Depression: Out of the Shadows
Depression: Out of the Shadows (2008), is a PBS documentary addressing depression, its effects on the human psyche, and treatment options. Depression affects people differently, depending on the severity and type of depression experienced. There are several different types of depression, ranging from mild depression, which is only experienced over short periods of time, teen depression, experienced during adolescence, hidden depression, when the depression is hidden from others, postpartum depression, experienced after giving birth, and clinical depression, a continued depression lasting several weeks or more. The video also discusses the related illness called Bipolar disorder, which is characterized by extreme mood swings. The symptoms experienced with depression range in severity and vary with each diagnosis. Symptoms may include loss of memory, mood swings, and feelings of anguish, despair, guilt, isolation, and thoughts of suicide. People with depression may experience physiological symptoms such as, heaviness in the bones or chest pain. Depression, in all its forms, has a high hereditary link, but can be triggered by environmental factors such as a death of a loved one or childhood trauma. The treatment for depression is a trial and error process. Some sufferers respond to outpatient therapy, while others may need additional treatment with anti-depressants, in-patient treatment centers, or long-term residential facilities. Recent studies by Neuroscientists, Dr. J. Giedd and Dr. B.J. Casey, have found the frontal lobe of the brain, which controls emotions, does not mature until a person reaches their mid-twenties. This, combined with higher activity in the Amygdala, may contribute to the highe...
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...e suffering from schizophrenia. Often time’s, people with schizophrenia are surrounded with such powerfully negative stigmas; they are not able to overcome them to be able to succeed in life. Educating people about this disease so they can better understand people who have it is the most salient aspect of Saks presentation (Saks).
References
Mclean, M. 2011. Anxiety Disorders, Films On Demand. Films Media Group. Retrieved from http://digital.films.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?aid=4064&xtid=48958
PBS Distribution. 2008. Depression:Out of the Shadows, Films On Demand. Films Media Group. Retrieved from http://digital.films.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?aid=4064&xtid=41085
Saks, E. 2008. TedTalks: Elyn Saks—a Tale of Mental Illness…from the inside, Films On Demand. Films Media Group. Retrieved from http://digital.films.com/PortalPlaylists. aspx?aid=4064&xtid=53006
Depression is considered a mental disorder that can lead an individual to commit suicide, experiment fatal risk that can injure his or her life. Furthermore, an individual feeling depressed lacks motivation to do anything progressive with his or her life. With that said, these individuals sometime gives up interest in activities that were once enjoyable, gets in a phase were he or she loses appetite, begins to overeat, loses concentration on what he or she is trying to complete, and becomes indecisiveness. Moreover, depression is a condition that makes an individual feel miserable, have no motivation to any activity that can influence his or her views, actions, welfare. Furthermore, depressed individuals at times may feel sad, apprehensive, desperate, destitute, useless, awkward, short-tempered, and agitated. In addition, the melancholy of depression is categorized by a greater concentration and length that is attached to severe symptoms. According to Wedding & Corsini (2014) states, “Physical disease, severe and acute stress, and chronic stress area also precipitating factors” (Pp. 240) of an individu...
It is hard to comprehend how and why people lose their sanity and become mad. I will address how the mind’s struggles caused by individual genes, stress and social-cultural influence affect the lives of Naomi, a 24-year-old college student with schizophrenia and Eric, a 27-year-old classical musician with severe depression. Their thoughts and behavior surprised me as this is my first time exposed to what these mental illnesses are. The relation between the mind and the body and the fact that the emotions affect the functioning of the body and vice versa explains the how and why a person become insane.
The ‘me’ becomes a haze, and the solid center from which one experiences reality breaks up like a bad radio signal. (Saks, p. 13)” These words are the description of schizophrenia, written by a woman who was diagnosed with schizophrenia, Elyn Saks. Her book, The Center Cannot Hold, is the memoir of Sak’s own life experience and her struggle with schizophrenia, or as she puts it, her journey through madness. Although her journey did not lead to a full recovery, as is the case with many individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia, Saks was able to live and maintain a life, despite her very negative prognosis.
Smith, Claude J., Jr. “Finding a Warm Place for Someone We Know: the Cultural Appeal of Recent Mental Patient and Asylum Films.” Journal of Popular Film
Schizophrenia is perhaps one of the most treaded mental disorders, and often confused with multiple personality disorder, which is now known as dissociative identity disorder (DID). With hallucinations, false senses of reality, and delusions, paranoid thoughts that have no basis in reality, schizophrenia is the truly terrifying to not only those around the patient, but to the patient themself. For Professor Elyn Saks, a professor of law, psychiatry, and psychology at the University of Southern California, this comes as no surprise. As a chronic schizophrenic, Professor Saks recalled one of her worst psychotic episodes, which occurred shortly after her New Haven analyst, Dr. White, revealed to her that he was closing his practice. Saks described the news to be shattering, and the trigger to her psychotic episode. Saks continues to describe the psychotic episode, telling the audience hat her best friend flew out to be with her. Saks begins to quote from her writings: "...[f]or a week or more, I had barely eaten. I was gaunt. I walked
4) Dealing with the Depths of Depression , Nordenberg, Liora. "Dealing with the Depths of Depression." HealingWell.com. 26 Oct. 2003, pp 4-6.
Through my extensive research on depression I have learned a lot of new things. I have learned about the many forms of depression and treatment for depression. I have also learned a little about what is believed to go on chemically in the brain of a clinically depressed person. I was also able to partially determine what sort of role genetics, chemicals and personal influences in the brain. Though I was unable to determine exactly how environmental and personal stress can cause a chemical imbalance in a person, I was even able to speculate about this issue and determine some theories of my own on why and how this may happen.
Schizophrenia is a behavioural disorder that affects both men and woman. It involves a difficulty in telling the different between real and imagined experiences. The disorder usually sees its onset in teen years or young adulthood. It is often referred to as a type of split personality or multiple personality disorder. Oftentimes people with this condition find themselves socially isolated mainly because people with this condition find it difficult to make normal social responses and have generally disorganized minds. The irritability caused by living with a mind that feels confused much of the time often causes feelings of depression, anxiety and sometimes suicidal thoughts. With treatment many people manage to function well with this affliction, however others are find it difficult and this leads to many other social problems. In this essay I hope to explore some first person accounts of living and dealing with schizophrenia, as well examining some popular texts about culture and scholarly but non medical texts that look at schizophrenia. Such a complex illness and its patients have become the study and focus of many different disciplines over the years so this will allow me to pull information from other non medical disciplines, giving a more ‘real-life’ account of the condition.
Depression is an equal opportunity disorder, it can affect any group of people with any background, race, gender, or age. Depression is a sneak thief that slips quietly and gradually into people’s lives - robbing them of their time, and their focus. At first, depression may be undetectable, but in the long run a person could become so weighed down that their life may feel empty and meaningless. Contrary to popular belief, not everyone who commits suicide is depressed, but majority of people who commits suicide do so during a severe depressive episode. There are over 300 million people in the world today who suffer from depression. Depression has affected people for a long as records have been kept. It was first called out by the famous Greek philosopher Hippocrates over 2,400 years ago. Hippocrates called it “melancholia”. Many times we think of depression as one disorder alone, when in fact there are many different types of depression. The different types of depression are major depressive disorder, dysthymic disorder, atypical disorder, adjustment disorder, and depressive personality disorder. All types of depression share at least one common symptom. It is commons from the person who suffers from any form of depression to feel an unshakable sadness, anxious, or empty mood. Major depressive disorder also known as unipolar depression or recurrent depressive disorder is the most severe depressive disorder out of all of the depressive in my estimation. Major depressive disorder is a condition in which affects a person’s family, work or school life, sleeping, eating and general health. It is important to emphasize that we can understand the mechanics of this disorder and how it affects people with major depressive disorder.
Schizophrenia is a psychologic disorder with symptoms of different mixtures of delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thinking and markedly disorganized or catatonic behavior (Bergsholm, 2016). The main theme in the movie “Black Swan” is to show the process of a normal person to become a schizophrenia patient. The main character, Nina, is a ballet dancer and she is in a very competitive ballet company. As the movie goes on, she gradually appears the symptoms of hallucination, paranoid delusion, self-mutilation, aggressive behavior, hostility and suicide attempt (Velligan, Alphs, 2008). The actions of Nina has clearly shown that Nina is experiencing schizophrenia. Therefore, the movie “Black Swan” is accurately representing schizophrenia with concrete details and images.
Depression is an illness within itself that affects the “whole body”. (Staywell,1998) The body, feelings, thoughts, and behavior are all immensely altered when someone is depressed. It is not a sign of personal weakness, or a condition that can be wished or willed away. For some people depression is just temporary, but for others it can last for weeks, months and even years.
Depression is a serious mental health illness which affects an individuals’ mind, body and mood. It is a chronic and lifelong health condition (NICE, 2006) thought to be caused by a number of biological factors including neurotransmitter disturbances in the brain and an element of genetic vulnerability; these are often in addition to psychosocial factors such as the occurrence of undesirable life events, limited social network options, poor self esteem and the occurrence of any adverse life events during a persons’ lifetime (Bernstein, 2006). Depression can have an impact on a persons’ ability to do many things including working, engaging with others, participating fully in family life or maintaining relationships, and it can also impact on a person...
The biologic basis of Clinical Depression originates in the brain. Your brain is made up of a complex network of nerve cells, called neurons and of brain chemicals, called neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters transmit messages from one neuron to another. Two of these neurotransmitters are not produced in sufficient quantities in a depressed person’s brain. Because of this lack, too few messages get transmitted between neurons and the symptoms of depression occur. In Clinical depression the chemicals in the brain are out-of-balance. New technology allows researchers to take pictures of the brain that show activity levels in the brain. These imaging techniques such as f-MRI and PET scan actually create images of how active different parts of the brain are. Some studies with these kinds of techniques have suggested that the patterns of activation in the brains of depressed people are different than those who are not. These tests can help doctors and researchers learn more about depression and other mental illnesses. Since this research is fairly new, it is not yet used to diagnose clinical depression.
Depression is well known for its mental or emotional symptoms. Symptoms for depression include: persistently sad or unhappy mood, loss of interest or pleasure in previously enjoyable activities, difficulty concentrating, remembering, making decisions, anxiety, feelings of guilt, worthlessness, helplessness, and thoughts of death or dying. “People who have endured a major depressive episode describe the experience as a descent into t...
People with depression may oversleep or sleep for fewer hours. Depression also influences one’s energy levels, regardless of the amount of sleep. Some depressed people may become nervous and easily agitated, pacing rapidly or constantly fidgeting. Many experience extreme lethargy, losing motivation and will to carry on. An incredibly common feeling is depression is the feeling of a burden too great. This may be standards of other people, social anxiety, or traumatic experiences. Depressed people may also have difficulty thinking, poor concentration, and problems with memory. The feelings of worthlessness, helplessness, guilt, and self-blame are those among the most commonly recorded. This leads to the major influence of depression on the world, suicidal thoughts and actions. At least fifteen percent of seriously depressed people commit suicide, successfully. In return, ninety percent of people who kill themselves have depression or a mental illness in relation to depression. In some severe cases, people with depression experience psychotic symptoms, including delusions and