Argumentative Research Paper On Depression

Depression is a common and serious mood disorder. It’s more than just feeling down or sad in response to life’s struggles and setbacks, depression causes people to lose pleasure from daily life, can increase the risk of many health problems, and can even be serious enough to lead to suicide. The disease must be given more attention and treated as a global public health priority. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 7.6 percent of people over the age of 12 have depression in any 2-week period. Depression is also the second most common cause of disability worldwide after back pain,according to a review of research.

“Recent data estimate the overall prevalence of depression at about 11.1% of the American population, or nearly 35 million individuals (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011). A predictive models suggest that up to 50% of the population will experience at least one episode of depression during their lives” (Life Extension, 2014). Depression has negatively affected the lives of many individuals throughout the world. Look around you there may even be someone close to you that is demonstrating signs of its stifling affects. Depression does not discriminate with its suffocating

At age seven, Ben Williams began showing signs of depression, telling his mother “I am not destined to have a happy life. I’d be better off dead.” His mother went to a general practitioner who said it was just a phase. At age ten, Ben tried to kill himself. It was only after his incident that he was prescribed antidepressants. Ben is now 17 and is no longer prescribed antidepressants. His mother states, “you never think it will happen to your child until it does.” There are many real stories, such as this one presented in an article by the Telegraph titled “Why Are We Giving Our Primary School Aged Children Anti-Depressants?” The battle on antidepressants has been ongoing, with some people refusing to accept them as a treatment for clinical depression and others accepting them without a question. These debates have lead to more experiments being conducted with the drugs in the United States and abroad, although rarely with children. Following some experiments conducted by the FDA, a “black box” warning had been issued in 2004. According to Walgreens, a large pharmaceutical company, “A black box warning is the strictest warning put in the labeling of prescription drugs or drug products by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) when there is reasonable evidence of an association of a serious hazard with the drug. It is basically a warning with a black box around it, hence the name. Having the black box around the warning means that an adverse reaction to the drug may lead to death or serious injury.” There is currently a “black box” warning on antidepressants saying that they could increase suicidal thought in children, but the warning shouldn’t keep children from obtaining the treatment that may help them live an exponentially better life.

Depression in itself is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain that prevents neurons, the cells that compose the brain, from functioning properly. This occurs when the synaptic vesicles and receptor sites of the neurons become blocked, consequently preventing the chemical signals known as neurotransmitters from being transmitted from neuron to neuron. The reduction of this brain impulse activity is commonly seen in depressed patients making it argued that due to the lack of transmitting impulses occurring in the brain results in a hormonal imbalance, which plays a major role in the mood of an individual. As a result of this chemical imbalance in the brain a person may experience what is called clinical depression. However, clinical depression is not the only common type of depression. Environmental depression is another example that is caused by stressful events occurring to or around an individual such as the death of a loved one, divorce, or financial instabilities such as job loss. This kind of depression often leads people to feel powerless in a dire situation. Be that as it may, depression in itself seems to be more commonly seen in women than in men. Countering this is, in its most dramatic aftermath- death by committing suicide- the rates seem to be much higher in men than in women. Regardless of the type of depression or who has it most often, it is imperative to reach these people before they

According to the World Health Organization, depression is an illness that affects more than 300 million people (World Health Organization, 2018). Depression is the manifestation of complex intersecting social, psychological factors and can significantly disrupt the day-to-day functions of sufferers (WHO, 2018). As a mood disorder, depression causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest (Mayo Clinic, 2018). Common symptoms of the disorder included feelings of sadness, hopelessness, irritability, loss of interest, sleep disturbances, anxiety and a myriad of other troublesome symptoms (Mayo Clinic, 2018). Depression, unlike a host of other morbidities, has a unique manifestation in all those it affects and may not

Depression is a debilitating mental disorder, which can be detrimental to a person’s way of living. For example, depression can cause an individual to have negative thoughts, experience chronic distress, and hopelessness (Pourbabaee, n.d.). Researchers focus on two causes of depression. Those who support the cognitive-behavioral perspective believe depression results from faulty thinking associated with low self-esteem or learned helplessness, as well as environmental influences such as the loss of a loved one or a job. Whereas, those who support the biological perspective believe depression results from the genes a person inherits, chemical imbalances that change the functions of the brain, as well as damage to the anatomy of the brain.

In the United States, 85% of all adults and teenagers, more females than males, have been depressed at one point in their life. (Davey) Although the term is used loosely because people tend to incorrectly self-diagnose their “sadness” as depression, it is actually defined as “a common and serious medical illness that negatively affects how one feels and the way he or she thinks and acts.” (Parekh). In most cases, depression is accompanied with a type of anxiety disorder such as as generalized anxiety disorder and social anxiety (Facts). The cause of them occurring at the same time is unknown, but scientists believe that it is caused by a malfunction of brain chemistry. Generalized anxiety, the leading mental illness that affects over 40 million

Depression is one of the most common mental disorders in the United States and is the leading cause of disability worldwide. The disorder can affect anyone at any time and any age however the onset is often due to a chemical imbalance or a stressful event in one’s life. For many people with depression, symptoms usually are severe enough to cause noticeable problems in day-to-day activities and relationships with others. Major depression is widespread, and the causes of are equally as numerous, and so are the variety of treatment plans.

Doctors are not sure what causes depression, but studies have shown that there is a change in brain activity and brain shape with the rapid change in a person’s mood. The brain is reported to shrink, or at least certain parts do, such as the hippocampus, which function is to store and create a human’s memories and the frontal lobes which are involved in motor function, problem solving, spontaneity, memory, language, initiation, judgment, impulse control, and social and sexual behavior. This destruction of the brain is linked to Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.

Is depression a subject that people typically tend to brush aside? Rather than facing away from a serious issue that people suffer from in their daily lives, we should discuss the methods to help people with their struggle from depression. A common method to treat depression is the use of antidepressants. But are they effective? Do they cause more harm and danger than aid? Are there other methods that can provide greater improvement rather than a pill? Instead​ ​of​ ​using​ ​antidepressants​ ​there​ ​are​ ​other​ ​alternatives such​ ​as​ ​placebos​ ​and​ ​types​ ​of​ ​therapy​ ​that​ ​can​ ​be​ ​just​ ​as,​ ​or​ ​more​ ​effective​ ​than​ ​the​ ​use​ ​of ​prescription​ antidepressants.

The severity of depression has been supported through scientific evidence that indicates that depression has a biological basis in the brain of a depressed person along with psychological and social implications. Whilst there are many catalysts in a person’s life that can be identified as a possible root cause of depression, such as stressful life events or the death of a loved one, the issue is far more complex, as the biological triggers of depression are not as easily expressed, such as faulty mood regulation in the brain, vulnerable genetics in the DNA, and other medical problems. Many things are altered in the brain of the depressed person. Firstly, what most understand to be an imbalance in the levels of chemicals that regulate emotions, is in reality far more elaborate. The true issue surrounding the many chemicals involved inside and outside of the nerve cells that undergo numerous chemical reaction which make up the dynamic system that is responsible for mood, perceptions, and the way one experiences life you experiences life can be altered in different ways that affect how one lives. Along with the brains chemicals, the connections between nerve cells called neurons decrease and deteriorate, meaning the

Depression has numerous causes and effects which affect not only the person but the people around them. Depression doesn’t have a specific cause; in most cases it’s different for everyone. It is a common, treatable mental illness that can be experienced at any time in life. It is often described with feeling sad, unhappy, miserable, or “down in the dumps”. Most people have these feelings on occasion. There are several types of depression. These different types of depression describe slight, but often important, diagnostic differences. True clinical depression interferes with mood disorder in everyday life for weeks, months, or even years. Most people think depression affects only one

One of the scariest emotional experiences a person can ever suffer during their lifetime is to experience a form of depression. Over one in five Americans can expect to get some form of depression in their lifetime. Over one in twenty Americans have a depressive disorder every year. Depression is one of the most common and most serious mental health problems facing people today. However, depression is often not taken seriously because of the large use of antidepressant drugs and the large number of sufferers. Depression is a serious illness and should be taken as so. Contrary to the popular misconceptions about depression today, it is a serious and deadly disorder.1

According to Depression scholarly (n.d), depression, also known as major depression, is a “mind-set disorder that causes a constant feeling of misery and misfortune of investment” (Depression scholarly, n.d). Depression also refers to “an array of abnormal variations in the mood of a person”. This condition not only affects an individual’s thoughts and behaviors (Journal, n.d), but is also capable of changing the thoughts and feelings of the individual as well as physically and emotionally affecting his or her health. This type of disorder is, frankly, a common disorder that can happen to anyone at any age, as it is one of the most “disabling disorders in the world, affecting roughly one in five women and one in tem men at some point in their lifetime” (Depression, n.d). Although depression can affect anyone, it is more likely to occur in individuals who have been suffering from anxiety disorders (Journal, n.d).

Sadness is how the human being reacts to the loss of a loved one, the struggles of life, the disappointments, and the frustrations. Although it is a normal feeling in all these situations, there is a broad difference between being sad and being depressed. Unlike normal feelings of sadness, depression overwhelms a person, last a long time, and interferes with his or her day-to-day life. According to the World Health Organization in 2010, depression was reported as the most common mental disorder; it affects 120 million people globally and is among the leading causes of disability. The person that suffers from depression has to deal with being misunderstood and under-diagnosed on a daily basis, which leaves the patient with physical,