Depression Essay Research Paper Each year some

Depression Essay, Research Paper

Each year some thirty thousand Americans die by their own hand, most of them as a result of depression or bipolar. The true figure is probably many times higher. Depression is a disease that afflicts the human psyche in such a way that the afflicted tend to act and react abnormally toward others and themselves. Therefore, it comes to no surprise to discover that adolescent depression is strongly linked to teen suicide. Adolescent suicide is now responsible for more deaths in youth.s aged 15 to 19 than cardiovascular disease or cancer. Despite this increased suicide rate, depression in this age group is greatly under diagnosed and leads to serious difficulties in school, work and personal adjustment, which may often continue into adulthood. (Brown 1996) has said the reason why depression is often over looked in children and adolescents is because “children are not always able to express how they feel.” Sometimes the symptoms of mood disorders take on different forms in children than in adults. Adolescence is a time of emotional turmoil, mood swings, gloomy thoughts, and heightened sensitivity. It is a time of rebellion and experimentation. (Blackman 1996) observed that the “challenge is to identify depressive symptomatology which may be superimposed on the backdrop of a more transient, but expected, developmental storm.”

Depression is a psychiatric disorder characterized by feelings of worthlessness, guilt, sadness, helplessness, and hopelessness. It is different then normal sadness or grief from the loss of a loved one because it is persistent and severe. Clinical depression has many related symptoms trouble sleeping, eating disorders, withdrawal and inactivity, self-punishment, and loss of pleasure. People that are depressed do not like to do things they may usually like to.

Surveys show that approximately 20 in 100 people suffer from depression at any one time. About one in four Americans will suffer from a depression over the course of their lifetime. Depression strikes men and women of all ages, in all races, but most studies indicate that women are more often afflicted.

There are two major forms of depression that people get. One form is called depressive disorder. It is diagnosed only by episodes of depression. Episodes can be short or long but are usually brought about by an incident in a persons life. An example of this is if someone close to them dies. The other kind is called bipolar or manic depressive illness, it is recognized by alternating depressed and manic episodes. This is an actual brain dysfunction. In the major depression or the depressed phase of bipolar illness, a depressed mood predominates, even though the patient may not be aware of feeling sad. Typically, he or she loses all interest in activities. Symptoms include sleep disturbances, not able to concentrate or to make decisions, loss of appetite or greatly increased appetite, slowed thinking , decreased energy feelings of worthlessness, guilt, hopelessness, diminished sexual interest and recurrent thoughts of suicide and death, sometimes leading a person to actually committing suicide. In the manic phase of bipolar disorder the patients behavior is bizarre and sometimes obnoxious. Symptoms of this are the person being hyper and perceiving lots of energy, they talk a lot, racing thoughts and a decreased need for sleep. In this stage it is very hard to recognize. Both depressive and bipolar disorders run in families. Meaning if your father or mother had it you have a high chance of getting it yourself. Most people who are depressed are women. They may be biologically induced depression. Meaning that there is a lack of or too much of a chemical or protein. Or it may be that women learn social roles that favor feelings of helplessness. Because women in trouble are more likely to seek professional assistance than men, statistics report that more people who are depressed are mostly women.

Antidepressant medications are widely used, effective treatments for depression. Existing antidepressant drugs are known to influence the functioning of certain neurotransmitters (chemicals used by brain cells to communicate), primarily serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine, known as monoamines. Older medications – tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) and monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) – affect the activity of both of these neurotransmitters simultaneously. Their disadvantage is that they can be difficult to tolerate due to side effects or, in the case of MAOIs, dietary and medication restrictions. Newer medications, such as the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), have fewer side effects than the older drugs, making it easier for patients to adhere to treatment. Both generations of medications are effective in relieving depression, although some people will respond to one type of drug, but not another. Medications that take entirely different approaches to treating depression are now in development. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), although not generally used as a first-line treatment, is one of the effective treatments for severe depression. Psychotherapy is also effective for treating depression. Certain types of psychotherapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and interpersonal therapy (IPT), have been shown to be particularly useful. More than 80 percent of people with depression improve when they receive appropriate treatment with med