Depression: A Serious Medical Illness

Depression is a serious illness that can worsen or last for years if it is left untreated. Depression can occur in a number of ways for different reasons. It is common to feel depressed as a reaction to loss, life's struggles, or an injured self-esteem. When these feelings become too much to handle they can prevent you from living a normal, healthy life. If you or a family member think you are experiencing depression signs to look out for include difficulty concentrating, fatigue, guilt, worthlessness, Insomnia, Irritability, restlessness, and thoughts of suicide. These are only some of the signs associated with depression, and if symptoms worsen over time a trip to the doctor is necessary. Unfortunately, a lot of the people who experience symptoms never do get diagnosed or treated for their illness because they are too afraid to speak out.

Depression is 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. Depression can be long-lasting or recurrent, substantially impairing an individual’s ability to function at work or school or cope with daily

“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

Depression is mental illnesses characterized by persistent feelings of sadness, despair and worthlessness that interfere with daily functioning and personal relationships. It is an illness caused by an imbalance of the chemicals in the brain. It affects about 19 million people and cost billions in any given year (Ford-Martin). Some of the symptoms of depression are having a hard time focusing, constant crying, and loss of interest or pleasure in ordinary everyday activities, sleep problems, problems with eating and weight (gain or loss). Depression strikes all age groups, and often goes unrecognized or inadequately treated.

Depression is a disease that many people suffer from everyday of their lives, there are cures and treatments that can get people help, but it is still and everyday struggle. “Depression is a psychoneurotic disorder characterized by a lingering sadness, inactivity, and activity, and difficulty in thinking and concentration.” (Lerner 1). Depression can be defined as a brain disorder, that people are diagnosed with.

This report gives an overview of how Americans are coping with depression. Depression is a mental disorder that can affect men, women and children regardless of their age or economic backgrounds. Approximately 18.8 million people or 9.5% of adults ages 18 and older in the United States have been diagnosed with a depressive disorder. There are many factors that may cause depression which sometimes makes it harder for the disorder to be diagnosed. This report will examine how a major depressive disorder is defined and diagnosed through physical examinations, laboratory tests, and psychological evaluations. The effects of depression on Americans based on their age, sex, geographical locations, and economic backgrounds. Lastly, this report will discuss ways in which doctors and mental health professionals are treating Americans to help them cope with a diagnosed depressive disorder in their everyday lives.

In this day and age depression is a catchword. It is applied to all imaginable situations, from grieving after the loss of a loved one to simple foul moods. Although such a loose usage of the word is hardly warranted, the statistics of the World Health Organization suggest that there is some real basis behind it: about 4-5% of the world's population suffer from depression, and it is the reason behind about 60% of all suicides (1). United States is ahead of the world's quota in this sad race: according to the National Institute of Mental Health, about 9.5% of the population (or about 18.8 million adults) experience a depressive disorder in any given year (2). With such

Major depressive disorder has a significant place in our country. “In 2015, an estimated 16.1 million adults aged 18 or older in the United States had at least one major depressive episode in the past year. This number represented 6.7% of all U.S. adults” (National, 2015). These numbers do not exclude bereavement, medical illness or substance use disorders. This means that almost 7 people out of every 100 are suffering from depression.

The World Health Organization (2015) indicates that, depression is the leading cause of disability globally, affecting approximately 350 million people, as well as a major contributor to the overall global burden of illnesses. Worst, depression can lead to people committing suicide. There are treatments available for depression. However, only fewer than 10% of those affected receive it. Several reasons that obstruct effective care include limitation of resources, lack of trained health care professionals, societal stigma associated with mental disorders, and ineffective patient assessment that results to misdiagnoses (WHO, 2015).

Depression is a mental illness in which a person experiences deep, stable sadness and discontinued interest in nearly all activities. People also use the term depression to describe the temporary sadness, loneliness,

More people suffer from depression than you might think. People of all ages, backgrounds, lifestyles, and nationalities get clinical depression. An estimated 35 to 40 million Americas living today will suffer from major depression at some time during their lives. (4) This is about 13 to 20 percent of all Americans. (1) About half of these individuals will experience recurring depression. (3) Despite being what authorities call "the nation's leading mental health problem" (6), depression is often misdiagnosed or undiagnosed, and therefore not treated. (4) Often as a result, about 25 percent of these people attempt suicide to end their

Sadness is simply an emotion that everyone of us feels at certain times during our life. Feeling sad is an instinct to situations that cause us to be upset or in pain. Although there are levels of sadness but like other emotions, sadness is temporary and vanishes with time. Depression, however is a longer- term mental illness. It impairs social, occupational, and many other functioning areas. Depression maybe long lasting if left unnoticed and untreated. When a person is sad, it may feel uncomfortable all time, but you will able to remember times of happiness, or moments of laughter. Depression is different. It affects all aspects of life. It is very hard or even impossible to extract something positive from things around you, including

In North America alone, untold millions suffer the crippling symptoms of depression, an illness reaching epidemic proportions. Many of these people are unaware of their illness or have a suspicion but are afraid to learn the truth. Even among those seeking treatment, many will never be properly diagnosed or treated, but will continue to suffer the consequences.

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

“Depression is a serious mental health concern that will touch most people’s lives at some point in their lifetime (either directly or through someone close they know) (“Depression Research”).” I was diagnosed with major depression and major anxiety disorder my freshman year of high school, although my doctor says that, that was not my first depressive episode. I had, had many challenges and some family trouble the years before that. I started eating less, ignoring my friends, my attendance and grades at school were awful, I was doing risky things and the worst of all I harmed myself. After months of keeping all my sadness in one of my friends finally told my mother about seeing the scars and cuts left on my body. A week later I went to the doctor who sent me to a place called Meadows to be evaluated. After my evaluation they determined that it was in my best interest that I stay there under supervision until I was no longer a danger to myself. Everyday got easier as I was in there, I was started on a medication called Zoloft which helped a lot with my depression and anxiety. I learned how to cope with what I was feeling in ways that were not harmful to myself or anyone else. I got to know people who were going through something similar to what I was going through and I made a lot of friends, people I still talk to, to this day. Depression is a very serious disorder and is something I struggle with on a daily basis. I have come a long way since freshman