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Depression Essays

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Depression
Consider this: Elizabeth Wurtzel has struggled with depression throughout her life. She has a history of suicide attempts, self-mutilations, and serious mood swings. She took numerous antidepressants and medications in an attempt to regulate her irregular behavior. She quit using the medications due to the multiple side effects the drugs had on her. The result was chaos; after Elizabeth quit taking her medication her body experienced episodes of withdrawal. Despite her continued attempts to combat her illness, she experienced nervous breakdowns and alienation from her friends and family. Elizabeth Wurtzel reluctantly went back to taking medication despite the potentially serious side effects of taking so many drugs (Kim 46).
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The illness of depression is a state of psychological misery that does not go away (Kim 13). It may also be defined as a state of mind and body which is characterized by a change in mood towards being miserable, worried, easily discouraged or agitated, unable to feel emotions, fearful, despondent or hopeless (Winokur 3). People suffering from depression often have slowed mental reactions, trouble concentrating and remembering, and difficulty in interacting in social situations (Winokur XIV). “Clinical observations” have shown that 84% of depression patients suffer from “impaired concentration” (Winokur 6). Their responses to questions “will take a long time in coming” (Winokur 4). Such forms of pleasure as food, friends, and sex no longer hold an appeal to people who suffer from depression. It has also been proven that 77% of people who suffer from depression lack an interest in “usual activities” (Winokur 6). People who suffer from depression simply loose their joy for life (Kim 13). Many people who suffer from depression entertain the thought of suicide (Robbins 6). “Estimates are that the lifetime risk of suicide in persons with serious depression runs on the order of 15% while it is only about one percent for the general population” (Robbins 6).
Not only does depression affect people mentally, but it also affects people physically. Many sufferers of depression experience an “increased or decreased appetite” (Kim 14) which may result in

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