Summary: Unspecified Depressive Disorder

According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, depression is the leading cause of disability in America for people ages 15 to 44. Unfortunately, it is still widely misunderstood, which causes people to neglect themselves. There are so many different forms, the most major two being major depressive disorder and dysthymia. Symptoms can vary in the way they manifest themselves, and causes are still widely unknown. Luckily, there are many treatment options available. Understanding depression is the best way to combat it.

The Latino community, from immigrating to United States born Latinos are often known to be depressed. Depression is a medical illness that causes a constant feeling of sadness and lack of interest, it affects how the person feels, behaves and thinks. Many Latinos rely on their extended family, community, traditional healers, or churches for help during a health crisis. As a result, many Latinos with mental illnesses often go without professional mental treatment. But why is it that Latinos are so reluctant to receiving help? Sheila Dichoso states that, “there are only 29 Latino mental-health professionals for every 100,000 Latinos in the United States, compared to 173 non-Hispanic white providers

Major depressive disorder is one of the most common mental disorders, with a 12-month prevalence of 6.7% of adults in the United States (NIMH). There is no definite etiology of depression, but several risk factors have been identified. Functional and structural changes in the brain have also been explored. The most common treatment for depression is the use of drugs that act on monoamine transmitters, including norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin. Decreases in these transmitters, especially serotonin, were hypothesized to play an important role in the cause of depression (Breedlove & Watson, 2013). The serotonin hypothesis led to the development of selective-serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), which increase the amount of serotonin in the brain. Further research suggests that the serotonin hypothesis is not entirely accurate and the neurobiology of depression is much more complex. The “chemical imbalance” explanation of depression may not reflect the full range of causes and may be given greater credibility by patients and doctors than is supported by evidence based research.

Major depressive disorder, we all have probably heard of it, but do we really know what is it is ? Major depressive disorder is “a mood disorder that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest… major depressive disorder or clinical depression, affects how you feel, think and behave and can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems”(Mayo Clinic Staff). Having this disorder puts you in a very unstable position because you are constantly feeling depressed so it affects the way you think and feel and that can be very dangerous. Sometimes this happens to a person for one day, but put yourself in the shoes of someone who experiencing this for more than two weeks? When you have major depressive disorder, the signs of depression disorder can last for two weeks or more(myers646). This dis order must be treated immediately because “depression may make you feel as if life isn 't worth living”(Mayo Clinic Staff). Feeling this way can lead you to doing things that you can not take back such as committing suicide and sadly that can happen when you have major depressive disorder. Kiyohara and Yoshimasu conducted a research that showed that 90% of suicides have were dealing with major depressive disorder(qtd. in The World Health Organization). Throughout this paper I will be discussing the causes, symptoms and treatment when dealing with major depressive disorder.

Instead of seeking mental health services for emotional or psychological concern, Latinos tend to seek medical care services from a physician. Both (Gelman, 2005; Bedoya, 2014; Organista, 1995) portray Latinos favoring mental health services through primary care than a mental health care setting. Many Latinos misinterpret physical symptoms as a medical illness when, in fact, it may be due to psychological condition. It is not uncommon for Latinos to mainly present mental issues as physical complaints (González-Prendes, Hindo, & Pardo, 2011, p. 380). Similarly Kanter et al. (2008) states, “Depression in Latino immigrants with low acculturation often is characterized somatic complaints with less awareness and identification of psychological symptoms”

The ideal way to deal with depression is to talk through it, one has to be open to a therapist or anyone who is qualified to take care of mental health. Yet in some subcultures in the United States, talking about one's feelings are almost taboo, take for example, the Hispanic/Latino culture. Where men must be men and not dare talk about their feelings, and where women must keep quiet about their mouths shut. According to Eudardo Colon, “The lack of validated assessment tools for depression in Hispanics may explain why they are least likely to be diagnosed and treated for depression” (“Diabetes and depression in the Hispanic/Latino community”). Clearly, this shows that Hispanic people tend to have less tools to help themselves realize that

The Latino culture takes a more monistic approach to the mind-body problem. This may affect the ways in which depression is experienced and expressed. For example, studies have found that Latinos are more likely to express psychological distress in somatic terms such as lack of energy, sleep disturbances, and body aches (Martinez Tyson, Castaneda, Porter, Quiroz, & Carrion, 2011). Additionally, studies find that Latinos are more likely to take a holistic approach to healing as evidenced by the principle of “mente sana en cuerpo sano y alma sana’ (healthy mind in healthy body and healthy soul) which communicates the strong connection between mind, body, and soul (Comas-Diaz, 2006). This suggests that a purely physical approach to therapy may not be well-received by the Latino client, and is supported by studies showing Latino patients feel apprehensive towards being treated with anti-depressants even when they have positive attitudes towards receiving treatment for depression (Cabassa, Lester, & Zayas, 2007). Understanding the client’s perception of the self is important in diagnosing and treating depression. Therefore, an effective therapist must be able to understand and incorporate the client’s worldview throughout the therapeutic process.

In the vignette provided Tommy, an 11 yr.-old male Hispanic male is suffering from numerous symptoms such as compulsive behavior, extreme mood swings, difficulty engaging in meaningful conversations and problems with concentration, to name a few. Tommy first started showing signs of disruptive and hyper behavior as early as 18 months. There are numerous factors both environmental and biological that have affected Tommy’s development and care. His mother and maternal grandmother both suffer from bipolar disorder. While pregnant with Tommy his mother had adequate prenatal care however, she may have exposed her son to various harmful substances. Also, prior to becoming pregnant Tommy’s mother had been on numerous medications for substance abuse, severe depression and suicidal ideation.

d. A nurse gives a PRN dose of an antipsychotic drug to a patient to prevent violent acting out because

In an attempt to better understand depression in today’s youth, I have chosen to explore the depths of Major Depressive Disorder and how it affects the young people in our society. Depression amongst school age children and adolescents are the primary focus. The prevalence, adversities, and treatment of the depression are discussed as well. After exploring these few facets of the disorder, I will talk briefly about the Ecological Model developed by Urie Bronfenbrenner and Morris in 1998 that is used by counselors to help evaluate and assess the children who are referred by teachers or medical

Rationale: Jennifer has been presenting with symptoms for unspecified amount of time. Jennifer meets six of the criteria for symptoms being present during the same 2-week period and represents a change from previous functioning. Jennifer is depressed most of the day, nearly every day, has diminished interest in all or almost all activities most of the days, nearly every day, has fatigue or loss of energy nearly every day, feelings of worthlessness, and diminished ability to think or concentrate, is having recurrent thoughts of death, recurrent suicidal ideation without a specific plan. The symptoms have cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, and other functioning areas. There is no know substance or medical condition and occurrence is not better explained by Schizophrenia Spectrum or Psychotic Disorders. Jennifer has never had a manic episode or a hypomanic episode. Possible family history of depression - mother.

296.32 (F33.1) Major Depressive Disorder, recurrent episode, moderate severity, with anxious distress. Ms. Client meets eight of the nine diagnostic criteria for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). Specifically, during several periods of time she experienced depressed mood, diminished interest in things she enjoyed to do, hypersomnia, psychomotor agitation, fatigue, feelings of worthlessness, decreased concentration, and suicidal thoughts without intent. Additionally, as Ms. Client expressed, these symptoms are source of continuing distress and interfere with her academics and social functioning. Also, her symptoms started four years prior to the psychological assessment and persisted intermittently since then, lasting for several weeks to several months, with the most recent period of extended length (enduring two weeks) approximately one year ago. Since the last episode she has experienced these symptoms for two to three days at a time. Although the last episode that met the criterion of two weeks duration occurred approximately a year ago, the symptoms have not disappeared, but they occur periodically since then and when they do, they cause considerable distress and impairment in functioning. Thus, the disorder cannot be coded as ‘in partial or full remission’. The specifier ‘with anxious distress’ was given, because Ms. Client reports feelings of difficulty in concentration because of worry and restlessness.

This learner just started seeing this client. He has been coming to therapy because of anxiety problems that he has been dealing with on a normal basis. He has been talking about cutting himself. Since his thoughts are worrying him, the counselor asked me what assessment that could be considered to give this client.

The psychodynamic perspective focuses on the role of the unconscious mind in the development of personality. Freud believed that the personality develops in a series of five stages that develop the three divisions of personality. In the oral stage, the fixation is in the mouth, and would be the cause of his introverted nature; likewise, in the anal stage, Roberto would discover his reserved nature, while the phallic stage, he would further refine his reserved nature as a sense of humility in his actions, also defining his mild mannered portion of his personality. In the latency stage, his social skills would refined and he would become introverted. Freud would think that Roberto’s mild-mannered, reserved, and invertedness is caused by intense suppressing of the id by the ego, having Roberto adopt the personality that he does; however, Karen Horney would classify Roberto’s personality in respect to her theory of neurotic personalities- personalities typified by maladaptive ways of dealing with relationships- with moving away from people by withdrawing from personal relationships.

Depression have become a major problem in our society today. People who haven’t experience depression will not understand how it feel and what it can do to a person. Many people also doesn’t understand what depression is, or how it can related to suicidal ideation. In fact, studies have documented that the majority of young suicide victims had depression at the time of death and most suicide survivors were diagnosed with symptoms of clinical depression at the time of their attempt (Mojs, Biederman, Głowacka, Strzelecki, Ziemska, Samborski 2015). It can affect anyone, from young adolescents to college students to the elderly people. There are many reasons that can make someone have major depression. Such as financial problems, family problems, social problems, school, work, etc. These stressors in our daily life can cause anxiety which can increase our stress level significantly, which then can lead to depression. A research said that anxiety disorder have a high comorbidity with depression and that anxiety occur prior to the onset of depressive disorders in many individuals (Batterham, Christensen, Calear 2013). People who experience depression must find way to cope with depression and know how to get help in order to prevent suicidal ideation. The people surroundings, friends and family, must also find ways to recognize the symptoms of depression, and show understandings in order to help those suffering. This research project will help people understand more about