The Issue of Depression

When do we say a person is depressed? Depression has been observed for many years, and many people have been able to either feel or witness its signs over time. Depression is thus a state of sulking, poor emotions, and repugnance that arises when a person has experienced depressing or stressful news or experiences that cause the person to withdraw from current events. In most situations, depression occurs in people who have lost close family members and are in a deep state of empathy that exceeds their bodies’ ability to deal.  The usage of some drugs also triggers feelings of depression that are accompanied with suicidal propensities. People the experience depression often experience a variety of feelings that range from sadness, hopelessness, emptiness, and anger in addition to extreme detest for their own lives to the extent of wanting to end it. This research strives to define, find the root causes and treatment that is administered to the various forms of depression.

Symptoms of depression

Depression has some common symptoms that are visible and open in the sense that, they can easily be pointed out. One of the physiological effects of depression is sleeping disorder. Most of the people that have depression often have the sleeping disorder tendencies. Some may find it hard to sleep while others find it difficult to stay awake for an elongated period of time. Depression causes pains that occur in the chest area due to the dysfunction of the heart. Although chest Pains might also indicate a different disease, it is common in people with depression. Research shows that most of the people that have suffered a heart attack are also likely to suffer from depression (Wasserman 2011). Most people that suffer from depression often complain of constant fatigue even when they do not perform any task and rest a lot. The chemical composition of depression to the brain is similar to that of muscle aches and pains that means that people who suffer from depression also suffer from muscle pains.

O’Connor (2001) affirms that, people with depression also suffer from headaches and digestive problems because the functionalities of digestion in the brain are also connected to those that cause depression. Anxiety and restlessness is a symptom of depression that is common in men than women. When depressed, the sexual drive of most people goes down as their brain is engaged in a different place.

Although a lot of emphases is put on the physical signs and symptoms of depression, the cognitive symptoms of depression are equally lethal. On common symptom of depression is negative thinking. People with depression often experience negative thoughts that are distorted due to a fragmentation of their brain’s activities. Additionally, depressed people are restless and hence have a difficulty in concentration which often makes them have a short concentration time. The short concentration spun often comes from being easily distractible by many occurrences and events that are in their lives. Due to the fragmentation and lack of concentration among other brain functionalities, there is often a reduced reaction time for people with depression as opposed to normal people. Indecisiveness is also a common trait that occurs in people suffering from depression (O’Connor 2001).

Agitation is one of the most common behavioral symptoms of depression. Depressed people often experience restlessness that is directed to self-harm or harm to the perceived causer of depression. Most people prefer solitude and hence hibernate to avoid physical contact with the outside world. People with depression often experience lethargy in the sense that, their motivation levels drop by a big margin and they find it increasingly difficult to engage in normal activities like getting out of bed and having a bath. Additionally, lethargy effects even the natural physical posture and the facial expressions of the people with depression. Depression encourages pessimistic behavior which in turn triggers procrastination and the postponing of issues. According to Grosso (2016), there is often a feeling of relief when depressed people realize that they do not have to put in the effort in anything. The most common trait that cuts across many of the cases of depression is the effects of the appetite and diets of people with depression. Some people often start eating less due to a loss of appetite and some find comfort in food and hence eat much more than they used to eat when normal. Research shows that over 80% of the people that suffer from depression often find themselves affected by sleep disorders as some experience too much sleeping time while some experience difficulties in having any sleep.

Causes of depression

There are two causal factors of depression which include the biological causes and the environmental causes which closely relate and function interchangeably (Grosso 2016). Depression does not just occur in people, as some people are more prone than others to have depression because of the presence of depression causing genes. People with the depression-prone genes in their families have a higher chance of being depressed even though people with recessive genes can still get depression. Biologically, depression alters the brain structure as people with depression. When depressed there is the unbalanced and inefficient production and spreading of neurotransmitters in the brain. The production of serotonin which is the main neurotransmitter that affects, appetite, sleep, and fatigue is affected in most people who are depressed.

The presence of genetically modified foods, synthetic chemicals, food additives and the various forms of industrial by-products are currently flooding our bodies. Much of these substances often alter the normal functioning of the body through hormonal induction among other things. Other forms of environmental pollution include noise, stress at work and natural hazards that affect the individual directly. Brooke & Myers (2015) found that recent research has found that many people can develop various forms of depression caused by the environment and they include, the “sick building” syndrome among others. Additional research has linked the susceptibility of depression to the low electromagnetic field. It states that electrical pollution directly affects mood disorders of an individual.

Psychological illnesses related to depression

Anxiety disorders are an aftermath of depression. Anxiety disorders lead to extended periods of unnecessary fear to those affected. Anxiety disorders are also caused when one is anxiously waiting for an event to occur. The blood pressure of people with anxiety disorders often rises from time to time increasing their heartbeats which in turn triggers nauseating feelings and mild to intense signs of agitation to its victims. In a recent research, Grosso (2016) states that, there are no standard symptoms of this disorder as the symptoms are different for almost every individual. Women have a higher chance to be affected by anxiety disorder than men. Some of the most common causes of anxiety disorders include posttraumatic stress disorders, panic disorders, and social phobia among others.

Panic disorder is common among young men. Most of the people that undergo this disorder are often exposed to instances of terror and trauma (LeVert 2007). The attacks most occur in public sphere and their duration range from 10-15 minutes. The prevalence of occurrence of panic attacks varies from one individual to another. However, research states that most people that experience panic attacks often live in fear with the anticipation of the occurrence of another panic attack. Some common features of a panic attack include dizziness, fear of dying, chest pains, numbness and shortness of breathing. A panic attack also causes a phobia of the places and events that led to a prior panic attack.

Social phobia is also a psychological disorder that is causes and instigated by depression. People with social phobia often have high levels of self-consciousness and the fear of self-expression in public places. People with social phobia might experience fear when they come to public places and hence they often strive to change their lifestyle in the process of avoiding public places and this affects them immensely. A social phobia in LeVert’s view (2007), makes the victims self-conscious and afraid of being judged negatively or watched in the eyes of the public. There is also a feeling of the loss of control and concentration of one’s self. Most of the symptoms of social disorder like a dry mouth and shaking are also similar to those of panic disorders.

The Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) makes the victim encounter high levels of intense and unwanted feelings and formalities that are beyond the abilities of the person to control. Some of the most common symptoms of OCD include arranging and re-arranging things to attain a perfect match. Although the person affected recognizes the fact that these activities are senseless and thoughtless, they are often paranoid about the fact that a negative thing might occur if they do not perform these activities (LeVert 2007). The Obsessive Compulsive Disorder often occurs during the higher stages of childhood or during the adolescent age. Just like the other depression-related disorders, (OCD) is often accompanied by other disorders like the Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and the eating disorder. More than 3 million Americans often suffer from (OCD) and a large number often respond to treatment through medication while others need the therapy sessions.

In the contemporary American society, substance abuse is currently on the rise and hence affects a large number of Americans. Most of the victims of substance abuse often indulge and use various forms of drugs or alcoholic content to the extent of physical, occupational or bodily harm. Although substance abuse is commonly associated with depression, it is also a counter effect to the coping mechanism of stress and symptoms of anxiety. Most of the drug abusers often experience tendencies and the need to continuously use the drug to either get intoxicated or as a result of a diminished effect of the use of the drug (Springer& Beevers 2011). Before taking a drug, the drug users commonly experience a general effect of withdrawal, nausea, and insomnia. The drug users use the drug with the knowledge of the effects of the drug even though they do not have the capacity to stop abusing the drug on their own. Some of the common of treating and containing the effects of drug addiction include counseling, medical treatment and the use of support groups.

Treatment of depression

One of the ways of treating depression is through medicinal treatment. There is a lot of myth and perceptions concerning the use and content of the medicinal treatment of depression. Most of the medicinal treatment for depression is through the use of anti-depressant drugs. In The facts against antidepressant LeVert (2007) states that, medicinal treatment cuts across the treatment of severe to mild forms of depression and other depression and anxiety-related disorders. In the case of a patient experiencing mild cases of intense cases of depression, most doctors suggest that the patients use anti-depressant drugs. When other forms of therapeutic treatment and counseling fail to work, doctors often prescribe mood stabilizers, antidepressant, and antipsychotic drugs. Although sometimes it might be difficult to determine the type of antidepressant that should be administered to the patient, the patient should provide as much information to the doctor as possible and give information such a breastfeeding, previous drugs used and age among other things.

Anti-depressants generally work on the patients even though their effects differ from one patient to another. Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI) fights depression through creating a sense of balance in the brain by reducing the amount of serotonin in the brain. Some common (SSRI) include sertraline(Zoloft), citalopram (Celexa) and fluvoxamine (Luvox). The side effects of SSRI include sleeping disorder, nausea, tremors, sexual problems, and nausea. Serotonin and Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors (SNRI) are responsible for reducing the serotonin and the norepinephrine levels in the brain which are the causative factors of depression. Some common forms of (SNRI) include duloxetine (Cymbalta), venlafaxine (Effexor XP) and desvenlafaxine (Pristiq Ledezma). Some forms of (SNRI) like duloxetine are also pain relievers in addition to treating depression. Duloxetine is important because it reduces the incidences of the severity of depression and helps patients to cope better with pain. An additional medicinal drug for depression is the Dopamine Reuptake Blocker which is used in treating the various form of seasonal affective disorders, depression and its effects. The drug equally helps patients with severe addiction and tendencies to smoke (Springer & Beevers 2011). Just like the other anti-depressant drugs, some its common features include dizziness, nausea, and vomiting.

Recent research has found the antidepressants to be effective. Although most of the anti-depressants initiate a series of side effects in the initial phases of their usage, they tend to take charge and take effect between the 4-7 week of their usage. The reaction and effects of the antidepressants are different for different users and hence take different rates of times to become active in correcting the disorders. The usage of the drugs should be consistent once prescription starts and breaking the dosage should be occasional and under a thorough scrutiny and prescription from a doctor. Wasserman (2011), however, notes that the drugs and treatment for depression work differently for different people which affect their recovery rates and their side effects. In the year 2011, some amendments made by the American Psychiatrist association were to customize the medication for every patient suffering from depression. The treatment should be based on observable symptoms in a range of scales.

The therapeutic treatments for depression also called psychological treatments help the patients recover through a series of sharing ideas, counseling and changing their thoughts (Brooke & Myers 2015). The cognitive treatment is one of the therapeutic treatments that affect thoughts and can be used on a wide range of people including children. Cognitive treatment targets the patient’s actions and thought through the consultation and therapies from a counselor who helps the patient identity potential damaging behavior that affects thought and increase the rates of depression. The cognitive approach strives to change the thoughts through instilling more positive thought that is guided by reason and rationality as opposed to negativity and despair.

The behavioral therapy relates to the cognitive therapy in the sense that it targets behaviors of the victim. Although the behavioral therapy does not change the beliefs of the patients, its main focus is to encourage and instill positive behavioral traits and tendencies as opposed to negative behavior. The behavioral approach specifically targets the positive traits like satisfaction, joy, and achievement as opposed to behaviors that instill a state of hopelessness and low self-esteem. The behavioral approach according to Brooke & Myers (2015), eradicates the withdrawal tendencies and techniques which affect the individual. Through the behavioral therapy, the therapist is able to program the thinking of the patient and instill new ideas and forms of reason and rationality that were previously subdued by dark positive thoughts. The behavioral therapy is psychological. The behavioral approach to treating depression has its challenges due to the differences in the brain structures of individuals.

The psychotherapy also is known as the “talk therapy” entails talking to a trained mental health expert. Just like the name suggests, the mental health specialist often strives to find the root cause of the disorder, teach the patient how to gain more control and influence over their disorder and teach the patient how to cope better with the disorder. The various types of psychotherapy include the group therapy, family, couple and the individual forms of therapies. One of the most common ways that patients deal with psychotherapy is writing down their goals, setting a tracker for the achievement of their goals and discussing their goals, achievements, and failures of their therapists. The conversation and the technique of sharing the problem are treated in itself as it makes the patient feel more in control of their decision-making process and their situation and hence makes them recover faster through attaining their goals (Wasserman 2011). In most instances, the psychotherapy takes different time frames depending on the severity and intensity of the disease. Although psychotherapy is effective, it sometimes requires the accompaniment of anti-depressants which should be prescribed and be taken under the watchful eye of the doctor.

The various forms of depression often attract stereotypes and judgment from the public without rational outlook in the experiences of the victims and their therapists. The causes of depression could be physiological, cognitive and behavioral. The physiological, cognitive and behavioral causes include, sleeping disorders, anxiety and low self-esteem among others. The biological causes of depression include the differences in the genetic composition and the brain structure while the environmental causes include external factors like work pressure and even cases of environmental pollution. The biological factors are the most common trigger events as compared to the environmental factors. Depression could lead to panic disorders, social phobias, and anxiety disorders among other conditions. The treatment of depression is either through the use of antidepressant, through cognitive and the behavioral approaches that target the actions and the thinking of the patient and the use of psychotherapy which engages the inner thoughts and the perception of the patient concerning their condition. The treatment of depression if most effective when it uses both medicinal and therapeutically forms of treatment.

References

In Brooke, S. L., & In Myers, C. E. (2015). The use of the creative therapies in treating depression.

In Grosso, C. (2016). Herbal Medicine in Depression: Traditional Medicine to Innovative Drug Delivery.

LeVert, S. (2007). The facts about antidepressants. New York: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark.

O’Connor, R. (2001). Active treatment of depression. New York: Norton.

Springer, D. W., Rubin, A., & Beevers, C. G. (2011). Treatment of depression in adolescents and adults. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley.

Wasserman, D. (2011). Depression. Oxford: Oxford University Press.