Depression is a mental health condition that causes feelings of sadness, loss, anger and/or frustration that interferes with daily life from days, to weeks, or months. It’s also known that depression can change the way you see yourself, other people, and life. There isn’t an exact cause for depression yet but it’s believed that chemical changes in the brain are the source. It can also be in your genes, but it’s thought that it could be both chemical changes and in your genes. Any person of any age can develop depression. Certain causes include: alcohol or drug abuse, medical conditions such as underactive thyroid, cancer, or chronic pain, medications (ex: steroids,) sleeping problems, and stressful live events including—but not limited to—death, …show more content…
(Dryden-Edwards, 2014) Personally, I know when I’m depressed when waking up in the morning because increasingly more difficult in the sense that I feel as if there is no reason for me to be awake. Other signs of depression (especially in me) is consistent jokes about death. People who show signs of depression may tend to bring the dark side of life into anything that they can grasp it to. This also includes—but not limited to, “--threatening to hurt others, becoming irritable or taking excessive risks, giving away personal belongings, or otherwise settling personal affairs.” (Dryden-Edwards, …show more content…
There are documents written by “healers, philosophers, and writers throughout the ages point to the long-standing existence of depression as a health problem, and the continuous and sometimes ingenious struggles people have made to find effective ways to treat this illness.”.. said (RASHMI NEMADE, 2007). Depression was once called “melancholia.” It was in ancient Mesopotamian texts in the second millennium B.C. This place was “an ancient region in the eastern Mediterranean bounded in the northeast by the Zagros Mountains and in the southeast by the Arabian Plateau, corresponding to today’s Iraq, mostly, but also parts of modern-day Iran, Syria and Turkey.” (Mark, 2009) Anyway, mental illnesses at that time were attributed to being possessed by demons (which I find sadly kind of accurate.) Apparently, the “first historical understanding of depression was thus that depression was a spiritual (or mental) illness rather than a physical one.” (RASHMI NEMADE, 2007) Long story short, throughout time ancient Greek and Roman literature had plenty of demonic references in regards to mental illnesses. “In the 5th century B.C., the Greek historian Herodotus wrote about a king who was driven mad by evil spirits.” (RASHMI NEMADE, 2007) Chinese, Babylonian, and Egyptian civilizations all decided on demonic possession but used exorcism techniques such as beatings, restraint, and
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Show MoreDepression is a mood disorder that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest (ManiMala, 2016), which can negatively affects how you feel, the way you think and how you act. Depression causes feelings of sadness and/or a loss of interest in activities once enjoyed, which can lead to emotional and physical problems and can decrease a person’s ability to function at work and at home (Parekh, 2015). The symptoms of depression can range from mild to severe and include: feeling sad or having a depressed mood, loss of interest or pleasure in activities once enjoyed, changes in appetite trouble sleeping or sleeping too much, loss of energy or increased fatigue, increase in restless activity, feeling worthless or guilty, difficulty thinking, concentrating or making decisions and thoughts of death or suicide (Weis,
The exact causes of depression seem to differ immensely, but there are some who believe that it maybe caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain, or that it may even be hereditary. Still there are others who believe that it is a combination of social, biological, emotional, psychological, and economical influences that may cause someone who has no family history of depression to develop even a mild case of depression.
Depression is a psychological disorder that affects an individual’s mood. According to (Moragne, 2011 pg. 16) depression is a mood disorder caused by a combination of biological, psychological and environmental factors that will affect a person’s mind and body. Mood disorders affect a person’s mental, social and physical well-being and this can have major effects on the individual. Under (DSM-IV-TR cited in, American Psych...
Evidence shows that Major Depression Disorder has been around four thousands of years. In the fourth century BC, Hippocrates referred to a group of symptoms including loss of appetite, insomnia, flat affect, and irritability as melancholia (Jackson). Taking accountability of melancholia appeared in ancient Mesopotamian texts in the second millennium B.C. At this time, any mental illness had something to do with the demons. It had to be checked by the priests. The first time that there was an understanding of depression it was truly considered more of a spiritual illness caused by demons rather than a physical illness. Ancient Greeks and Romans put taught about the causes of melancholia. For example in the 5th century B.C., Herodotus wrote about a king who was driven mad by evil spirits. Even early Babylonian, Chinese, and Egyptian civilizations point of view also related to mental illness, and used exorcism techniques (such as beatings, restraint, and starvation) which was designed to remove the demons. Roman and Greek doctors thought that depression was both a biological and psychological disease. Gymnastics, massage, special diets, music, and baths would help with the disorder.
Depression is not unique to our culture it is found throughout the world. Mezzich and Raab (1980), report that they found comparable depressive severity's in samples from Austria, Czechoslovakia, England, Germany, Japan, Switzerland and the United States.
Sadness, stress and anxiety are normal in a typical life. But, what happens when sadness feels like it is too strong to deal with, when you cannot think of another way out, when you think the only answer is to take your life? Depression can be one of the many triggers as of why you make be having suicidal thoughts. Depression is not a mood, a phase, a call for attention, or personal weakness. Many times people choose to hide their depression because they feel that people will think they are weak, they do not want people to worry about them or let alone think that they are crazy. But, how will we know to reach out and help them before it is too late? And, is there a way to help save someone who is having suicidal thoughts?
A dysregulation of brain function that controls emotions is called depression ("Depression"). Depression affects teeangers in many ways. This disorder is characterized by negative emotions that are very intense and last a long time. This can cause social, educational, personal, and family issues (Krans). At any given time, 15% of children and adolescents show symptoms of depression (Krans).
Depression is defined as "a state of despondency marked by feelings of powerlessness and hopelessness" (Coon, 2001). Some people can mix up depression with just having the blues because of a couple of bad days or even weeks. It is already said that depression affects about one sixth of the population or more (Doris, Ebmeier, Shajahan, 1999). Depression can happen in any age range from birth to death. The cause of depression is still obscure and becoming clear that a number of diverse factors are likely to be implicated, both genetic and environmental. Some causes are leading stressful lives, genetic factors, a previous depressive episode, and the personality trait neuroticism (Doris, et al., 1999).
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...
As Descartes argued, the mind and the body are the base of our existence, and many different cultures view different illnesses positively or negatively. Certain cultures, like the Hmong, believe that epilepsy is a good spiritual thing, but others, such as Western culture, believe that it is medically bad because it could cause death. Many illnesses can be viewed both negatively and positively, some more than others. However, one such illness that is mostly viewed negatively is depression. It is viewed negatively in a symptomatic sense – the symptoms are useless – and in a diagnostic sense – those diagnosed with depression are not actually depressed and the illness itself does not exist; it is simply an excuse to be lazy. There are many different approaches to depression and most of them consider that this illness is negative; however, depression is actually an evolutionary tactic subconsciously employed by humans that can have very positive effects.
What is depression? Depression is an illness that can take over a person’s life---it can take their happiness and their will to live. This illness can effect adults, teenagers, and even kids. “Depression is an equal opportunity disorder---- it can affect anyone of any group, any background, any race, any gender, and any age. It is the great leveler of all groups and can take the greatest and the smallest of us all and reduce us to the pain and nothingness that is depression (Nydegger 1)”. Depression is an emotion most people may feel they have experienced, but little do they know it’s just the basic emotions we feel. It is important to identify the symptoms of depression, the types of depression, who can get them and how they manifest, in other to be able to treatment them.
Depression affects everyone's life at sometime or another. Depression comes in a wide variety of forms, from mild unhappiness to a chemical imbalance in the mind. There are many different symptoms that reveal a person's problem with depression. If left untreated, depression may continue to develop into a serious illness or even death.
Ever noticed one of your friends was sad, it seemed a little more than just that, that’s depression. Depression is more than just being occasionally sad, this is a serious illness. This illness causes so many to hide from others and feel as though they are worthless. Depression is an illness that has been around for as long as anyone can remember. This illness is in the brain, it is a chemical imbalance that causes a person to become overly sad. Along with this, sometimes they even want to end their life. Although depression is this serious, society takes it and makes it out to look like a way to get attention. This has resulted in not enough being done for people suffering from depression. Depression is a real illness and we need to make
Depression is defined as an illness; the feelings of depression persist and interfere with a child or adolescent’s ability to function. Depression can be a very difficult and painful experience that affects not only the individual suffering from it, but also the people around them. There comes a point in some peoples’ lives where social isolation, low energy, sadness, low self-esteem, and the feeling of hopelessness, cannot be taken anymore. The feelings are so strong and persistent, that the victim becomes severely unhappy, which can then result in depression. 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. However, there are many differences between feeling depressed and actually suffering from depression, the disease. Any person feels depressed at some time or another in their life. They feel worthless, tired and tend to want to be alone without human interaction, this is normal. Depression brings on poor concentration or inability to think and make decisions (Kist 26). Surveys that have been taken that show approximately 20 in 100 people suffer from depression at any one time. About one if 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. Depression comes in many different types: major, manic and dysthymia are a few. A chronic, physical illness, drug habit, death of a loved one; or a problem in a marriage cause major depression. Even though most people with major depression will recover, half will suffer another episode (Hales 38). People with severe cases of major depression can’t work, study, or interact and eventually can’t feed, clothe or clean themselves (Hales 38).Manic depression is a type of depression that goes from a person being extremely happy and then becoming severely depressed (Kist 107). Being in a depressed state can be life threatening. People suffering from manic depression show many symptoms. A few major ones are hyperactivity; talking fast, inability, fear of dying, and jumping from one topic to another during a conversation (Kist 39). Another type is Psychoanalysis. Psychoanaly...
Depression is a condition that affects one in every 10 people sometime during their lifetime. Over 80% of those people do not receive treatment or medication. Many people with depression have factors like obesity, sleep disorders, and lack of education.