Dealing with depression after stroke

A new neurology study by King's College, London, says that women are twice as likely to suffer from depression after a stroke. Here are some tips to help you.

Editorial Team | Updated: January 29, 2019 2:59 pm

Dealing with depression after stroke? © Shutterstock

Depression affects women more than men after a stroke says a new study published in the European Journal of Neurology. According to lead author Dr Salma Ayis from the School of Population Health & Environmental Sciences at King’s College London, the reason for this could be that ‘women draw more of their sense of self and self-worth from their social relationships and so are more sensitive to challenges in maintaining these.’ As women live longer, they are more exposed to loneliness, poor physical health and loss of support, all of which could lead to depression after stroke.’ Here are some tips by Dr Prakriti Poddar, mental health expert, Managing Trustee of the Poddar Foundation and Director, Poddar Wellness Ltd.

The signs of depression
There is more to depression than just being sad or lonely. To identify whether you or someone else needs help, it is important to have a better understanding of the signs of depression.
• Feeling of futility or hopelessness. After a stroke, it is easy to lose perspective of life. In depression, feelings like worthlessness, self-hate, and inappropriate levels of guilt are common. The person loses interest in the things he/she loved and enjoyed doing and feels withdrawn from life.
• Anxiety. This includes nervousness, panic, feeling of danger, rapid breathing and fluttering of the heart, increased sweating, trembling muscles and troubled focus.
• Sleep problems and excessive tiredness. Different individuals experience sleep problems differently. Some experience insomnia and others feel excessive sleepiness.
• Weight changes. Depression causes people to either gain weight out of compulsive eating habits and inactivity or lose weight due to loss of appetite.
• Uncontrollable emotions. Excessive depression can result in an outburst of anger, followed by guilt and may be uncontrollable crying. There can be extreme mood swings as well.
• Suicidal tendencies. The feelings such as ‘no one understands’and ‘no one can help’are strongly felt by people with depression that leads to the futility of life and suicidal tendencies.
If you experience such feelings and challenges, you should definitely seek help. If you identify a person with such symptoms, you should take important measures like counselling, therapy, and practice deep breathing techniques to immediately calm your thoughts. Try to maintain personal care no matter how difficult it is and ensure reaching out to close family member or support groups. It is important that a psychologist or psychiatrists consulted for proper diagnosis and treatment. There are several groups which work to provide public mental health support and counselling.

Keeping yourself above depression requires you to maintain a healthy balance in life.
• Manage stress and boost your self-esteem. Find a stress buster whether by following a hobby, relaxing, entertainment, or learning a new skill-set. Remind yourself that anything you do is not the end of the world, and no matter how hard the time is right now, it will pass.
• Physical activity. Their importance cannot be stressed enough. Physical activity increases happy hormones such as dopamine, serotonin, and endorphins while decreasing the stress hormone cortisol. It also helps to push more oxygen in the circulatory system.
• Eat right, sleep well. The right diet is crucial to provide your brain and nervous system with adequate amounts of nutrients. In today’s fast-paced life, it is essential to rest the body and mind. Around 6 to 8 hours of sleep is advised, and maintaining sleep hygiene is important.
• Communicate and laugh. Holding on to your problems will not help. Others may or may not be able to provide solutions but just the action of offloading your heart will be relieving. Laughter helps as it relaxes the body, boosts the immune system, releases endorphins, burns calories, protects the heart by increasing blood flow, and reduces stress.
• Avoid addictions and monitor compulsions. Addictive products like alcohol can give you a high but can also plunge you to rock bottom. Monitor your compulsions to break healthy habits. Binge drinking, eating, and consumption of media is all harmful habits.

Published: January 29, 2019 2:57 pm | Updated:January 29, 2019 2:59 pm

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