Many people who survive a stroke feel fear, anxiety, frustration, anger, sadness, and grief for their physical and mental losses. These feelings are a natural response to the psychological trauma of a stroke. Still, some emotional disturbances and personality changes are caused by the physical effects of brain damage.
Clinical depression, or a sense of hopelessness that disrupts an individual's ability to function, appears to be the emotional disorder most commonly experienced by stroke survivors. Signs of clinical depression include sleep disturbances, a radical change in eating patterns that may lead to sudden weight loss or gain, lethargy, social withdrawal, irritability, fatigue, self-loathing, and suicidal thoughts.
Post-stroke depression can be treated with antidepressant medications and psychological counseling.
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