Imagine for a moment, that while participating in something that previously provided pleasure, one feels nothing but empty and hopeless. In fact, so much sorrow is felt that it is now a chore to even get out of bed. We have all experienced episodes of disinterest, but what happens when the feeling lingers for long periods of time? Often we simply pass off our behavior as normal in an attempt to convince ourselves that nothing is wrong. Melancholy and attention deficit are common, however, when the behaviors begin to control our lives we must determine the severity of our emotions. While a temporary lack of interest is normal, a continuous state of indifference could be depression. Understanding the treatment options available for depression is crucial in ensuring long-term mental stability because of depression’s impact on relationships, job performance and physical health.
First, we must attempt to understand depression and what signs to look for. Depression is a serious medical illness that affects a person’s thoughts, feelings, behavior, mood and physical health. Depression is not a temporary experience; it is a life-long condition that has periods of wellness alternating with periods of illness. There is a multitude of contributing factors that can cause depression. For example, studies have shown that individuals who are obese have a fifty-five percent increased risk of developing depression. Obesity is a double-edged sword as it can be a contributing factor and symptom of depression; depressed individuals are fifty-eight percent more likely to become obese. This fact is alarming, as the United States has a high rate of obesity. Our western style diets, which contain marginal deficiencies of micronutrients, impact our risk...
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...ailable because of depression’s detrimental impact on our relationships, job performances, and physical health.
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Depression 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,
Clinical depression, which affects about 10% of the adult population (Holtz, Stokes, 1138), is charact...
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...
Depression is also quite an important factor in weight diet and physical activity attitude, behaviors among those with diabetes and obesity. These behaviors are negatively impacted by depression and its symptoms as it has positive reciprocal associations with obesity. Additionally, obesity and depression both have a major impact on costs associated with managing diabetes. While caring for obese patients with diabetes, one should ensure that the patient is free from stress and depression (Dabelea et.al, 2013). The patients should be engaged in activities that make them happy and bring out the positivity out of them. This keeps them happy and their minds away from stress, hence dealing with other health issues like weight loss would be
Depression is a common mental disorder that affects approximately 350 million people worldwide (World Health Organization (WHO), 2014). At its worst, depression may lead to suicide, with an approximate 1 million deaths per year (WHO, 2014). Since depression is a mood disorder, it can affect many aspects of health, and it may prevent older adults from enjoying life (Public Health Agency of Canada, 2010). Older adults living with depression may suffer from sleep disturbances, aches and pains, fatigue, and changes in weight...
People of all ages, backgrounds, and walks of life have felt depressed and unhappy at some time in their lives. These periods of sadness usually pass after a short time, but for some people, this feeling can remain for weeks, months, and even years. (1) This prolonged state of unhappiness is called major (or clinical) depression and is characterized by a persistent sad or "empty" mood, loss of interest in favorite activities, difficulty concentrating, and many other symptoms. It is not simply a mental state but an illness that interferes with the way people feel, function, and think.(2)
Wiley-Blackwell. "Obesity And Depression May Be Linked." ScienceDaily, 6 Jun. 2008. Web. 2 Dec. 2013.
Many times, depression is associated with thinking patterns, stress, experiences of failure and loss (Meyers, 2014, p. 520). People with depression disorder have various signs and symptoms. You may feel persistent anxiety and hopelessness; loss of interest in activities that you once enjoyed; have difficulty sleeping and concentrating, and even think of suicide. “In any given year, 5.8 percent of men and 9.5 percent of women will have a depressive episode” (Meyers, 2014, p. 520). It is clear that depression is a common and serious
There are many common symptoms in which everybody looks for which is unhappiness and disappointment. Symptoms that are different, pervasive, or interfere with normal function are considered to be pathological. Some symptoms include loss of pleasure in almost all activities, loss of reactivity to usually pleasurable stim...
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 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.
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.
Depression can affect anyone, being rich, poor, young, old, race, or religion (D-1). Because depression is a medical condition dealing with the functioning of brain chemicals and emotion, that make any person susceptible. Common causes for depression include death, romance divorce, or moving (D-2). Pain is caused from a displeasure from something that is important to the person suffering. Divorce rates are rising, making it no surprise that people are suffering due to a relationship problem. Being overweight can be a degrading trait, especially to teens and young adults because of them importance of appearance (D-3). Obesity in America is becoming more prevalent, therefore making the chance of depression and suicide much higher for many more pe...
Depression is a murky pool of feelings and actions scientists have been trying to understand since the days of Hippocrates, who called it a "black bile." It has been called "the common cold of mental illness and, like the cold, it's difficult to quantify. If feelings of great sadness or agitation last for much more than two weeks, it may be depression. For a long time, people who were feeling depressed were told to "snap out of it." According to a study done by National Institute of Mental Health, half of all Americans still view depression as a personal weakness or character flaw. Depression, however, is considered a medical disorder and can affect thoughts, feelings, physical health, and behaviors. It interferes with daily life such as school, friends, and family. Clinical depression is the most incapacitating of all chronic c...