Major depression, often known as dysthymic disorder, has a subtype known as atypical depression. People who suffer from atypical depression tend to have increased hunger or excessive weight gain, drowsiness or excessive sleeping, exhaustion or weakness, and mood swings that are strongly influenced by environmental conditions.  

What is Atypical Depression: Detailed explanation

The symptoms of this depression are unlike those of melancholic depression, which are primarily characterized by sadness regardless of hope or good fortune. By contrast, atypical depression occurs when circumstances change, resulting in an improvement in mood. In other words, if something good occurs, a person’s mood can get better. Although this mood improvement lasts for a limited period of time, it is temporary.

A mental illness which is known as major depressive disorder (MDD) can have an impact on a person’s thoughts, feelings, and actions. They don’t find their life worth living and start staying in isolation. MDD patients frequently lose interest in the things they normally love doing and struggle to complete routine duties.

When a person suffers from atypical depressive disorder, the disorder does not show the same symptoms as “typical” depression. There is one important exception to the symptoms of atypical depression that differs from those of major depressive disorder (MDD) which is called “mood reactivity.”

Depression is often identified when a person is a teenager. Studies have shown that this mental ailment is basically referred to as MDD along with atypical features.

Atypical depression: how serious is it?

People suffering from any sort of mood disorder usually feel stuck and traumatized. Their mental health gets worse with time. one never knows when this can hit him/her. In our daily life, we usually get affected by numerous events occurring that affect us negatively and no matter how hard we try to escape those conditions, eventually we get trapped by them.

Atypical depression, on the other hand, is a bit different type of depression where there are chances of a person feeling better in a few circumstances. When something positive happens to him/her, then, at least for a small period of time, they feel better. There are possibilities of one getting improved mental conditions. The fact is people around them need to understand them and support them. Consequently, which is not in our hands.

An explanation of atypical depression in adolescence

While compared to that major depressive disorder, this mood disorder is more chronic. Additionally, it triggers a person at a young age (teenagers get affected.) Individuals who are younger may display atypical features, while older ones may experience episodes that are more melancholic.

An overview of how common Atypical Depression is

It is estimated that there are millions of people are suffering from depression around the world. While atypical depression may sound uncommon, it actually affects 18 to 36% of people suffering from depression according to the data from the studies.

Women are two to three times more prone to experience atypical mood disorder than men. Atypical depression differs from typical depression, it typically starts earlier in life—in the adolescent or early 20s—and lasts longer. It sometimes turns into a chronic disorder.

Signs and Symptoms: How do you identify an atypical depression?

There are several core symptoms of depression that are experienced by people with atypical depression, including:

1. Feeling down

There is no doubt that depression is a serious mental illness that can have an adverse effect on a person’s life. Long-lasting, severe depression can cause feelings of hopelessness, and sadness. Mood disorders badly affect an individual’s routine and his/her way of living.

2. Alterations in appetite

A person suffering from any type of mood ailment often finds it difficult to maintain healthy eating habits. It is not uncommon for people to overeat in order to improve their mood. As a result, they gain weight by turning to food for comfort. 

On the contrary, the fatigue of some people prevents them from preparing balanced meals, or in some cases, their appetite has disappeared. They don’t cook healthy meals, which eventually leads them to poor appetites.

3. Sleeping problems

Mood disorder is often associated with sleep disturbances (which is termed as insomnia.) Almost every person who is experiencing a depressive episode is known to struggle with a sleep disorder. These people usually report that even after getting tired due to all-day activities they find it hard to sleep and cannot sleep the whole night. 

Whereas, in the case of atypical depression, the opposite is the condition. People reportedly have an excessive amount of sleep (hypersomnia). Perhaps they feel disconnected from the world, and they are disinterested in living.

4. Feeling agitated

An agitated state is characterized by tension and restlessness inside the body. In a tense state, it is normal for a human being to feel agitated. 

In such a situation, a person might become annoyed easily even on small matters. Sometimes, he/she feels like moving around a lot. Additionally, there is nothing abnormal about this emotion. 

Additionally, when a person goes through a lot of stress, the possibility to experience intense anxiety gets higher. This can also be caused by drug intake.

5. Experiencing fatigue

In addition to grief and depression, fatigue is the most common symptom which is associated with mental health issues. In addition to this, lack of motivation and feelings of irritability can also be symptoms, which can be noticed in a person dealing with depression fatigue. 

Chronic fatigue is believed to be caused by sleep disorders, lack of the required amount of nutrients in the person’s body, and intense feelings of sadness and stress.

Moreover, there is a common link between fatigue and depression. It is believed by researchers that when there is an imbalance of neurotransmitters happening in the brain, it triggers the condition of heavy stress resulting in restlessness. 

It has been analyzed that an individual suffering from fatigue may also feel constant tiredness (fatigue) or lack of energy level due to a combination of both physical and mental factors. There is no common age group that has a higher chance of suffering from fatigue. Anyone can be affected by fatigue, and most adults will experience it at some point.  

6. Constantly having trouble concentrating

The inability of a person to concentrate is one of the symptoms of mental health issues. What’s more, losing focus can contribute to mood disorders becoming worse through negative feedback. Nevertheless, for concentration to work, one must initially believe the goal is worthy of his/her efforts.

There are numerous lifestyle factors that may also contribute to diminished or lack of focus, such as stress, tiredness, lack of sleep, unhealthy eating habits etcetera.

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Furthermore, they may exhibit the following symptoms:

1. Positive emotions or happy news temporarily brighten the mood

Stress is easier to handle when we are experiencing positive emotions. These optimistic emotions and events help us to handle a lot that is happening in our brains. 

Besides replenishing resources, these practices also provide relief from stressful situations. It has been observed that positive emotions may aid in reducing emotional reactivity during times of stress. This in turn speeds up recovery from stressful events and a person can feel happy for a while by neglecting everything else that was keeping him away from happiness.

2. Gaining weight due to increased appetite

Depression can alter our relationship with food and affect our appetite. Eating unhealthily, eating more than usual, and losing appetite are all possible effects of it.  The effects of excessive stress on depression are indisputable. It can result in making one obese. 

A chronic state of anxiety and stress, for example, can lead to mood disorders. People who are stressed and feeling down are more likely to switch to food as a way to cope with their mental illness. It can lead one to gain excessive weight and obesity in the long run.

How does depression cause weight gain?

So here is the answer that there is a hormone called cortisol is released by our body when a person is anxious or dealing with any kind of stress. As a result, he/she is more likely to feel hungry. Apart from this, stress also sometimes causes many people to crave for foods that are usually sugary or full of fats. This may happen when one tries to silence the part of your brain that causes him/her to worry with this response.

3. Feelings of heaviness in the arms or legs

Stress and mental illness can make you feel like you have heavy legs, causing you to feel fatigued all day long. The way the muscles of the body are affected by stress makes you feel tired, restless, weak, and stiff feeling in your legs. That means our thoughts and physical sensations are interlinked in some way.

4. Pain in the body

Any of the psychological factors can be the result of physical pain, such as anxiety disorders, mood disorders, or an excessive amount of stress levels. Mental health problems are often characterized by physical symptoms, particularly vague aches and pains.

There are plenty of symptoms that can accompany this condition, including chronic joint pain, limb or back pain, sleep disturbances, digestive problems, fatigue, and changes in appetite.

5. Chronic sleepiness (hypersomnia)

An individual with hypersomnia cannot stay awake and alert during the day despite getting an adequate amount of sleep at night. A person suffering from hypersomnia has a hard time managing their work, social, and family lives. 

Obstructive sleep apnea, insomnia, and hypersomnia are sleep issues that are associated with mental illness. In many cases, people suffering from depressive episodes may move back and forth between insomnia and hypersomnia at different points in time.

6. Being overly sensitive to criticism or rejection

It is more difficult for people with rejection-sensitive dysphoria (RSD) to cope with certain situations. This is because they are more sensitive to rejection. They are unable to deal with the conditions where they get rejected. Now, the question arises what causes the rejection sensitive dysphoria in people? There can be a plethora of factors, which can be responsible to cause RSD, but the exact cause is still unclear.

A single factor isn’t thought to cause it, rather multiple factors are believed to be involved. There is a possibility that rejection or neglect during the childhood stage may contribute to RSD. Who knows these individuals may have been neglected or critically critiqued by their parents, or other guardians resulting in an unhealthy self-perception.

Additionally, it is obvious those who were raised in such a way may end up having lower self-confidence in them. Moreover, they may have an intense fear of rejection and abandonment in their personal relationships because of the way they have been treated by their parents.

The fear of rejection can also arise from other situations such as:

• When a child/an adult gets teased or bullied by mates/peers, 
• When a person gets rejected or criticized by his/her partner.
• Additionally, rejection sensitive dysphoria might be genetically predisposed for some people. It can be passed down from generation to generation. So, if a parent or another close relative has RSD, it is more likely to happen to children too.

Symptoms less commonly seen, include:

1. Sleeplessness

A sleep disorder called insomnia is the most common form of sleep disturbance. Insomnia is more prevalent in women than in men, and it also increases with age. Working all day and still not being able to sleep can be a symptom that one got affected by a mental ailment.

An approximate 7 to 9 hours of sleep at night-time is generally recommended by most experts.

2. Having headaches

While going through stressful events and tackling hard life challenges, it is normal for a person to get tensed and not be able to sleep properly. However, our brain needs rest because it is the main organ of the body that controls the overall functionality of the body.

Therefore, it needs rest. If because of any reason, a person’s brain is not re-energized, it can trouble a person physically. Headaches can be caused due to this reason. It is better to take a break from a daily routine to provide a little refreshment to your brain.

3. Problems with eating

Patients suffering from mood disorders often face changes in their appetites. Either they start eating a lot because they find it as one of the ways to distract themselves from mental illnesses or they eat very little because they are going through so much and they ignore food.

Risk factors responsible for atypical depression

• Traumatizing events
• Stressful event
• Experiences that negatively impacted your childhood
• Having a serious illness
• Loss of a loved one
• Genetics 
• The abuse of emotions, physicality, or sexuality
• Drug or alcohol abuse history

How to get over atypical depression: Helpful Treatments

It is possible to get a faithful recovery from atypical depression. Following are the ways that help one to get cured:

1. Medications and talk therapy

In case you are suffering from chronic symptoms of atypical depressive disorder, you should consult your healthcare provider. There are several very common antidepressants that your doctor may prescribe, such as 

• Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors (MAOIs) 
• Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). 

It is rare for tricyclic antidepressants to be effective in treating MDD with atypical features. 

Regular meeting sessions with a therapist or counselor are the basis of talk therapy. As a result of this type of treatment, you can:

• Let your health care provider know how you feel and help him/her identify the cause of these emotions. You can get specific help from a psychiatrist or counselor after identifying the causes of the depression episode you’re experiencing.
• The sessions with your therapist will assist you in identifying unhealthy thoughts that are troubling you from deep inside, causing you to have mood disorders.
• Once they come to know about the root cause of the occurrence of your mental, they can teach you techniques for dealing with them and protecting yourself from depression.

2. Lifestyle changes such as:

a) Self-care

If we take a step toward taking care of ourselves, it can be cured. The finest habit one may adopt to overcome a mental condition is self-care. Doing your favorite things is one of many things that fall under this category.

• Get enough sleep and rest.
• Time spent with your pals.
• Acquiring new knowledge.
• A balanced diet that is tasty and healthy.
• Put up some effort.
• Make sure that you are always your main priority.

b) Exercise

A healthy lifestyle requires a regular workout schedule. It doesn’t imply that you must perform a series of strenuous workouts, but 30 to 40 minutes of physical activity can be very effective. If even this is not feasible, even a 30-minute walk can be very beneficial. However, one should strive for both mental and physical fitness in order to lose weight and reduce stress.

c) Avoid Alcohol and Drugs

Even if they can temporarily numb a person from the outside world, alcohol and drugs will have a negative long-term impact on you. Additionally, over time, these substances will exacerbate mental health conditions.

d) Improve Eating Habits

Vitamins are necessary for the body to function properly, thus people with mental health disorders need to eat more of them.