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Danielle Hopp 1-8-07
Health Pd7 Depression
Mental illness has a stigma that naturally comes with it. Employers at companies are disinclined to hire you, because it is thought that it is shameful to be diagnosed with a mental illness, especially depression. Stigmas are usually caused because people don’t know enough information about the subject. Because people are in the dark about things like depression they come up with ideas that are totally ridiculous; like believing a mental illness like depression could be beaten by sheer willpower alone. Depression is a very dark disease that can make you feel lonely and scared even when you are surrounded by friends. Sadly five percent of people will suffer a bout of major depression in their life time. About 19 million Americans are diagnosed with depression a year with women being at a rate twice that of men. Though people like the elderly and children go undiagnosed. There’s a familiar idea saying that depression is ordinary for the elderly, so they are not taken seriously and go undetected. With children on the other hand their symptoms are considered another ‘phase that they’re going through’.
There are many symptoms linked to depression. The severity to which one symptom may affect a person, and how many symptoms they may have is on an individual type basis. The main symptoms are usually having overwhelming feelings of sadness, fear, guilt, hopelessness, helplessness, anxiety, isolation, and loneliness. Some even lose the ability to lose emotion altogether. Others lose interest in almost all daily activities, even those they used to love. Disturbed sleep patterns usually plague those with depression; from insomnia to hypersomnia to the loss of REM sleep. A few people with depression have trouble concentrating, keeping focused or making decision; as well as a generalized slowing and obtunding of cognition, including memory. Thoughts of death in also seem to haunt them, like “just laying down and dying” and death in general, not just suicide. Whereas some of them think of death others fear the loss or abandonment of a love one. While these are the main symptoms of depression there is a few that are often getting over looked. Self loathing and a decrease in self esteem are some of the normal over looked symptoms. Odd symptoms may include a change in perception in time and a sensitivity to noise. Though it may sound disgusting an inattention to personal hygiene may also be a clue to depression.
Nowadays there are plenty of treatments for depression most of them falling under two categories medicine and psychotherapy. Treatment for depression is on a ‘case by case’ basis. Depression medication is usually supposed to be taken for 6 week before it takes any effect, but most of the time it is not taken that long because the patient either does not feel relief immediately and so they give up on taking it, or they feel relief so they feel they don’t need to take it anymore. Medication also falls under several categories. Monoamine oxidaise inhibitors or MAOIs are rarely prescribed anymore due to the fact that this medicine and some foods high in tyramine could be fatal, but recently they’ve developed a new one so depression suffers don’t have to worry about it. MAOIs block the enzyme monoamine oxidase which breaks down neurotransmitters like serotonin and norepinephrine. Tricyclic antidepressants are the oldest and have a lot of side effects like increased heart rate, drowsiness, dry mouth, constipation, urinary retention, blurred vision, dizziness confusion, and sexual dysfunction. They are mainly used only in severe cases because they have a high potential of being lethal with a moderate overdose. Tricyclics stop the reuptake of certain neurotransmitters. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or SSRIs are the current ‘standard’ of drug treatment. For many people their first antidepressant is a SSRI, though they usually have a few side effects like drowsiness, dry mouth, nervousness, anxiety, insomnia, decreased appetite, and decreased ability to function sexually. SSRIs prevent the reabsorption of serotonin by the nerve cell giving the brain more serotonin to function properly with. Although not a professional medicine St John’s Wort also seems to be helping those with depression. More popular than any other antidepressant in Germany, it seems to increase the availability of serotonin in the brain. Psychotherapy usually accompanies medication in the treatment of depression. The idea of psychotherapy is for a trained psychologist to help you figure out ways solve problems and cope with depression. There are three different therapies that go into solving this idea, Interpersonal therapy (IPT), Cognitive therapy (CBT), and Behavioral Therapy (BT). Interpersonal therapy helps people develop better more effective coping skills for social and interpersonal relationships. Cognitive therapy helps one change their way of thinking and thus reduces the likelihood of another episode of depression. Behavioral Therapy modifies your behaviors and gives one a goal to look forward to. A therapy that is preformed by a doctor but does not really belong in either category is called electroconvulsive therapy or ETC. They deliver electrical stimulation to specific location to the brain and trigger a mini seizure that usually last 30 seconds. The patient themselves can not consciously feel the seizures. This is only used on the most severe cases because it damages long term memory.
The stigma about depression is ridiculous when about 19 million Americans are diagnosed a year. We need tune in to those that show some symptoms and help them get treatment. Depression is a very taboo subject it’s about time we brought it out of the closet.
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