Stress and Depression



Contents

Introduction1

Discussion1

Depression1

Symptoms of Depression and its existence among US population2

Types of Depression3

Risk factors and causes3

Impact of depression on individual4

Stress5

Difference between acute and chronic stress5

Acute stress5

Chronic stress6

Impact of stress on psychological and physical health6

Stress management techniques and changes in life style7

Conclusion8

References9

Stress and Depression

Introduction

Research conducted by Hammen in 2005 shows that a cause and effect relationship exists between stress and depression. Putting efforts to fight against stressful events in life may lead to the development of depression in some cases. However on the other side depression lowers the ability of the person to deal with different stressful events in life. When a person experiences stressful events constantly and continuously in their life then this situation may lead to the development of the medical conditions known as depression. Both stress and depression has severe effects on the physical and psychological health of an individual. The research further shows that a potential sub type of depression is stress-induced-depression, which shows a clear relation that stress induces depression in some cases. The paper discusses over the different perspective of stress and depression, their effects on individual and steps taken to eliminate them (Hammen, 2005).

Discussion

Depression

Depression is a common mental disorder that may lead due to any mishap, tragic event or any unwanted event in life. Every person faces ups and downs in his or her life. Every person faces some painful feelings in his life which according to some experts and psychologists is important for the personal growth of a person. However sometimes these painful feelings exist for larger period of time in such cases these feelings lead to depression. The severity, duration and the presence of other symptoms creates a difference between the normal sadness and the disorder of depression. There are multiple variations of depression that a person can suffer from, however to in order to distinguish the depression and the normal feeling of sadness the history of tragic events in the life of person is evaluated. Depression is a common disorder that is regarded as a significant contributor to the global burden. The research shows that today more than 350 million people are affected by depression. The research further shows among twenty persons one so effected with this disorder (Moussavi, et.al, 2007).

Symptoms of Depression and its existence among US population

Depression in some of the major problem in United stated. Research shows that 6.7 percent of the U.S. population is affected by this mental disorder. There are various symptoms that are used to identify depression. Many of the people come to know when they feel depressed however few people cannot identify the difference between sad feelings and depression. Goldman conducted a research and identified the following major symptoms of depression (Goldman, et.al, 2010).

Persistence of sadness for larger period of time and bad mood they may exist with or without weepiness.

Loosing focus and concentration over the work and those daily life activities that a person used to enjoy doing them.

Feeling difficulty in sleeping that ruins the sleeping pattern ...