been suggested as the likely cause. Treatment of psychotic depression is associated with poor response to medication. Pharmacological treatment should combine the use of antidepressant and antipsychotic drugs, with their choice preceded by a careful assessment of a given patient's physical condition and dominant symptomatology as well as possible interactions with other drugs. Electroconvulsive therapy has been shown to be the most effective form of treatment in some clinical cases. © Medical Communications Sp. z o.o. Language: pl |
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Keywords |
Melancholic depression; Postpartum depression; Psychomotor agitation; Psychotic depression; Psychotic depression - treatment |