Mental Depression Essay ⋆ Essays on Controversial Topics ⋆ EssayEmpire

Moods or emotions change with experience and environment, sometimes reflecting happiness and other times sadness. In emotionally healthy individuals, moods are controllable, but for people with mental depression, the mood itself is in control of both body and thoughts. Mental depression is a mood disorder characterized by specific symptoms that typically occur due to chemical alterations in normal brain functioning. Mentioned throughout history, depression harks back at least since the days of the Old Testament, when King Saul was said to have suffered from it, causing him to take his own life. The most common and readily identifiable symptom of a depressed person is sadness, melancholy, or despair; however, a person with clinical depression experiences more than transient sadness. Oftentimes it is a sense of exhaustion or a lack of any energy at all that signals the onset of mental depression.

Mental depression is one of the clinically distinct depressive disorders. As a clinically defined disorder, its criteria is identified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Psychiatric Disorders, 4th edition (DSM-IV) with specific questionnaires and diagnostic interview techniques available for therapists, doctors, and other mental health specialists to employ in an effort to identify clinical mental depression. Two important diagnostic features are severity and duration of symptoms. For a person to be diagnosed with severe depression, the symptoms must exist for more than 2 weeks and can be recurring or single episodes. Subtypes of major depressive disorders include depression with melancholy (loss of interest or pleasure in activities), depression with atypical features like weight gain or hypersomnia (sleeping to excessive amounts), or depression with psychotic features like hallucinations or delusions. Other types of depressive disorders include long-term mild depression called dysthymia; bipolar disorder, in which moods cycle from elation to depression; post-partum depression, which occurs after the birth of a child; and depression that accompanies menstrual cycles, more commonly known as premenstrual syndrome or PMS.

Causes of Depression

Depression can occur as a primary diagnosis or secondary to a medical disorder like hypothyroidism, the ingestion of drugs for medicinal or recreational use, or as the reaction to a chronic medical diagnosis. Chronic anxiety, poor sleep habits, and drug use with prescription and illicit drugs can produce mental depression. Excessive use of alcohol or other mood-altering drugs could also signal the individual’s attempt to self-medicate against the feelings of depression.

Some psychosocial contributors to depression can be life events, environments, and interpersonal relationships. Long-lasting stress or extremely stressful events can precipitate a depressive episode. Familial psychopathology, or psychological disease patterns existing in families, affects an individual’s ability to respond to stressors and recover from, or adjust to, stressful events. Personality types and genetic factors are also determinants.

Depression and anxiety are often a coexisting diagnosis. According to the National Comorbidity Survey (U.S.), 58 percent of Americans diagnosed with major depression also suffered from anxiety disorders.

Prevalence of Depression

Among Americans 18 years and older, in any given year nearly 21 million (9.5 percent) have a diagnosed mood disorder, with the daily activities of nearly 15 million of them impacted. Major depressive disorder constitutes a prime contributor to disability for individuals between the ages of 15 and 44. More than 6 million men and 12 million women suffer from depression, but men are 4 times more likely to commit suicide because of depression. Some theories hold that depression is an inheritable trait. Physical changes, such as pregnancy, aging, stroke, chronic disease, or heart attack, can also be accompanied by mental changes. Children diagnosed with depression should be treated by psychiatrists or therapists who specialize in the treatment of children.

Common symptoms include persisting sadness, anxiety, or emptiness that may be accompanied by thoughts of victimization, helplessness, hopelessness, and/or worthlessness. The person might lose interest in activities that were once important or complain of lack of energy or inability to concentrate. Physical symptoms that do not resolve despite treatment, thoughts and ideations of suicide or death, and/ or extreme sleepiness or insomnia are other indicators of depression.

Treatment of Depression

Long- and short-term therapies are available for individuals diagnosed with some form of mental depression. Approaches can be behavioral (concentrating on changing specific behaviors); cognitive (concentrating on thought processes); or a combination of the two, called cognitive-behavioral therapy. Other treatment can include medications, hospitalization, and/or ECT (electro-convulsive therapy).

Most medications that treat depression must be taken regularly over time to achieve a therapeutic effect, and many should not be stopped abruptly because the body may have a negative reaction. Some individuals may require a combination of medications in order to achieve the desired effect. Those persons diagnosed with chronic major depression or bipolar disease should understand that the need for medication may continue indefinitely. Some patients may be placed on anticonvulsant therapy, known to be effective in treating mood disorders.

Despite the fact that most people suffering from depression do not seek medical help, depression is a treatable disease. Depression is not an indication of emotional weakness or a condition that can be willed away. Without treatment, depression becomes a chronic disease that affects all aspects of the individual’s daily activities. Families can support a person with depression by assisting him or her to get the appropriate help, diagnosis, and treatment for the disease; seeking additional family support; and learning how to provide patient, consistent emotional support. Talk of suicide should never be taken lightly or ignored. Engaging the person in conversation and recreational activities will help demonstrate affection and emotional support. Research demonstrates that, with treatment, people with depression can and do get better and live productive lives.

Bibliography:

Harvard University. 2005. Questions and Answers about the National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCSR) Study. Retrieved March 29, 2017 (https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/ncsr-study/questions-and-answers-about-the-national-comorbidity-survey-replication-ncsr-study.shtml).
Kaplan, H. I. and B. J. Sadock. 2002. Kaplan and Sadock’s Synopsis of Psychiatry: Behavioral Sciences/Clinical Psychiatry. 9th ed. Philadelphia: Lippencott Williams and Wilkins.
Kessler, R. C., W. T. Chiu, O. Demler, and E. E. Walters. 2005. “Prevalence, Severity, and Comorbidity of 12-Month DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R).” Archives of General Psychiatry 62(6):590-92.
National Institute of Mental Health. 2000. “Depression.” Retrieved March 25, 2017 (https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/depression/index.shtml).
National Institute of Mental Health. 2006. “The Numbers Count: Mental Disorders in America.” Retrieved March 25, 2017 (http://www.lb7.uscourts.gov/documents/12-cv-1072url2.pdf).

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