The Beast: A Reckoning with Depression In Tracy Thompson’s article, “The Beast: A Reckoning with Depression,” she illustrates that she calls her depression “the beast” because it has been surrounding her and changed her personality and dominated a particular time in her life. She was able to get help by going to a therapist and taking proper medication to improve her future. At first, she was thinking negatively of her life, however, after she got help, this gave her a positive outlook of life. Now, Tracy Thompson is able to continue on living her life. Tracy can be inspirational to many people that are suffering through depression because she was able to get help when she felt that she needed it. She …show more content…
Depression is a mood disorder that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and a loss of interest. In major depressions, these feelings are unremitting and carry with them the real danger of suicide. As mentioned in the article, daily functioning at work and home were impaired and the individual felt as if she will never climb out of those feelings. Tracy Thompson has experienced depression and she tried taking antidepressants and Prozac to relieve her depression. She had many symptoms of depression, such as eating without an appetite, always being tired, personality changing, and forgetting important things. Depression is different from the blues, sadness, and grief because feelings of grief or sadness are not usually long-lasting. Feeling sadness, loneliness, or grief when an individual goes through a difficult life experience is part of being a human. And most of the time, individuals who suffer sadness or grief can continue to …show more content…
When a person pressures someone to do something, it can lead to depression because they might not enjoy what they are forced to do. This one example of how misery and stress are added to a person’s life, resulting in depression. Many people tend to confuse bipolar disorder with depression and therefore it is imperative to learn the difference between both and encourage individuals who might be experiencing a mood disorder to seek medical help as soon as possible. The main difference between bipolar disorder and depression are the mania symptoms. Bipolar disorder is a condition that involves shifts in a person's mood from severe depression to manic phases accompanied with feelings of excessive excitement or irritability, extreme elation, and delusions of
Bipolar Disorder (Formerly known as Manic Depression) is a mental illness linked to alterations in moods such as mood swings, mania, and depression. There is more than one type, Bipolar I and Bipolar II, and the subcategories are divided by the severity of the symptoms seen, such as cyclothymic disorder, seasonal mood changes, rapid cycling disorder and psychosis. Age of onset usually occurs between 15-30 years old with an average onset of 25 years old but it can affect all ages. (Harvard Medical School; Massachusetts General Hospital , 2013) Bipolar disorder affects more than two million people in the United States every year. (Gardner, 2011)
Bipolar disorder affects approximately one percent of the population in the United States. Bipolar disorder involves feelings of mania and depression. Which is where individuals with manic episodes experience a period of depression. The depression episodes are characterized by a persistent sadness, almost inability to move, hopelessness, and disturbances in appetite, sleep, in concentration, and driving. The manic episodes are characterized by elevated or irritable mood, increased energy, decreased need for sleep, poor judgment and insight, and often reckless or irresponsible behavior (Hollandsworth, Jr. 1990 ). As the National Depressive and Manic Depressive Association (MDMDA) have demonstrated, bipolar disorder can create substantial developmental delays, marital and family disruptions, occupational setbacks, and financial disasters. In addition, bipolar states and psychotic states are misdiagnosed as schizophrenia, but a closer look at speech patterns can help distinguish between the two (Lish, 1994).
Bipolar disorder, also referred to as manic depression, is a mood disorder. A person with bipolar disorder will have extreme mood shifts between mania, a state of highly elevated euphoric feelings, and depression, a state of despondency and despair. These shifts can take weeks, days, or even minutes to happen. The period between shifts will vary for each individual, depending on the severity of the disorder (Williams & Wilkins, 1999, pp. 5-35).
On June 2, 2016, Jennifer Westacott of the Mental Illness Australia organization spoke to Parliament about mental illness reform, community and innovation. She spoke about how we need to better the mental health community as it is an epidemic in Australia at the moment. She needed to keep their attention and persuade them to not sit back and to actually do something and help the cause. She tried to do so by using several literary devices to subconsciously appeal to the representatives. Westacott is mostly trying to appeal to the Representative’s emotions as many argue that that is the best way to do so. The figures that Westacott used include many uses of repetition such as anaphora and polysyndeton. The other figures that she used include personification, metaphor, and imagery.
Manic Depression is also referred to as Bipolar Disorder and Severe Mood Swings. It is the severe alternate from unexplainable depressed feelings, thoughts, and actions to elevated personal feeling of euphoria. This disorder often causes dysfunction with family members, personal relationships, work, and legal system (Mallozzi). This causes sever fluctuation in mood or poles, from depression to mania. Half of all the cases of this disorder start when patients are between the ages of 15 and 25. Manic Depression affects 2.4% of the world (Nordqvist).
Bipolar disorder is a brain disorder that causes unusual shifts in mood, energy, activity levels, and the ability to carry out activities of daily living (NIMH, 2009). People with bipolar disorder usually experience “mood episodes” (NIMH, 2009). An overly joyful or overexcited state is called a manic episode (NIMH, 2009). A manic episode is a distinct period of abnormally and persistently elevated, expansive, or irritable mood and abnormally and persistently increased goal-directed activity or energy, lasting at least 1 week, and present most of the day, nearly every day (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Some symptoms that are present during a manic episode are increased self-esteem or grandiosity, decreased need for sleep, more talkative than usual, flight of ideas or subjective experience that thoughts are racing, distractibility, increase in goal-directed activity and excessive involvement in activities that have a high potential for painful consequences (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).
Depression is much more common than most people think. Because it is essentially an invisible illness and is largely in the mind, it is difficult to correctly diagnose it and most people suffer for months, years, or even decades with depression. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines depression as “a mood disorder marked especially by sadness, inactivity, difficulty with thinking and concentration, a significant increase or decrease in appetite and time spent sleeping, feelings of dejection and hopelessness, and sometimes suicidal thoughts or an attempt to commit suicide.” Most medical definitions are able to explain what happens and why it does, but after carefully examining this one, we only notice that it explains what happens, but not why. Usually, the symptoms of an illness are...
What is depression? According to MacGill (2015), depression is a mental health or mood disorder that triggers a constant feeling of unhappiness and loss of interest. In William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, the main protagonist named Macbeth is subjected to depression after committing the crime of killing King Duncan with the aid and persuasion of his ambitious wife, Lady Macbeth. As the story progresses, Lady Macbeth also discloses her despair regarding the wicked and evil deeds that she gets involved in. Near the end, upon learning that his wife and young son are brutally slaughtered, the Scottish nobleman Macduff shows his melancholy as well. Similarly, in William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, the leading character named Hamlet experiences loneliness
Bipolar disorder is also known as manic-depression disorder, may cause unusual changes in mood and behavior such as grandiosity, decreased energy, distractibility, diminished interest, insomnia, pressured speech, suicidal thoughts, and decrease in the ability to carry out day to day tasks (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; 5th Ed.; DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association, 2013). According to Jann (2014) the symptoms of bipolar disorders are severe alternating between normal ups and downs leading in damaged relationships, poor job and school performance, and even suicide among the most severe. There are four types of bipolar disorder which include bipolar I disorder, bipolar II disorder, bipolar disorder not otherwise specified, and cyclothymic disorder Jann (2014).
Bipolar Disorder is a serious and complicated mood disorder characterized by abnormal fluctuations between an individual’s high and low moods. Mania, Depression, Hypomania and Mixed Episodes are the predominant moods that can be identified in the different forms of Bipolar Disorder (GlaxoSmithKlein, 2007). The etiology, symptomology, and treatment for each mood and form of Bipolar Disorder vary as well. Moods can be identified by a person’s level of happiness, sadness, outlook on life and how he may physically feel (Mondimore, 2006). Patients struggling with Bipolar Disorder have difficulty regulating the euphoric highs of mania, the “black hole” feelings of depression, the “softer side” of hypomania and the incessant cycling of Mixed Episodes. With so many different forms of this mood disorder, Bipolar Disorder can be difficult to recognize and treat.
Bipolar Disorder is the tendency of manic episodes to alternate with major depressive episodes, like a roller coaster. Barlow, D., Durand, M., Stewart, S., & Lalumière, M., 2014, p. 222. Their moods and relationships are unstable and they usually have a very poor self image, recurrent feelings of emptiness and fear of abandonment. Barlow, D., Durand, M., Stewart, S., & Lalumière, M., 2014, p. 444.
There are so many people that go through depression; some of which being adolescents. Each person may not go through it for the same reasons. It can vary by age from one person to the next. Some people may go through depression because of several reasons. For example, they could have lost a loved one and do not know how to handle it, or they have had a baby and are sleep deprived, or just because of everyday life and they just cannot handle situations the way they should be handled; or they do not know how to handle them. Some people can handle more in this aspect than others. Susan is a young girl that has been diagnosed with depression because of hereditary and other trickle down circumstances in her life. Therefore, by eventually seeing a psychologist and coming to the conclusion of depression, Susan’s psychologist has helped her build a path to recovery and is helping her become “normal” again.
Depression is well known for its mental or emotional symptoms. Symptoms for depression include: persistently sad or unhappy mood, loss of interest or pleasure in previously enjoyable activities, difficulty concentrating, remembering, making decisions, anxiety, feelings of guilt, worthlessness, helplessness, and thoughts of death or dying. “People who have endured a major depressive episode describe the experience as a descent into t...
Bipolar disorder: is a mental illness typically classified as a mood disorder. It is characterized by episodes of an elevated or agitated mood known as mania, usually alternating with episodes of depression. Bipolar indicates that the person exhibits two types of behavior one in which he showcase an abnormal behavior and the other in which they are depress. Teens and especially children found with bipolar depression are usually classified as early-onset bipolar disorder and should be treated although this illness last for a life time.
Bipolar disorder is a lifelong condition that can affect how you feel and how you act. It is a mood disorder caused by chemical imbalances in the brain that can result in extreme mood swings, from manic highs to depressive lows. Also known as manic-depressive disorders, bipolar disorder is categorized and determined as “a psychological state in which a person experiences a mood disorder causing radical alterations in their moods”. Elevated levels of either manic or depression are very common with a person affected by a bipolar disorder.