Depression is a serious mental illness that can affect a person’s health. Depression is defined as a serious medical condition where a person feels really sad, hopeless, unimportant, and unable to live in a normal way. Depression is one of the most common illnesses. Depression can happen to anyone regardless of age, race, gender, socioeconomic standing. According to the book “Everything You Need to Know About Depression” it states, “Depression affects 20 percent of all woman, 10 percent of all men, and 5 percent of all adolescents worldwide” (Ayer 7). Depression is a mental illness that affects the way a person thinks, behave, and feel. Depression can hit a person at anytime. It can be out of the blue sometimes even when things are going well. Normally the feeling blue for a day can turn into weeks then months. A person who develops depression may be confused at first and not know what they are dealing with. Depression changes a persons feelings and their outlook on the world. A person who is depressed may tend to cry on a daily basis or seem sad. Also the person might be distant, Things that bought the person pleasure before depression may not make them happy anymore. Symptoms of depression can …show more content…
In the article “Depression Physical Effects: Weight Gain, Fatigue, Pain, Insomnia” it states, “Abnormal functioning of brain messengers (neurotransmitters) such as serotonin can alter your pain threshold. This means you become more sensitive to pain, especially back pain. Serotonin also affects sleep and lowers sex drive -- nearly half of everybody with depression has problems with sex” (Depression Physical Effects: Weight Gain, Fatigue, Pain, Insomnia Web). Most elders feel that the reason for their physical health being poor is age but also most of the time depression can be the reason. Many people don’t realize seriousness of depression. Usually people overlook
Depression is feeling low. Dont feel good about self and unhappiness. Mood changes include feelings of guilt and worthless, being sad for a period of time, and become disinterested in things they enjoyed or liked. Some behavior changes are suicide thoughts, eating or sleeping more or less, can`t concentrate, and poor performance in school work or job.
Additionally, the older a person gets the more urgent it is to acquire if one has or is prone to depression, because according to The National Institute of Mental Health, depression, especially in midlife or older adults, can co-occur with other serious medical illnesses, such as diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and Parkinson’s disease, so in turn these conditions are often worse when depression is present. Depression can also cause physical symptoms, because certain brain chemicals or neurotransmitters influence both mood and pain; these symptoms may include joint pain, back pain, gastrointestinal problems, sleep disturbances, and appetite changes and the symptoms may also be accompanied by slowed speech and movements. (“What is Depression?” Page 4.) It is often known that many people will consult with multiple doctors to figure out why their habits and moods have so drastically changed when in fact they can potentially have clinical
Although historically depression has been considered a character condition, evidence has accumulated suggesting the role of a biological substrate, namely serotonin, in subgroups of depressed patients. This accumulated evidence supports the indoleamine hypothesis of depression, which suggests that major depression results from a deficiency of available serotonin or inefficient serotonin. (16). We see that depletions of serotonin from certain regions of the brain such as the hypothalamus, amygdala, and cortical areas involved in cognition and other high processes, can have a great impact in contributing to depression.
Depression: Cause or Effect? Depression supplies a distinct depiction of the brain, equals behavior theory. The physiological characteristics that taint the diseased brain directly impact the thoughts and behaviors of the millions of sufferers. The genesis of this dehabilitating problem is both mysterious and complicated, and I am not offering any sort of revelation in stating that it is a multi-factorial manifestation involving both biological and environmental components.
Major Depressive Disorder, which is also referred to as Clinical Depression, is a disorder caused when low serotonin levels, that suppress pain perception and are often found in the pineal gland at the center of the brain, promote low levels of norepinephrine, a monoamine neurotransmitter that controls cognitive ability. This disabling disorder interferes with a person’s daily life as it prevents one from performing normal functions, such as eating, sleeping, interacting, or enjoying once pleasurable activities. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, the common symptoms of Major Depressive Disorder are continued feelings of anxiety, worthlessne...
Depression is a mood disorder causing a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest. The cause of depression is not always chemical imbalances. It is a more complex disorder, where individuals do not understand the disease have to consider depression could be from a medical condition, trauma, life circumstances, and genetic vulnerability.
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.
Late life depression affects about 7 million Americans 65 and older, but only 10 percent seek out and receive treatment (Depression in the Elderly: Symptoms, Causes, Treatments). Depression symptoms are different for every individual and sometimes the elderly can confuse mental illness to be side effects of medications they are currently taking. Medications such as steroids, benzodiazepines, and beta blockers may cause symptoms of depression. Also end of life changes such as loss of independence, being alone, and grief from a loss of a spouse are commonly linked to depression of the elderly. As individuals grow in age, neurotransmitters associated with well-being and happiness such as serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine begins to diminish (Elderly Depression: Depression and
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...
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).
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.
People suffering from depression may also experience fatigue, decreased activity and/or ineffective activity. Suffers have a hard time concentrating and making
There are many people in the world who are struggling with the disease depression. Depression is the state in which a person feels very sad, hopeless and unimportant. The thing about depression is that it affects both genders and any ages. Depression is something that deserves full attention. For many reasons doctors believe that when a person has depression, they have to start taking medication for it as if medications help. People are becoming more dependent on antidepressants when there are other techniques for dealing with depression.
Many people feel apprehensive and miserable every now and then, but when does it take over their whole lives? Losing a loved one, doing poorly in school or work, being bullied and other hardships might lead a person to feel sad, lonely, scared, nervous and/or anxious. Some people experience this on an everyday basis, sometimes even or no reason at all. Those people might have an anxiety disorder, depression, or both. It is highly likely for someone with an anxiety disorder to also be suffering from depression, or the other way around. 50% of those diagnosed with depression are also diagnosed with an anxiety disorder.
According to Psychology Information Online, depression is a psychological condition that changes how a person thinks and feels, and it also affects their social behavior and sense of physical well being. Depression has been called a "whole body" illness because of the many things the illness affects.