DEPRESSION

Depression

Depression

Introduction

Everybody's mood varies according to events in the world around them. People are happy when they achieve something or saddened when they fail a test or lose something. When they are sad, some people say they are 'depressed', but the clinical depressions that are seen by doctors differ from the low mood brought on by everyday setbacks. Psychiatrists see a range of more severe mood disturbances and so find it easier to distinguish these from the normal variations of mood seen in the community. The general idea is that anxiety disorders, depressive episodes, somatisation and adjustment reactions are all different entities, but in practice it is not always that clear-cut. Major depression, as defined by psychiatrists, is unfortunately relatively common. 

What is depression?

The term 'affect' refers to one's mood or 'spirits.' 'Affective disorder' refers to changes in mood that occur during an episode of illness marked by extreme sadness (depression) or excitement (mania) or both. Depression is a disorder of affect (Sadock Sadock 2002). Affective disorders are predominantly disturbances of mood that are severe in nature and persistent despite the influence of external events. Depression is characterized by severe and persistent low mood, which is often unresponsive to the efforts of friends and family to cheer the sufferer up. Patients who suffer with repeated episodes of depression have a Recurrent Depressive Disorder. Depressive episodes can be classified into mild, moderate, and severe types, with or without psychotic symptoms. To be classified as depression, an episode must last more than two weeks. A condition where the mood is persistently low, but does not quite fulfil all the criteria for a depressive episode, is sometimes called 'dysthymia.'

Depression is a common occurrence that everyone has experienced in some way throughout the course of his or her lives - from feeling 'blue' to clinical depression. Depression is generally known as "the most common and oldest of all disorders" (Freeman Epstein & Simon 2007) and is considered a crisis. It can happen to anyone regardless of age, sex, person, status or occupation, is one of the "most serious and prevalent mental disorders" and affects approximately 14 million people in North America alone (May 2004). Depression is a normal healthy reaction to some of the events that occur in a person's life. In this paper, I will attempt to define what the crisis of depression is, the symptoms and some forms of treatment.

Depression is a sense or a feeling of sadness, gloom and despair that includes symptoms that affect the whole person - cognitively behaviourally, emotionally, and physically. If these symptoms are severe, chronic or if they happen repeatedly, they will interfere with relationships, work and the daily living of the person.

Depression is a symptom or a message that brings our attention to something that is wrong or neglected in our lives; or that we are in over our head and need help. Depression can be a disease in itself where there is a chemical imbalance in the brain. "In its most severe form, the psychotic depressions, it ...