Major Depressive Disorder Research Paper
Abstract
This paper discusses Major Depressive disorder(MDD) a psychological mood disorder, which is increasing in appearance throughout the world. In this paper information from online sources and offline (textbook) are used to describe depression. The understanding of depression has developed throughout time. Depression was seen earlier as a physical and spiritual disease of demonic possession and many different methods were used as treatment. The way depression is looked at and treated has evolved and now scientist and psychologist have a clear understand of depression and the multiple causes of depression. Major depressive disorder is also known as clinical disorder and can affect anyone of any
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The early Babylonian, Chinese and Egyptian population also thought of depression as being a demonic possession and exorcism techniques to heal the illness. They used techniques such as beatings and starvation. A Greek physician, named Hippocrates thought that personality traits and mental illnesses were attributed to a balance or imbalance of body fluids named humors. The four humors were yellow bile, black bile, phlegm, and blood. Hippocrates divides mental illnesses into different components: mania, melancholia(depression), and phrenitis (brain fever). Moving on many years forward, during the renaissance in Italy in the 14th through the 17th century mental illness was apparent. Witch hunts and killings of the mentally ill were popular in Europe. Some doctors at this time adopted Hippocrates theory and thought mental illnesses were due to natural causes and they thought witches were not mentally correct and were people in need of humane …show more content…
The will help perform a medical evaluation. Personal questions and questions about family psychiatry history and questions that screen for the symptoms of major depression may be asked. There is no physical test, or blood test or x-ray to diagnose depression, but the doctor may run blood test to help see if the patient test positive of any other medical problem that may have the same symptoms of depression. For example, hypothyroidism can cause some of the same symptoms as depression, as can alcohol or drug use and abuse, some medications, and stroke. . (2005). Retrieved from
Major Depressive Disorder, which is also referred to as Clinical Depression, is a disorder caused when low serotonin levels, that suppress pain perception and are often found in the pineal gland at the center of the brain, promote low levels of norepinephrine, a monoamine neurotransmitter that controls cognitive ability. This disabling disorder interferes with a person’s daily life as it prevents one from performing normal functions, such as eating, sleeping, interacting, or enjoying once pleasurable activities. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, the common symptoms of Major Depressive Disorder are continued feelings of anxiety, worthlessne...
A 38-year-old single woman, Gracie, was referred for treatment of depressed mood. She spoke of being stressed out due to conflicts at work, and took a bunch of unknown pills. She reported feeling a little depressed prior to this event following having ovarian surgery and other glandular medical problems. She appeared mildly anxious and agitated. She is frequently tearful, but says she does not have any significant sleep or appetite disturbance. She does, however, endorse occasional suicidal ideation, but no perceptual disturbances and her thoughts are logical and goal-directed.
Major depressive disorder is a mood disorder characterized by the DSM-5 of depressed mood and markedly diminished interest or pleasure in nearly all activities occurring nearly every day, for most of the day, as indicated by a subjective self-report or an observational report from others. Individuals who have depression also tend to experience significant weight loss, insomnia or hypersomnia, psychomotor agitation, fatigue and loss of energy, feelings of worthlessness or excessive guilt, diminished ability to concentrate, and recurrent thoughts of death. Most people who suffer from depression usually experience major depressive episodes in unipolar major depression, while some others experience both depressive and manic episodes in bipolar
In the 1700s, "mad doctors" or doctors specializing in the mentally ill. "They began to devise their own unique classification system for mental disorders. Many cases of what we would now call schizophrenia were probably classified under one or more of these early attempts to devise a more scientific method of understanding mental illness"(Noll, xix). Doctors at this time described the symptoms of schizophrenia somewhat differently (Berle, 14).
Depression is considered a mental disorder that can lead an individual to commit suicide, experiment fatal risk that can injure his or her life. Furthermore, an individual feeling depressed lacks motivation to do anything progressive with his or her life. With that said, these individuals sometime gives up interest in activities that were once enjoyable, gets in a phase were he or she loses appetite, begins to overeat, loses concentration on what he or she is trying to complete, and becomes indecisiveness. Moreover, depression is a condition that makes an individual feel miserable, have no motivation to any activity that can influence his or her views, actions, welfare. Furthermore, depressed individuals at times may feel sad, apprehensive, desperate, destitute, useless, awkward, short-tempered, and agitated. In addition, the melancholy of depression is categorized by a greater concentration and length that is attached to severe symptoms. According to Wedding & Corsini (2014) states, “Physical disease, severe and acute stress, and chronic stress area also precipitating factors” (Pp. 240) of an individu...
The knowledge of mental illness was very small. Doctors did not understand how to diagnosis or treat mental disorders. They did not understand how the brain functioned and what to expect from people in certain situations. Many symptoms of physical illness today were considered mental illness in the eighteenth century. The constant shaking due to Parkinson’s disease was misinterpreted as a mental condition and treated as such4. These patients were placed into...
There are many different types of psychological disorders present for diagnoses. As well as many forms of treatment methods available focused on the remedial process for the individual. Each treatment often target on a different aspect for the individual, these aspects may include personal skills and coping, cognitive, social aspects, behavioural etc… Therapies can also be combined together to improve results for the patient depending on the patient’s situation and condition. Depression is one of the conditions under mood disorders and can be very influential on the individual’s life and daily activity functioning which may lead to significant consequences if left untreated. In this paper, I will explore the topic of psychodynamic treatments for depression. This paper will discuss about this area of treatment methods in detail and how they work to help the individual as well as comparing and contrasting other treatment methods and their effects on patients to explore which treatment are more effective.
The treatment of the mentally ill started back in the far past. In 400 BC, Hippocrates, who was a Greek physician, treated mental illness as diseases of disturbed physiology, and not displeasure of the Gods or demonic possession ("Timeline: Treatments for," ). Greek medical writers found treatments such as quiet, occupation, and the use of a drug called purgative hellebore ("Timeline: Treatments for,”). During these times, family members took care of the mentally ill ("Timeline: Treatments for,”). In the middle Ages, the Europeans let the mentally ill have their freedom, as long as they were not dangerous ("Timeline: Treatments for,”). The mentally ill were also seen as witches who were possessed by demons ("Timeline: Treatments for,”). In 1407, the first mental illness establishment was made in Valencia, Spain ("Timeline: Treatments for,”).
Depression is an equal opportunity disorder, it can affect any group of people with any background, race, gender, or age. Depression is a sneak thief that slips quietly and gradually into people’s lives - robbing them of their time, and their focus. At first, depression may be undetectable, but in the long run a person could become so weighed down that their life may feel empty and meaningless. Contrary to popular belief, not everyone who commits suicide is depressed, but majority of people who commits suicide do so during a severe depressive episode. There are over 300 million people in the world today who suffer from depression. Depression has affected people for a long as records have been kept. It was first called out by the famous Greek philosopher Hippocrates over 2,400 years ago. Hippocrates called it “melancholia”. Many times we think of depression as one disorder alone, when in fact there are many different types of depression. The different types of depression are major depressive disorder, dysthymic disorder, atypical disorder, adjustment disorder, and depressive personality disorder. All types of depression share at least one common symptom. It is commons from the person who suffers from any form of depression to feel an unshakable sadness, anxious, or empty mood. Major depressive disorder also known as unipolar depression or recurrent depressive disorder is the most severe depressive disorder out of all of the depressive in my estimation. Major depressive disorder is a condition in which affects a person’s family, work or school life, sleeping, eating and general health. It is important to emphasize that we can understand the mechanics of this disorder and how it affects people with major depressive disorder.
History shows that signs of mental illness and abnormal behavior have been documented as far back as the early Greeks however, it was not viewed the same as it is today. The mentally ill were previously referred to as mad, insane, lunatics, or maniacs. W.B. Maher and B.A. Maher (1985) note how many of the terms use had roots in old English words that meant emotionally deranged, hurt, unhealthy, or diseased. Although early explanations were not accurate, the characteristics of the mentally ill have remained the same and these characteristics are used to diagnose disorders to date. Cultural norms have always been used to assess and define abnormal behavior. Currently, we have a decent understanding of the correlates and influences of mental illness. Although we do not have complete knowledge, psychopathologists have better resources, technology, and overall research skills than those in ancient times.
Depression is a mental health condition which is widely recognised as one of the most common conditions for which people seek and receive care. There are many specific nursing problems which are encompassed by the medical term “depression” and these include physical, cognitive and behavioural patterns. Successful treatments of depression are psychosocial interventions which aim to identify and challenge a depressed persons pessimistic attitudes and beliefs and which promote an individuals’ participation in rewarding activities in an attempt to reduce any negative behaviours. The aim of this essay is to identify specific nursing problems which are encompassed by the term “depression” and relate these to a patient whom the author had met whilst out on clinical placement who had been given a medical diagnosis of depression. It is also the aim of this essay to discuss different psychosocial interventions and how effective these are in assisting a patient in their road to recovery.
Clinical depression is very common. Over nine million Americans are diagnosed with clinical depression at some point in their lives. Many more people suffer from clinical depression because they do not seek treatment. They may feel that depression is a personal weakness, or try to cope with their symptoms alone. On the other hand, some people are comfortable with admitting their symptoms and seeking help. Such a discrepancy may account for the differences in reported cases of depression between men and women, which indicate that more than twice the numbers of women than men are clinically depressed. According to the numbers of reported cases of depression, 25% of women and 10% of men will have one or more episodes of clinical depression during their lifetimes.
Major Depressive Disorder or MDD is a very common clinical condition that affects millions of people every year. According to the Agency for Health Care Policy & Research, “ depression is under diagnosed & untreated by most medical doctors, despite the fact that it can almost always be treated successfully.
Major Depressive Disorder, according to Coon, is a mood disorder in which the person has suffered one or more intense episodes of depression. Major Depressive Disorder falls under mood disorders subtopic depressive disorders (Coon 2013). “Psychologist have come to realize that mood disorders (major disturbances in emotion) are among the most serious of all psychological conditions. In any given year, roughly 9.5 percent of the U.S. population suffers from a mood disorder (National Institute of Mental Health, 2011a)” (Coon 2013). I was one of the 9.5 percent. I have decided to write on this topic because I want to understand what causes it. I have been depressed before without medication or counseling and I wanted to know why do you get depressed and how does it impact you. This essay will talk about disorder information, disorder triggers, research on depression, treatment for depression, and theorist’s experiments for Major Depression Disorder.
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...