A Psychological Disease: Depression

A Psychological Disease: Depression

Over the past decades more and more people have been diagnosed with depression. Many people struggled with the disorder before, but not many sought out medical treatment and therapy. Now, like never before, new medications and therapies for depression are being developed. One in six people on average will go through depression at some point in their life. (Beyond Blue, 2015) Depression is a mental disorder that can occur alone or together with other mental or physical health issues. Depression goes under the category of mood disorders. This disorder holds and leaves a person with a stubborn sensation of sadness and a lack of interest toward regularly enjoyable activities.

People have always struggled with the depression disorder, most likely even from the beginning of human being. The Ancient Greeks and Romans new about the depression disorder and they have called it "melancholia" long before it was called depression. Melancholia they thought, was caused form a spiritual reason. The Greeks and Romans believed that it was the spirits or the demons causing the disorder. According to doctor Nemade “The early Babylonian, Chinese, and Egyptian civilizations started viewing mental illness as a form of demonic possession, and used exorcism techniques (such as beatings, restraint, and starvation) designed to drive demons out of the afflicted person's body as treatments”.

Years later Hippocrates, a Greek physician suggested that depression. Hippocrates sorted mental disorders into sections. One of the section was mania. Melancholia, also known as depression was another sections . Brain fever, or phrenitis was the other section of mental illnesses. Hippocrates supposed that melancholia was produced by an excessive amount of black bile in the spleen. His treatments for depression included bloodletting—a way to ride the body of “bad” blood. He also used bathing, exercise, and dieting to treat depression. On the other hand to Hippocrates' view, the well-known Roman statesman and philosopher Cicero claimed that melancholia was triggered by fierce and violent rage. Also, Cicero argued that depression was caused by fear and grief. His theory was a mental explanation to the disorder, in comparison to Hippocrates physical explanation theory. During the Enlightenment age, at about the late 18th century, it was thought that depression was an inherited, unchangeable weakness of temperaments. As a result, most people with mental illnesses became homeless and poor, and some were committed to institutions. (Nemade, 2007)

At the modern era the scientists came to a conclusion that depression is a psychological disorder. Depression may occur from many motives causing the defect of an individual’s brain. Depression can come from something as simple as a conflict with an important individual in life, and something as complicated as a serious illness. Depression can also come from abuse, death or loss, family issues, personal problems, or substance abuse. If an individual has a family history of depression, they are more likely to go through depression themselves.

Drugs such as barbiturates, benzodiazepines, and Accutane—an Acne drug, at times have been associated with depression, especially in those of older age. People with hormone imbalance may often feel gloomy and down. Many personal problems also my react toward depression such as problems with a close individual to you, loss or death of someone. Past physical, sexual, or emotional abuse can cause depression.

The pathology of depression is mainly affects brain. Researchers have noticed some differences in the brains of people who are depressed as to people who are not. Finding very interesting results they came to a conclusion that, the hippocampus, appears to be smaller in particularly people with a history of depression than in those who've never experienced depression. A smaller hippocampus in size, has less serotonin receptors. Serotonin is one of the numerous brain chemicals identified as neurotransmitters that permit messages across circuits that link different brain sections. (Joseph Goldberg, 2014)

Depression starts mild but, has the ability to progress into more severe stages. It starts as a minor depression. Depression then moves on to Dysthymia, then to Major Depressive Disorder, and last to Bipolar Depression. Minor depression is when an individual experiences some of the symptoms of major depression over a period of about two weeks. These people are at great risk for increasing major depressive disorder if they to cover themselves. Getting help at this stage is highly recommended. The following stage is the dysthymia phase. This phase is like the minor stage but it’s experienced for many years.

Major depressive disorder, also known as clinical depression is the consequent stage. This is where the symptoms get in the way of everyday life. It interferes in their ability to work, sleep, and interact socially. This stage is where the thoughts of about death and suicide attack the person. Clinical depression can last for months without help. The last phase is the bipolar depression. Bipolar depression is when moods can be swigged instantly. It’s also a mood disorder that can involves periods of mania. (Jourdan Rombough 2013).

Symptoms of