Essay+paper

Depression Kennedy Cook and Kellie Quick A.E Peacock Collegiate Psychology 20

 “Depression is a state of low mood and aversion to activity that can affect a person's thoughts, behavior, feelings and sense of well-being.”

 A lot if not all people have had times in their lives when they’ve had their ups and downs and have felt sad or depressed. Feeling depressed is a normal reaction to loss of a loved one, life's struggles, or a low self-esteem. But when the downs or feelings of helplessness, hopelessness and worthlessness last more than a few days or a few weeks and keep you from working at a normal level you may have depression, a treatable mental disorder.  Depression is a symptom of a few medical conditions, and can be a side effect of drugs and medical treatments. Depression is also a linked feature of certain psychiatric syndromes such as clinical depression but, certain medications are known to cause depression in a large number of patients. These include hepatitis C drug therapy and some drugs used to treat high blood pressure, such as beta-blockers or reserpine. There are several forms of depressive disorders: - Major depressive disorder, or major depression, is considered by a few symptoms that affect or destroy someone’s ability to work, sleep, study, eat, and enjoy activities that they once found pleasure in. Major depression is restricting and stops a person from functioning normally. Some people experience this once in their lifetime, but its ore often that a person experience it multiple times. - Dysthymic disorder, or dysthymia, is characterized by long-term (2 years or longer) symptoms that aren’t serious enough to disable someone but can prevent normal functioning or feeling well. People with dysthymia also experience one or more episodes of major depression during their lifetimes. - Minor depression is characterized by having symptoms for 2 weeks or longer that do not meet full standards for major depression. Without treatment, people with minor depression are at high risk for developing major depressive disorder.

 Some forms of depression are different but only by a few components, or they may develop under unique circumstances. However, not everyone knows how to characterize these forms of depression. They include: - Psychotic depression happens when a person has severe depression plus some form of phobia, like having made-up beliefs or a break with reality (delusions), or hearing/seeing things that others cannot hear/see (hallucinations). - Postpartum depression is more serious than the "baby blues" that women experience after giving birth, when hormonal and physical changes and the new responsibility can be overwhelming. It’s estimated that 10%-15% of women experience postpartum depression after giving birth. - Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is categorized by the start of depression during the winter months, when there is less natural sunlight. This type of depression usually disappears during spring and summer. SAD may be successfully treated with light therapy, but almost half of those with SAD don’t get better with light therapy alone. - Bipolar disorder, also called manic-depressive illness, isn’t as common as major depression or dysthymia. Bipolar disorder is categorised by cycling mood change, from extreme highs to extreme lows.  Symptoms of depression include: - You can’t sleep or you sleep too much - You can’t concentrate or find that previously easy tasks are now difficult  - You feel hopeless and helpless <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">- You can’t control your negative thoughts, no matter how much you try <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">- You have lost your appetite or you can’t stop eating <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">- You are much more irritable, short-tempered, or aggressive than usual <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">- You’re consuming more alcohol than normal or engaging in other reckless behavior

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> There are tons of types of treatment for depression and some of the most used are: antidepressant tablets, talking treatments; such as counselling and various types of psychotherapy mood stabilising medication. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Treatments that aren’t used as much but are helpful in severe depression are: electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), special types of operation (psychosurgery), bright light therapy for seasonal affective disorder (SAD). <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> Some other strategies that can help are: <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">- Learning to distinguish emotions from mood. Emotions are fleeting feelings. Mood is a more persistent background state.
 * <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Example: **<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> People who win the lottery certainly experience immediate joy. But there is no change in their level of overall happiness.

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">- Focus on doing things that affect mood.
 * <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Example: **<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> Eating ice cream feels good only for a moment. Gambling is a way many people seek emotional distraction, but at best it gives a transient high. And that's if you win.

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> Most of us look for short searches to change fleeting feelings. But we need to attend to deeper mood states. The changes we search for at that level come from traditional covers satisfying work and relationships. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">If you are depressed that you are not in a relationship: <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">- Learn to initiate contact with new people who seem interesting.
 * <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Example: **<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> Get out and about. Make yourself stay out for an hour walking around, exploring your environment, meet people ANYTHING just get out and live.

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> There are different ways that you could be experiencing depression, like 65% of the time depression is experienced as anxiety; chronic pain can be another symptom of depression.

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> Depression seems to have a purpose. It’s like a signal that our coping system is overwhelmed and that we need a time out. Of course, taking time out today is much different from 50 years ago, but then as now we can vent and use our individual pain and use it to get comfort from others around us and form a closer bond. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Found in 1968.