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Depression and its effects
Depression and its effects
Depression and its effects
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Drugs in the Brain
Antidepressants are a class of drug that reduces symptoms of depressive disorder by correcting chemical imbalances of neurotransmitters in the brain.
Most antidepressants are believed to work by slowing the removal of certain chemicals from the brain. These chemicals are called neurotransmitters (such as serotonin and norepinephrine). Neurotransmitter is needed for normal brain function and are involved in the control of mood and in other responses and functions, such as eating, sleeping, pain and thinking. Antidepressants help people with depression by making these natural chemicals more available to the brain. By restoring the brains chemical balance, antidepressant drugs help relieve the symptoms of depression. Specifically,
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Antidepressants work by balancing the chemicals in your brain called neurotransmitters that affect moods and emotions. These depression medicines can improve your mood, help you sleep better, and increase our appetite and concentration. “Antidepressants can help jump start mood and give people the boost they need to get over the symptoms of depression.” Says Eric Endlich, PhD, a clinical psychologist based an Boston. “This often allows them to start doing the things that they enjoy again and make better choices for themselves, which also helps contribute to a more positive …show more content…
Untreated depression and psychiatric illness carry significant risks too. Untreated depression is far more likely to result in someone’s suicide than someone who takes an antidepressant. This is not a simple black and white issue. There are many gray areas. The one simple, right-thing is the need for people to be informed about depression, it is probable contributing factors and possible treatment before taking an antidepressant and when medication is decided is the way to go. The person needs to be monitored by a profession initially and beyond. In case of severe depression, medication may be one part of a balance treatment approach. However, effect are going to be is varied as the individuals with depression. Some other treatments proven to lessen depression in some cases include talk therapy, exercise, meditation, dietary change, or other mental health tools, which do not have the side effects and risks of
Treating depressive and bipolar disorders with antidepressants remains a popular option in clinical practice. Most clinicians choose the drug or class of drugs, usually selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, SSRI's, that is most effective and best tolerated with fewer severe side effects. These drugs are beneficial because they specifically target serotonin-based areas of the brain without affecting other neurotransmitter systems. SSRI's largely replaced tricyclic antidepressants which work by blocking the absorption (reuptake) of the neurotransmitters serotonin and norepinephrine, thereby increasing the levels of these two neurotransmitters in the brain. Tricyclic antidepressants present severe side effects and thus are usually only used when other treatments have failed. If SSRI's or tricyclics are not effective Monoamine oxidase inhibitors may be prescribed. MAOI's, enhance tyramine to increase norepinephrine and serotonin. While taking MAOI's you must abstain from foods and alcohol that contain tyramine such as, yogurt, aged cheese, and substances such as cold medications. This is because a potential toxic reaction could occur. Additionally, other antidepressants may be utilized such as Wellbutrin (bupropion) an NDRI-
Antidepressant are a form of pharmacotherapy treatment developed to treat the symptoms of major depression. Antidepressants are used for many other types of conditions including anxiety disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder, dysthymia, eating disorders, sleeping disorders, and substance abuse, pain syndromes, gastrointestional disorders. Antidepressants usually require several weeks to notice significant effects. There are no antidepressants or any medication that is completely free of adverse effects. This article explains that the adverse effects of antidepressant can decrease compliance and slow down the rate of recovery. It is important for one to take note of potential side-effects before choosing the best antidepressant to suit their personalized needs. Statistics show that about 28 percent of patients sto...
Antidepressants are FDA approved drugs given to patients to alleviate symptoms, most commonly anxiety and depression. There are many people who are skeptical about the use of these drugs and if they really work as a benefit toward the people taking them. There are many pros to taking the medications, but there are also cons. This is why users of these drugs have to be aware of the side effects in order to get the full use of the medicine. Research shows that the benefits of antidepressants outweigh the negative long term effects, but only if they are taken in moderation.
I am quite fascinated by generalized control mechanisms and the role they play in the nervous system. I am also quite curious about the relationship between different generalized control mechanisms. The concept of mood and depression in particular have always interested me. I have always wondered what actually causes depression. Why can some people be in a perfectly good mood one day and then less than a week later start exhibiting the signs of clinical depression? I have always been curious about the role that experience and chemical imbalances play in depression and other mood disorders. I donUt totally understand how chemical depression can originate as the result of severe outside stressors in a personUs life. How can this stress go from simply stress in the experiences and environment of a person to a chemical imbalance? I have also wondered why certain people are more susceptible to depression than others. I am curious about whether genetics play a role in depression and whether certain people are more susceptible to depression because of the environment they live in or because of pharmacological reasons and genes. Throughout our class this year, I have wondered about the role that the I-function plays in depression. I find it interesting that it is possible to wake up one morning and be in a nasty mood even if I want to be in a good mood and my I-function is thinking RhappyS thoughts. Through my research for this paper I wanted to find out more about the different kinds of depression and exactly what goes on chemically in the brain when a person is depressed. I also wanted to do a little research on how depression can be treated. I wanted to try and determine how and when the line of simp...
Depression is a mental illness, which affects millions of Americans each year. Currently there are many prescription drugs, called anti-depressants that have been proven to successfully treat it. The causes of depression are somewhat of a medical enigma, however, it is known that depression is associated with a change in the brains chemistry involving the function of neurotransmitters (Reichert). This chemical change occurs in healthy brain’s, which experience sadness, but ends after the unpleasant stimulus is removed. In people suffering from depression this chemical change does not correspond to any particular stimulus. Symptoms of depression are often incapacitating and include severe and extended sadness, feelings of worthlessness, feelings of emptiness, irritability and anxiety (Reichert, Spake).
...l and emotional signals can be influenced at several different levels in the brain, by a myriad of chemicals. The sole cause of depression seems to be the simultaneous breakdown of neurochemical pathways across the nervous systems. It is true that treating depression in all of its forms is much easier today with the advent of new antidepressants, but these drugs are correcting a neurochemical imbalance which is not specific to depression. There may exist and someday be discovered a particular mood regulation flaw which is responsible for depression, but given the research presented today, I would say there is not.
“Suicide is the third leading cause of death for 15- to 19-year-olds. In any given year, about 20% of all high school students think of committing suicide; almost 10% try” (Cropper 112). This shocking statistic shows the high risk of suicide among teens, but what some might not know is that the most common form of treatment used to help teens suffering with depression is one that might also increase the risk of suicide and/or harmful actions to oneself. Tricyclic antidepressants such as Zoloft, Paxil, Celexa, and Lexapro are commonly prescribed to adolescents and young adults to relieve symptoms of depression, and they work by either releasing more of the brain’s “happy chemical,” serotonin, in those with clinical depression, or by stopping the release of the brain’s emotional chemicals in those with manic depression (or other diseases such as bipolar disorder) (Silverstein 61). Although antidepressants can have a positive effect on the symptoms of depression, the risk of suicide among those who take it is too high to use as a first option. Suicidal behavior is a serious side effect in teens that are prescribed tricyclic antidepressants; depression should be treated with safer alternatives, such as behavioral treatment or other forms of therapy as opposed to such a “trial and error” approach.
According to the FDA, about 2.5% of children and around 8% of adolescents are affected by depression (Temple). A common way to treat depression is by taking antidepressants. Children and teens have also been prescribed antidepressants for various reasons other than depression such as OCD and anxiety disorders. While it is legal for teenagers and children to take antidepressants, many people are concerned with the issues that taking antidepressants have. Children and teens should be allowed to take antidepressants only when other forms of therapy don’t work. Antidepressants are serious drugs that have severe warnings when children and teens use them. There is also an increased risk of worsening depression and suicide in children and teens, especially in the when they begin to take it. Even the less severe side effects can make quite a negative impact on life.
The notion of an individualized chemical imbalance founded in the brain as the explanation of depression, whether it is norepinephrine and serotonin, is a theory which is built on a particular kind of logic that attempts to isolate a causal neurochemical abnormality as giving rise to or generating depressive symptoms. The drugs which are utilize to treat these abnormalities, were shown in the last chapter to be a crucial component in the creation of depressive pathology insofar as they were reasoned or designed to correct them. Within a society that values the biomedical intervention of psychopharmaceuticals in the treatment of depression there is an in...
Starting college can be a stressful time for any adolescent. For students suffering from depression it can be a traumatic experience. Worlds feel turned upside down. Even for those who manage to “cope,” pressures can cause these students to feel overwhelmed.
I have also came across in publications including WebMD, mention the uses of antidepressants. On the other hand I have found other articles that contradict the effectiveness of antidepressant drugs. I have also information on from the Mayo Clinic that talks about different antidepressants and which ones work better for different mental illnesses.
Depression can have a great impact on someone’s life. Imagine trying to balance these symptoms while in school, work, or being a mother or father. Although while suffering from this disorder there are solutions out there
Bio-Psychologists study the principles of biology as it relates to the comprehension of psychology in the field neuroscience that underlies ones emotions, ideology, and actions (Brittanica). Based upon the conduction of research, the relationship between the brain and ones behavior extends to the physiological process in one’s intellect. Scientists are cognizant that neurotransmitters function as a significant role in mood regulation and other aspects of psychological problems including depression and anxiety. A biological perspective are relevant to psychology in three techniques including: the comparative method, physiology, and the investigation of inheritance (Saul Mc. Leod).
Treatment for depression includes medicine, psychotherapy, and electroconvulsive therapy. If someone is thinking about suicide or is very depressed and cannot function, they need to be admitted into a hospital. Antidepressants are medicines used to treat depression. They help bring the chemicals in the brain to the normal level and relieve syndromes. If the patient feels as though the medication isn’t working, their doctor should be called. However, if you feel so, you shouldn’t change them on your own without the permission of the doctor. Psychotherapy is to help you understand why you’re feeling the way you are.
Depression isn’t just a state of being, or someone’s mood. There are different types of depression, and each of those types have their own lists of symptoms and treatments, all similar but they have some differences.