1.1 Introduction:
Depression is commonly understood as an individual’s feelings of sadness or a general undermining of the individuals normal functioning which has a direct effect on the individual themselves and also their family and friends. A man by the name of Hippocrates, who was described as the father of western medicine, initially described an individual’s low mood as “Melancholia”. Hippocrates described melancholia as having specific mental and also physical symptoms. In its 2400 year history, the term melancholia has changed its meaning numerous times. The term melancholia was often used as a very broad term by Greco-Roman antiquity to describe individual’s states which today may be deemed as “schizophrenic”. The term melancholia was taken from the Latin transliteration of the Greek term melancholia. In Greece the term described a mental disorder which involved continuous low mood and also feelings of fear which sometimes meant “biliousness” and in medical speech this term described “nervous” or “crazy” behaviour. The term was taken from the words melaina chole, when translated into Latin it is astra bilis and in English is black bile (Medicalnewstoday.com, 2009).
The affect, mood or emotions caused by being depressed or melancholy is well known to humans for thousands of years. It was once believed that clinical depression did not have as broad of a range of symptoms when compared to melancholia. Symptoms of melancholia include despondency, dejection, general sadness, fear, anger, obsessions and also delusions. It is believed that Abraham Lincoln had suffered from melancholia which today is known more commonly as clinical depression (Medicalnewstoday, 2009).
The number of individuals suffering from depression is not exa...
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... anxiety (Fava et al., 1997; Flint & Rifat, 1997; Davidson et al., 2002).
A recent large-scale multicentre study of potential predictive factors related to TRD took place in Europe and displayed 5 main clinical predictors in order of their strength (1) current suicidal risk (2) comorbid anxiety disorder (3) gender (4) seasonal pattern (5) non-response to first antidepressant lifetime (Oswald et al., 2005). Non-psychiatric co-morbidities have been discovered to be predictors of TRD (Iosifescu et al., 2004). It was discovered that patients suffering from increased levels of serum cholesterol do not respond as well with Fluoxetine treatment when compared to patients with normal levels of cholesterol (Sonawalla et al., 2002). Late-life depression has been linked to comorbid somatic disorders such as circulatory problems, arthritis or skin problems (Oslin et al., 2002).
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...
American researchers and clinicians often overlook culturally distinct symptoms because Americans classify depression in terms that might contradict the standards of other cultures. Kitanaka introduced two ideas: Endogenous Depression and typus melancholicus. Endogenous depression is a “crippling type of psychosis believed to be caused by a genetic abnormality” (Watters 520). It was compared to an internal ticking time bomb that would go off let depression run its course. Introduced by Hubert Tellenbach, Typus melancholicus was a personality type that fit the behavior of Japanese individuals.
Misery loves company and in Melville's "Bartleby the Scrivener", Bartleby exhibits traits of depression and catatonic schizophrenia as defined in the DSM-IV; however the narrator's other employees also show symptoms of catatonia either influenced by Bartleby or by Melville's own mental state. The theme of mental disorder is prominent throughout the text and a close analysis of specific passages in concordance with the DSM-IV will first reveal how Bartleby exemplifies these mental disorders and secondly show to what extent the entire story serves to personify them.
The name schizophrenia is derived from "schizo", which means splitting of the mind (Tsuang 11), and "phrenia" which is derived from the phrenic area which is just above the kidneys where the diaphragm is located. It is a structure innervated by the phrenic nerve. The Greeks and others assumed that the phrenic area was the seat of thought or at least feelings (Berle 12).
There are several people every year that are diagnosed with a mental disorder. In the world’s entire population, more than one percent of people have been diagnosed with schizophrenia (Brain and Behavior Research Foundation). When thinking of the billions of people in the world, it might not seem like that many people but once the number of those diagnosed is calculated it seems much larger. Currently there are more than seventy million people in the world that have been diagnosed with schizophrenia, only diagnosed. There are probably several more people who have this disorder and have not been diagnosed or are unable to obtain the resources to be diagnosed.
Lesley Stevens and Ian Rodin justified the need of acquisition to the mental disorders’ aetiology in their book “Psychiatry”. They pointed out the fact that psychiatrists need to be familiar with the contribution of a particular disorder in order to make a more confident in the diagnosis. Knowing the aetiology of psychotic disorder is as important as the diagnosis. For the simple reason that psychotic disorders do not have particular tests that can be made for diagnosis; on the contrary, physical illnesses do. Knowing the probability of patients vulnerability to a particular disorder helps in the diagnosis. They gave an example explaining that the probability of having angina is more likely in a 60-year-old male smoker rather than a 30 year-old female non-smoker. Although the causes of schizophrenia remains incompletely reveled, research has shown strong factors that might contribute to the disorder. The factors that increase the risk of schizophrenia include: genetics, environmental factors, and some encephalon(brain) abnormalities.
Hippocrates, a Greek physician, said that the traits and mental illness had to do with the balance of body fluids called humours. There were four of these humours: yellow bile, black bile, phlegm and blood. Hippocrates thought that melancholia was caused by too much black bile in the spleen. He used bloodletting (a supposedly therapeutic technique which removed blood from the body), bathing, exercise, and dieting to treat the depression. The famous Roman philosopher and statesman Cicero argued that melancholia was caused by vi...
The treatment of the mentally ill started back in the far past. In 400 BC, Hippocrates, who was a Greek physician, treated mental illness as diseases of disturbed physiology, and not displeasure of the Gods or demonic possession ("Timeline: Treatments for," ). Greek medical writers found treatments such as quiet, occupation, and the use of a drug called purgative hellebore ("Timeline: Treatments for,”). During these times, family members took care of the mentally ill ("Timeline: Treatments for,”). In the middle Ages, the Europeans let the mentally ill have their freedom, as long as they were not dangerous ("Timeline: Treatments for,”). The mentally ill were also seen as witches who were possessed by demons ("Timeline: Treatments for,”). In 1407, the first mental illness establishment was made in Valencia, Spain ("Timeline: Treatments for,”).
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.
Every time someone mentions mental illness, many things come to their mind. One of the many mental illnesses known worldwide and one of the most common is mental depression; although it is common not many people know much about it, besides the superficial information. Depression is one of the oldest mental illnesses, dating back to ancient Greece (Fava, M., & Kendler, K.S.) Depression is more than just being upset; it is a major illness everyone should know more about. It has many names such as Depression, Major Depressive Disorder, Clinical Depression, Chronic Depression, etc., that sound similar; because of the different names people assume there are different. There are different types of depression, but they all fall under the same criteria.
“In depressive disorders, sadness and despondency are exaggerated, prolonged, or unreasonable. Signs of a depressive disorder are dejection, hopelessness, and an inability to feel pleasure or to take interest in anything. Other common symptoms are fatigue,...
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.
Unearthed skulls dating back to 6500 BCE have been discovered by archeologists to have large holes drilled into the sides of them. (1) The purpose of the drilling was to release the demon spirits that ruled inside these unfortunate beings. (2) The thought at the time was that strange, disruptive, or unexplainable behaviors demonstrated by individuals was a direct consequence of demons controlling the persons soul. These behaviors were seen not as a medical condition of any kind, but primarily relating to bad morals. There are Biblical references that Jesus cast out devils in those demonstrating irrational or crazed behaviors. Of course there are also Biblical reference that describe maniacal behavior that Jesus also healed and those individual were thought to simply be ill.
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...
Depression is much more common than most people think. Because it is essentially an invisible illness and is largely in the mind, it is difficult to correctly diagnose it and most people suffer for months, years, or even decades with depression. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines depression as “a mood disorder marked especially by sadness, inactivity, difficulty with thinking and concentration, a significant increase or decrease in appetite and time spent sleeping, feelings of dejection and hopelessness, and sometimes suicidal thoughts or an attempt to commit suicide.” Most medical definitions are able to explain what happens and why it does, but after carefully examining this one, we only notice that it explains what happens, but not why. Usually, the symptoms of an illness are...