MAJOR DEPRESSION DISORDER 3
Running head: MAJOR DEPRESSION DISORDER 1
Major Depression Disorder
Name
Institution
Major Depression Disorder
Symptoms
Major depression is also referred to as major depressive disorder or unipolar. This disorder is characterized by a persistent lack of interest in outside stimuli or feeling of sadness. According to …the term unipolar is used in this case to differentiate between bipolar depression and major depression, which refers to an oscillating state between mania and depression. Alternatively, unipolar depression is entirely based on the “lows,” or the adverse symptoms and emotions that one may have gone through. Luckily, major depression is well comprehended in the medical field and is often curable via a combination of talk therapy and medication.
Symptoms of major depression disorder
Though in most cases, this disorder occurs only once in a person’s life, individuals simply experience a series of episodes. By the course of these episodes, symptoms appear most of the days and nearly daily. These symptoms may include:
Having moments of tearfulness, sadness, feeling of being hopeless and emptiness
Irritability, angry outburst, feeling of being frustrated for even insignificant matters
Loss of pleasure or interest in a vast range of normal activities like sports and sex
Sleep disturbance including oversleeping or insomnia
Lack of energy and tiredness where even insignificant tasks call for extra efforts
Minimal appetite, increased cravings for weight gain
Agitation, anxiety or feeling of being restless
Slowed speaking thinking or body movement
Feeling of guiltiness, or worthlessness, fixating on previous failures and self-blame
Having a problem with concentration, trouble in thinking, remembering things and making decisions
Recurrent thoughts of suicidal, death and suicide attempts
Unaddressed physical issues such as headaches and back pain
A substantial number of individuals with depression, symptoms are serious enough to trigger outstanding issues in daily activities, such as school, relationships with others, work and social activities. Some individuals may simply feel unhappy or miserable without exactly understanding why. It is good to note that there are different depression symptoms in teens and children. However, most of the common symptoms in children are similar to those of grown-ups, though, they can have some differences.
In young children, symptoms of this disorder may include Irritability, worry, pains and aches, sadness, being underweight, and refusing to attend schools. While in teens, depression symptoms include irritability, sadness, feeling worthless, anger, poor performance at school, absenteeism at school, feeling misunderstood, taking drugs and alcohol, oversleeping, loss of interest in usual activities and withdraw from social relationships.
Causes of Major Depression
The causes of this disorder are not exactly recognized. This is because, with depression disorder, a broad range of factors are involved. They may include; a combination of stress and genes are potential to impact the brain chemistry and minimize the capability to maintain mood stability. Also, alterations in the balance of hormones are well known to contribute to the development of a major depressive disorder. Besides, drug abuse and alcoholism can as well trigger this disorder. ……..states that specific medical conditions, such as hypothyroidism and cancer can cause major depression on teens and adults as well. Some medications such as steroids can cause the rigger this disorder as well. It is also important to note that Major depression disorder tends to affect people whose blood relatives similarly exhibited this condition. This means that this disorder is inheritable. Evidently, researchers are working extra hand to identify these genes that are involved in triggering major depression.
Risk factors of major depression
Though depression can occur at any age, it is most prevalent in the 20s or 30s. Another noticeable thing with this disorder is that its more prevalent in women than men, but this is believed to caused by the fact that women mostly seek treatment than men. There is a broad range of factors that seems to elevate the risk of depression:
Specific personality traits like being over-dependent, pessimistic and low self-esteem
Stressful events or traumatic situations such as sexual abuse or physical torture
Inherited genes or traits of relatives with a history of bipolar disorder, suicide thoughts, alcoholism and so forth
Being gay, lesbian, transgender or bisexual or exhibiting variations in the development of genital parts making it impossible to understand if one is a male or a female clearly
History of mental health illnesses such as eating disorders and anxiety disorder
Consumption of recreational drugs and alcoholism
Chronic diseases such as stroke and heart illnesses
Prevention of major depression
Though there are no sure methods of preventing major depression, these techniques may help:
Consider steps to control or curb stress, boost self-esteem and enhance resilience
Reach out to friends and family members, mostly in situations of crisis to help in dealing with the problem
Consider seeking for treatment as early as possible to help prevent depression from escalating to critical levels
One should consider acquiring long-term maintenance diagnosis to safeguard a relapse of symptoms
References
Kupfer, D. J., Frank, E., & Phillips, M. L. (2012). Major depressive disorder: new clinical, neurobiological, and treatment perspectives. The Lancet, 379(9820), 1045-1055.
Lee, R. S., Hermens, D. F., Porter, M. A., & Redoblado-Hodge, M. A. (2012). A meta-analysis of cognitive deficits in first-episode major depressive disorder. Journal of affective disorders, 140(2), 113-124.
Zhang, J., Wang, J., Wu, Q., Kuang, W., Huang, X., He, Y., & Gong, Q. (2011). Disrupted brain connectivity networks in drug-naive, first-episode major depressive disorder. Biological Psychiatry, 70(4), 334-342.
Bora, E., Fornito, A., Pantelis, C., & Yücel, M. (2012). Gray matter abnormalities in major depressive disorder: a meta-analysis of voxel-based morphometry studies. Journal of affective disorders, 138(1-2), 9-18.
Bombardier, C. H., Fann, J. R., Temkin, N. R., Esselman, P. C., Barber, J., & Dikmen, S. S. (2010). Rates of major depressive disorder and clinical outcomes following traumatic brain injury. Jama, 303(19), 1938-1945.