Depression
Depression can be a symptom, pertaining to when an individual "feels depressed", or it can be a sign, when an individual "observes" someone in a depressed state. Depression can also be a diagnosable disorder that affects millions of people around the world. Depression makes it hard for a person to lift their mood, to think and use cognition, to control certain bodily functions, and to curb their behaviors. Depression accounts for 60% of all suicides worldwide, and 15% of all the individuals who suffer from depressive mood disorders eventually take their own lives. If depression is ignored, a victim can be driven to suicide. Depression is a mental illness that holds no bias when it comes to claiming victims. It can affect anyone despite race, age, sex, or cultural background. The rate of depression has increased drastically in individuals born after World War II. Fifty years ago, depression was considered an illness that affected those between forty and sixty years of age. Yet, according to the National Institute of Mental health, the average onset of depression has declined to the mid-twenties. Although depression can affect men and women, it is twice as likely to afflict women. For men, "the likelihood of experiencing a
Various studies have shown that depression is usually caused by a combination of several factors. Inheritance or genetic predisposition, developmental factors such as early loss of a parent, psychological factors such as intense grief reactions, and stress from coping with environmental factors all cause depression. In case studies, it has been shown that if one identical twin has depression, there is a 70% chance that the other twin will also develop depression at some time. Children, parents and siblings of a depressed person hold a 15% chance of developing depression. The more distant the relative the less risk there is of developing symptoms of depression. The last group of anti-depressants is a drug called Lithium. Lithium is often affective in controlling manic-depressives because it helps control the disabling mood swings of a depressed person. The only drawback to Lithium treatment is that it has complex dosage requirements and cannot be used for patients with kidney problems. Thus, all perspective candidates for Lithium must undergo extensive medical evaluations including kidney and thyroid tests. Some side effects to Lithium use are weight gain, slight hand tremor, thirst, and gastrointestinal problems. The second group of antidepressants is the Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors, MAOI. They are usually prescribed when an individual does not respond to tricyclics or has a heart dise
Some common words found in the essay are:
Major Unipolar, Lithium Lithium, , Institute Mental, Inhibitors MAOI, Cyclic Antidepresants, II Fifty, excess anxiety, Cyclic Antidepressants, major unipolar depression, depression bipolar disorder, depression bipolar, mood swings, individuals suffer, bipolar disorder, manic depression, depressed person, major depression, depression major, endogenous depression,
Approximate Word count = 951
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
