Mental Health And Depression

Mental wellbeing is a key component of complete health and wellness that is usually overlooked by individuals of all ages. The WHO defines health as ‘a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.’ From the definition, to achieve a state of perfect health, mental wellbeing has to be put into consideration.
As of the moment, mental disorders constitute four of the 10 leading causes of disability in the world, and mental and behavioral disorders account for 12% of the global burden of disease, yet the mental health budgets of the majority of countries constitute less than 1% of their total health expenditures. (WHO, 2001)
Depression is a mental disorder that is said to affect about

Depression is different from physical illnesses because its cause cannot be traced to one single organ. Possible causes of depression include a combination of biological, psychological, and social factors. (Smith & Seagal, 2016) There are a number of risk factors that share a connection with depression a few of them are; traumatic events like the death of a loved one, stressful events like financial problems, a history of mental illness in the family, pregnancy and child birth, being a member of the LGBT+ community in an unsupportive and unconducive situation, personality traits like issues with low self-esteem and confidence, strains in personal relationships, abuse of alcohol and illegal drugs, use of certain prescription pills, diagnosis of chronic life-threatening illnesses. College students are at a higher risk of developing depression because they are very likely to experience one or a combination of the risk

The most common of them being Major Depressive Disorder. It is characterized as an ever constant low mood and sadness and lack of interest in doing daily activities. Major Depression can occur just once during a lifetime or can occur over an extended period of time. Its symptoms include loss of energy, self-loathing, changes in weight etc. These symptoms can range from anywhere between mild and severe. (Smith & Seagal, 2016). Persistent depressive disorder or Dysthymia is a chronic depressive mood that lasts for at least two years followed by a few days where everything seems to be back to normal. This type of depression is characterized by time duration of the symptoms i.e. symptoms must last for at least two years to be considered persistent depressive disorder. (Depression, 2015). Another type of depression is Perinatal Depression. This type of depression usually occurs a few weeks before the delivery of the baby and a few weeks after the delivery of the baby. It symptoms include extreme sadness, anxiety, and exhaustion which would hinder a new mother from taking care of her baby and herself (Depression, 2015). Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD is another type of depression. This occurs when there is a change in the season from spring or summer months to the winter months. This type of depression usually resolves itself once the winter months are over and when there is an increase in