Is Depression A Mental Issue Essay

Depression As A Mental Issue

Within the spectrum of Mental health issues there has been discussion on what depression is classified as within the Mental health scope; on whether depression is a mental illness, a mental disorder, or simply a state of mind? In my research I have found that the issue of depression is all of these varying on the situation or symptoms of one’s depression. Depression can be both a mental illness, a mental disorder, and simply a state of mind. There are many arguments to be made against this statement. One of the three I shall point out is that Depression is not an illness or issue at all, but is simply a state of mind. In the words of the blogger Toma Haiku, depression, he argues, is a “state of

The Mental Health Foundation and Grohol argue that depression is not a mental illness, but is an issue and disorder because it’s “symptoms” are that of the emotional state. Grohol also takes a stance on the definition of a disorder and the way depression fits into this definition in saying that “A disorder simply means something that is out of the ordinary, which depression and other mental disorders are” ( Grohol,2016). Grohols’ definition on what a disorder is, is not necessarily wrong since disorders do mean that something is not functioning as it should be in a system, in this case the neurological system; however, a disorder can also function as a disease or illness because as Grohol states in contradiction to himself “Diseases are manifestations of a problem with some physical organ or component within the body”( Grohol, 2016), but he fixes this contradiction in also stating that a

Despite all the valid points made in these claims, it doesn’t change the fact that “An estimated 16 million American adults—almost 7% of the population—had at least 1 major depressive episode last year”(Numbers,n.d.) and that “People of all ages and all racial, ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds can experience depression” (Numbers, n.d.). People all over the world experience depression in many different forms. For some it is a mental illness that cripples the body, for the mind is powerful and has supreme control over the body to the point that it will continue to function for three minutes after the heart fails; as is the case with a personal friend of mine who has battled with depression since the seventh grade and has had to take many visits to the hospital and bottles of medications and various treatments in order to treat and fight off his depression that often prompts him to self-injury and causes him to get physically ill for many days. For