Depressed Individuals Should Seek Treatment

“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

Psychotherapy therapy focuses on the personal and interpersonal issues underlying depression. It explores an individual's life to bring to light possible contributing causes of the present depression. During treatment, the therapist helps the patient to become aware of his or her thinking patterns and how they came to be. There are several different subtypes of psychotherapy, but all have the common goal of helping the individual develop healthy problem solving and coping skills. Two of the most widely used treatment methods are cognitive-behavioral therapy and interpersonal therapy (Hammen 141).

Depression is a clinical condition associated with the normal emotions of bereavement and sadness. However, this condition does not pass on when the external causes of these emotions dissolve and is usually inconsistent to their cause. In essence, the classic severe conditions of depression have not been attributed to external precipitating cause. One of the most common conditions of depression is Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), which is a psychiatric condition that impairs moods, behavioral patterns, and thoughts for a protracted duration. This psychiatric illness tends to impair the patient’s social functioning and quality of life due to its impacts on cognitive functioning. Some of the most common symptoms of the condition include difficulty in concentration, weight change, minimal interest in pleasure, high rate of suicide, and physical impairment. The severity of this disease was evident in the year 2000 when the World Health Organization ranked it as the fourth cause of disability and premature death across the globe.

In 2005 the Center of Disease Control and Prevention 's (CDC’s) National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) tracked Americans using antidepressants for three years. The study concluded in 2008 that more than 1 in 10 Americans ages 12 and older have used an antidepressant drug. This study comes in the wake of a heated debate in the media about the effectiveness of antidepressants treating depression. Last year, antidepressants were the second most commonly prescribed medication, right behind drugs directed to lower cholesterol. With so many people in the United States relying on these drugs, it is easy to question if they are just expensive, overused placebos.

The demand for antidepressants has skyrocketed since the early 1990’s with a majority of users being adults. Appalling to this fact is that about half of those under the prescriptions have in the recent past visited a mental health professional. In addition to this, almost 60 percent of those who use antidepressant do not really need them. I also concur with the fact that our modern lifestyle has contributed so much to augment depression rate.

Depression is often described in superficial terms based on the manifestation of symptoms but falling short of capturing the complexity existing within the intrinsic etiology of the disease. It is one of two classifications of mood disorders with the other being Bipolar Disorder which is also known as manic-depressive illness. Major depression is one of the most common mental disorders in the United States. The lifetime prevalence rate of depression is 16.2% of the population with a two-fold greater risk in women than men after adolescence (McCance, 2010). Signs and symptoms characteristic of Major Depression include sadness, irritability, significant weight gain or loss, insomnia, guilt, and suicide ideation. It is distinguishable from Bipolar Disorder in that it lacks symptoms of mania. Risk factors associated with depression are stress, comorbidities, life changes, and substance and/or alcohol abuse. It is important to understand the relative risk associated with these risk factors when determining treatment. For example, the relative risk between the substance abuse, depression, and suicide is evident in a recent analysis conducted by The National Survey on Drug Use and Health focusing on the suicidal thoughts and behavior among adults with substance dependence or abuse and adults with major depressive episode. Results indicated that adults 18 or older who had past year substance

Depression is one of the leading causes of death in the world (Moreh and O’Lawrence 3). Approximately 121 million people around the world are affected by depression symptoms (Moreh and O’Lawrence 2). Depression is different than normal sadness that everyone experiences in their lives. Depression is “a common psychological disorder…..that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest” (Moreh and O’Lawrence 2). Depression is often thought of as an issue that only affects adults, but at any given time 10 to 15 percent of teens and young adults are depressed (Moreh and O’Lawrence 2).

Depressive disorders are amongst the most common and debilitating illnesses that have a direct effect on the body and the mind. Symptomatology, complexity, and risk factors vary greatly depending on the individual’s socioeconomic status (Rush et al. 2006) as it influences access to mental health professionals, and often delays proper diagnosis. Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is one of the most common depressive disorders, affecting 11.4% of the U.S. population aged 12 to 17, and 6.7% of all U.S adults (NIMH, 2016). Regardless of type, depression is a topic of grave concern considering the alarming rates in the country, the shortage of qualified therapists, and resistance to many of the existing medications. Treatment options have varied

Depression is a normal emotional reaction to perceived loss and hopelessness (Segal, Williams, & Teasdale, 2002). There are a number of different types of depression such as chronic depression, manic depression and the primary focus of this essay Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). MDD is a clinical depression, which is more chronic and more severe compared to other types of depression. It significantly disrupts the individual’s ability to meet the normal demands of life. According to many clinicians, clinical depression should be considered as a medical illness in need of medical intervention. Other mental health professionals believe this is an overstatement of the role of physiology and the

“Eleven percent of Americans aged 12 years and over, take antidepressant medication,” “antidepressants were the third most common prescription drug … in 2005 – 2008,” and from 1988 to 2008, the rate of antidepressant use in the US increased nearly 400% (Pratt).

Depression is defined by World Health Organization as “a common mental disorder, characterized by sadness, loss of interest or pleasure, feelings of guilt or low self-worth, disturbed sleep or appetite, feelings of tiredness, and poor concentration”. In a moderate case, depression seems to the person affected that needs extra effort to accomplish daily activities with no motivation and function poorly. While in most serious cases, depression can lead to suicidal ideation or directly give an end to the desire of life (Mind, 2016). It is a quite frequent disability which affects more than 300 million people (WHO, 2016). Unhealthy lifestyles and depression are extremely related, depressive people can easily adapt unhealthy lifestyles and people who follow an unhealthy lifestyle are more prone to depression.

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

Depression is the most common of all psychological disorders, affecting 100 million people worldwide. The depression ranges from mild feelings of uneasiness, sadness, and apathy to intense suicidal despair. (Kasschau) If left untreated, it could lead the

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,