Psy 270 Week 4: Assignment: Depression Paper

Like symptoms, there are a variety of causes that can lead to depression. However, the main causes haven't been pinpointed, and are just speculated. Among these, biological factors are thought to be one of the main ones. Physical changes to the brain and hormonal imbalances are some major issues that could play a part biologically. Depression can also be passed genetically throughout your family, with even unborn babies at risk from getting it from their mother while in the

"Men pray to the gods for health and they ignore that it is in their power to have it."

Some have said there is a specific gene type we may carry, some say what we inherit isn’t in our DNA, but a vulnerability. When vulnerability is brought up along with the topic of depression, it makes it out to be a very dangerous situation. This means that if someone has close relatives who have clinical depression, that somebody may inherit a tendency to develop the illness. It does not necessarily mean that we are destined to become depressed at some point in our lives, but there is definitely a higher risk for those who are raised in this scenario. If someone has grew up with a family history of depression, are they truly at a high risk? If someone has a parent or family member with major depression, that person has a two to three times greater risk of developing the illness compared with the average person. The situation is typically a little different if the parent or close relative has had depression more than just once, known as recurrent depression, and if the illness started relatively early in the person’s life (childhood, teens, or early twenties). This form of depression would be less common – the exact percentage of the population is not exactly known for sure, but statistically may be around three to five percent. The relatives and children of people with this form of depression usually develop it at a

Depression is caused by a combination of genetic, biological, environmental, and psychological factors (“Depression: Causes, Symptoms and Treatments” 2015). Researchers are becoming increasingly aware that depression runs in families (Kam,2009) meaning that certain genes may make people prone to depression suggesting a biological vulnerability. The biological factors that have some effect on the hereditary and biological influences of depression are the genes, hormones, and brain chemicals.

Major depressive disorder is a condition when a person experiences two or more weeks of depressed mood or lack of interest in things that usually gave them pleasure not due to any drugs or other medical condition. For this condition to be present a person must show at least five signs of depression (classified as: depressed mood most of the day; diminished interest in activities; significant weight loss or weight gain when not dieting; insomnia or too much sleep; lethargy; fatigue; feelings of worthlessness or inappropriate guilt; difficulty concentrating or thinking; and recurrent thoughts of death or suicide). Bipolar disorder on the other hand is when an individual alternates between hopelessness and an overexcited state of mania. Mood disorders run in families. Women are at twice the risk of having depression and today we find that depression is widespread. Although the majority of depressive episodes end on their own they are usually induced by a stressful event. The risk of suicide or self-injury is higher in individuals who are

Depression is a disorder that can be caused by many factors. Stress, medication, other medical illnesses, and personality traits can all contribute to depression, but the most common cause, however, is heredity (yahoo.com 1). These are all theorized guesses as to what causes clinical depression. The actual cause has not yet been resolved (yahoo.com 1). It is considered that usually more than one factor causes the disorder (yahoo.com 2).

Losing control of a person's emotions on a daily basis is devastating his or her mind. This disorder people go through is called bipolar. Bipolar disorder can be characterized as the inability to regulate emotions extreme happiness and sadness, also known as mania and depression. Bipolar disorder patients brains have impairments in the frontal cortex, limbic system and the amygdala. These parts of the brain focus on how a person reacts to situations and the biological effects to the body. People can get this disorder any times of their life, but most first episode can be seen in children and adolescents . Mania and depression are affected by different parts of the brain with different symptoms. There are few common symptoms that are similar

            Before researching this topic, I used to think that Bipolar Disorder was a very rare mental illness and in most cases, a misdiagnoses. There are many misconceptions about Bipolar Disorder and mental illness as a whole. Bipolar Disorder has become an epidemic in America and affects nearly everyone in some way. The term Bipolar is increasingly being misused to describe someone having a bad day or being excessively happy. Over the past generation, Bipolar has began to be used as an adjective to describe how people are feeling or acting.  Most of us know someone who either has Bipolar Disorder or someone affected by it. The purpose of this essay is to examine Bipolar Disorder and determine the best way for individuals, along with their loved one’s to manage the disorder. This will hopefully help people understand what a friend or family member is going through and even help an individual struggling with Bipolar Disorder. Better yet, it could inspire others to research and spread ideas to someday cure Bipolar Disorder. Citizens can call upon their elected officials to increase access to mental health services (counseling, therapy, medications) for people diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder and support the families that are affected.

Bipolar Disorder is a mental health disease in which a person endures extreme emotional mood swings, experiences different activity levels, and encounters difficulty in completing daily activities. There are different severity levels of Bipolar Disorder, like any other disease, and can sometimes be hard to identify and diagnose due to the “overlapping” symptoms they share with other mental disorders.

The numerous disorders characterized by unipolar depression, referred to as depressive disorders, in the DSM-5. Two key emotions on the range for mood disorders are depression and mania. Depression is one emotion that is a feeling of being in a sad, low state where life seems despairing and the trials in life seem impossible to get over. Mania is the state by which feelings of “ecstasy” or feelings of frantic energy shows in activities. This pattern of “freaking out” (S. MacPherson, personal communication, June 14, 2015) relate to the diagnosis of manic state or episode. A person with unipolar depression does not have history of mania. The DSM-5 lists out the different types of depressive, bipolar disorders (See Appendix

Bipolar disorder, or manic depressive disorder, is a disorder characterized by extreme mood changes. People with this disorder undergo unusual shifts in his or her mood, activity levels, energy and the ability to carry out daily activities (National Institute of Mental Health, n.d.). A person can go from being very outgoing and energetic to feeling irritated and worthless over a period of a few days, months, or even years. People with bipolar disorder experience “mood episodes”, represented by a drastic change in a person’s unusual mood or behavior (National Institute of Mental Health, n.d.). A manic episode he or she may experience is overexcited and overly joyful; however, someone in a

Mood disorders are a class of behavioral-emotional disorders labeled by disruption in mood. Examples of this are depression or extreme elation. Some people may experience periods of depression or elation but this doesn’t mean they have a mood disorder.

 A.dysthymia that recur frequently.  B.major depressive disorder in addition to dysthymia.  C.dysthymia without major depressive disorder.  D.suicidal thinking found in major depressive disorder. Answer Key: B

The exact cause of depression is not known, but there are several factors that play

Over the years, people have argued and discussed about what could be possible causes of depression. Some experts believe that a person’s genes could be a determinative of whether he or she is inclined or genetically predisposed, to depression. Experts point it to the fact that depressive genes could run in families. Other specialists lessen the role of the person’s genetic, arguing that depression is generally caused by stress, trauma, or physical or mental illness.