Monoamine Hypothesis

As of 2015, around 16.1 million adults suffer from Major Depressive Disorder in America and one in five teenagers will experience it (Adaa) (Everett). Depression is a temporary disease that is treatable with an assortment of medications and services (Everett). The American Psychiatric Association defines Depression and/or major depressive disorder as a “common and serious medical illness that negatively affects how you feel, the way you think and how you act.”(Psychiatry). Yet there are many forms of treatment, from medication to therapy treatments. For example, Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, shortened to SSRIs, are a form of antidepressants that work by “increasing levels of serotonin in the brain” (Mayo Clinic. (2018). Selective).

Mental disorders can be diagnosed in infancy, childhood, or adolescence. Major depression is a lost of interest or pleasure in all activities. People with major depression experience symptoms such as a change of appetite, restlessness sleep, decreased energy, feeling of worthlessness, difficulty concentrating, and/or suicidal thoughts. A major depressive episode can lasts for about 2 weeks or more. A major depressive episode can be caused by stress, social anxiety, or other reasons. People with a milder depression are able to function and seem normal (DSM-IV-TR). A major depressive disorder affects about 14.8 million adults in America with 6.7 million at age 18 and older in the United States population. A depressive disorder can develop in any age and more likely to occur more often in women than in men and any person who is going through a hard time can develop depression. A treatment for individuals with depression is medication, psychotherapy, or attending social groups, 80 percent of the people who follow up with these treatments begin to show improvement with in four to six weeks. About 50 percent of the patients that take medicine to “cure” the depression are unsuccessful with the treatment, because they stop taking their meds due to the side effects, but the people who are in the support

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.

Cuijpers (2017) identifies that over the last 40 years there have been approximately 500 randomized trials looking at the efficacy of treating depression with psychological methods. The studies chosen provide insight into the lack of efficacy of antidepressant medication therapy, as well as the effectiveness of psychological therapies. The evidence provided in the studies appears to support one another.

Depression is a serious mental health illness when left unattended, and it affects not just the mind but the whole body. It is characterized by hopelessness, loss of interest, sadness, lack of sleep or too much, loss of appetite and suicidal thoughts. When one has an episode, there is a possibility of having more episodes in the future. According to Statistic Canada (2012), depression is one of the common mental illnesses in Canada. Statistic Canada’s (2012) Canadian community Health survey (CCHS) on mental health report state that 6.7% of 15 years and up has depression, while 11.6% of 1 in every 8 has major depression. (“6.7% of the Canadian population aged 15 years and above reported symptoms that met the criteria for depression. On the other hand, 1 in 8 adults with 11.6% identified symptoms that met the criteria for major depression”). Craft and Perna (2004) gives a rough estimate pf depression in US adult to be 9.5% yearly and projection of 17% in the future.( stated that depression affects “roughly 9.5% of the US adult population each year, and17% more will suffer at some point in time”). As reported by Statistic Canada depression runs across young adults to adults, which implies that depression is not a respecter of age.

Then when childhood depression was recognised as a separate illness in itself, clinicians were initially reluctant to prescribe medications to children and adolescents, and tended to use it only as a last resort for acute cases. However, since 1990, antidepressants – especially selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) – have increasingly been used as a first line of treatment (Jureidini, 2004). According to a National Center for Health Statistics’ report, the rate of antidepressant use amongst American teens increased 400% between 1988–1994 and 2005–2008. Nowadays, roughly one in ten Americans take antidepressants on the regular (Wehrwein,

According to Barlow (2008), major depressive disorder (MDD) is the most common depressive disorder and affects million of Americans each year. The symptoms experienced by individuals with MDD can be debilitating. The Global Burden of Disease Study, initiated by the World Health Organization, estimated depression to be the fourth leading cause of disability in the world (Barlow, 2008). To further examine this, The National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R) found that each year roughly 13 million

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.

This research process involved analysing innumerable data that already exist and exhibits the increasing number of deaths as a result of methamphetamine abuse. This allowed me to research the most common causes of these deaths further and found that suicide and overdose were the most occurring causes. This broadened my insight of methamphetamine abuse and led me to my research question and to study how methamphetamine induces depression as it is customarily linked to suicidal attempts. These sources were dependable due to its currency and were sourced from the National Institute of Drug Abuse, National Drug Strategy Household Survey, National Minimum Dataset, Hospital Morbidity Data and

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

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.

Background: Major depression remains one of the most detrimental mental disorders without precise pathogenesis and effective treatment.

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

As the literature remains inconclusive as to the relation between current major treatment modalities and depressive disorder, and given the extremities of the potential dangers of antidepressant medications, it is apparent that there is a need to develop new interventions, which show greater efficacy, safety, and acceptability.

Currently the most effective and well-documented psychotherapy treatment option available for clients diagnosed with major depression is CBT. It’s widely used to treat depression across all ages and works to change thoughts and behaviours that are likely to cause depression. Chambless and Ollendick’s (2001) meta-analysis of empirically supported treatments identified CBT as an efficacious treatment which is the standard first-line treatment options for depressed