Depression (mood)

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Depression, or, more properly, a depressed mood, refers to a state of non-clinical melancholia that is shorter than 2 weeks in duration and distinctly differentiated from a diagnosis of clinical Depression. A depressed mood is generally situational and reactive, and associated with grief, loss, or a major social transition. A change of residence, marriage, divorce, the break-up of a significant relationship, graduation, or job loss are all examples of instances that might trigger a depressed mood.

In the field of psychiatry the word depression can also have this meaning but more specifically refers to a mental illness when it has reached a severity and duration to warrant a diagnosis. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) states that a depressed mood is often reported as being: "... depressed, sad, hopeless, discouraged, or 'down in the dumps'."

In a clinical setting, a depressed mood can be something a patient reports (a symptom), or something a clinician observes (a sign), or both.

Determinants of mood

Depression can be the result of many factors, individually and acting in concert.

Environment

Reactions to events, often a loss in some form, are perhaps the most obvious causes. This loss may be obvious, such as the death of a loved one, or having moved from one house to another (mainly with children), or less obvious, such as disillusionment about one's career prospects. Monotonous environments can be depressing. A lack of control over one's environment can lead to feelings of helplessness. Domestic disputes and financial difficulties are common causes of a depressed mood. Love, or lack of being able to express your feelings can lead to a feeling of unexplainable sadness or grief.

Psychological Factors

Sometimes the depressed mood may relate more to internal processes or even be triggered by them. Pessimistic views of life or a lack of self-esteem can lead to depression. Illnesses and changes in cognition that occur in psychoses and dementias, to name but two, can lead to depression. Depression may also be comorbid with cardiovascular disorders

Physiological Considerations

The etiology of depression is still being actively investigated. Because different biologicals variables seem to ellicit similar expressions of depression, it is difficult to precisely pinpoint the condition's root. Some general physiological considerations include Genetics (i.e. an acquired disposition to depression), neurochemistry (e.g. decreased Serotonin release), hormone imbalance (e.g. PMS in women), illness and seasonal factors.

Adaptive benefits of depression

While a depressed mood is usually seen as deleterious, it may have adaptive benefits. The loss of a loved spouse, child, friend or relation, a physical illness or loss of lifestyle, tends to lead to feelings of depression. Freud noted the similarities between mourning and depression (then called melancholia) in a now famous paper entitled, "Mourning and Melancholia". The depressed mood is adaptive in that it leads the person towards altering their thought patterns and behavior or way of living or else continues until such a time as they do so. It can be argued that depression and clinical depression is in fact the refusal of a person to heed the call to change from within their own mind. For example, in mourning it is essential that one must eventually let go of the dead person and return to the world and other relationships.

Depression appears to have the effect of stopping a person in their tracks and forcing them to turn inwards and engage in a period of self reflection; it is a deeply introspective state. During this period, which can last anything from days to years, the individual must find a new way to interpret their thoughts and feelings and reassess the extent to which their appraisal of their reality is a valid.

Seasonal affective disorder may point to an atavistic link with behaviour in hibernation.

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Until we can find out for certain what chemical changes occur when someone becomes depressed, and find out what triggers them, we will not even begin to be able to discover whether one can prevent depression. As with a tendency towards anxiety, it does appear that some people are more inclined to become depressed than others. We cannot say, however, that anyone has actually prevent depression until we are able to expose people to its causes and observe their minds and bodies resisting it as a result of some kind of preventive action. Nevertheless, if we consider what depressed people regard as the causes of their illness, it may offer some guidance as to possible preventative measures.

What are the ways for the Prevention of Depression?

Prevention of Depression -through the way we think:

We already know that two people can experience identical events and yet one may become depressed as a result whereas the other does not. The only difference between them is the way in which they think about what has happened and how it affects them. The way we think affects the way our body behaves and this inturn influences the way we feel.

Whether it is treated or not, depression seems to disappear quite suddenly. It may take weeks or over a year, but it happens. It may come back if the conditions which caused it are repeated, but it seems that the body adjusts itself to the imbalance in the system and rights itself - untill the next time.

Prevention of Depression -through the state-dependent theory:

It has been found that we remember incidents according to the way we felt at the time. This is called state dependent memory, and it means we do not remember the past in neutral terms, seeing both sides of any situation. The rule is therefore to try and allow yourself to see something positive in everything. If you find something positive in even the worst that befalls you, then you have cracked it!

Depression Prevention -through the acceptance theory:

We only have the power to control our own thoughts and actions. No matter how much we try and control others, we cannot. We must accept other people just as they are; it is upto them to change themselves if they want to. Nobody has the right to control another. The only possible exception to this is a parent's right to hold control of a child in trust untill that child is able to take over. What we have to learn is acceptance.


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[donsaeid]

faghat mikhastam bbegam Depressio mitone chemical bedalile activitet dar cinapses beyne asab... enteghale akhbar bevasileye packegehaye shimiai ke az ye asab tarashoh va in asabe digero tahrik mikone... va kambode bazi va bishtar bodane digari base bimarihaye rohi az jomle depressiion mishe... va yechiz dige dar morede inke depression 14 roze... depression sorathaye mokhtalefi dare... va ma depression cronical darim ke dar mavagheye aaadd hast ke in kheili darmanesh sakhte...

va hameye ina dar morede inke kheili chiza tasir gozare dar behbod shakki nist... vali in rah sakht va tolanie... age in karha dar kenare kami daro ke betone komak kone ke badan betone tarashohate shimiai beyne asabesho be halate normal darbiare kheili behtare

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Too many people are being diagnosed with depression when all they are is unhappy, a leading psychiatrist says.
Professor Gordon Parker claims the threshold for clinical depression is too low and risks treating normal emotional states as illness.

Writing in the British Medical Journal, he calls depression a "catch-all" diagnosis driven by clever marketing.

But another psychiatrist writing in the journal contradicts his views, praising the increased diagnosis of depression.

The milder, more common experiences risk being pathologised

Professor Gordon Parker

Professor Ian Hickie writes that an increased diagnosis and treatment of depression has led to a reduction in suicides and removal of the old stigma surrounding mental illness.

Under the current diagnosis guidelines, around one in five adults is thought to suffer depression during their lifetime. This costs the UK economy billions in lost productivity and treatment.

Professor Parker, from the University of New South Wales, in Australia, said the "over-diagnosis" began around 25 years ago.

Study of teachers

The professor, who carried out a 15-year study of 242 teachers, found that more than three-quarters of them met the current criteria for depression.

He writes in the BMJ that almost everyone had symptoms such as "feeling sad, blue or down in the dumps" at some point in their lives - but this was not the same as clinical depression which required treatment.

HAVE YOUR SAY
People get a bit fed up with life and think they have depression, but if they had actually suffered with depression they would know about it

Mrs Jackman, Wirral, UK


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He said prescribing medication may raise false hopes and might not be effective as there was nothing biologically wrong with the patient.

He said: "Over the last 30 years the formal definitions for defining clinical depression have expanded into the territory of normal depression, and the real risk is that the milder, more common experiences risk being pathologised."

But Professor Hickie said if only the most severe cases were treated, people would die unnecessarily.

Marjorie Wallace, chief executive of the mental health charity Sane, said: "Depression can be a complex and challenging condition ranging from feeling low to being so disabled that the person may be unable to get out of bed in the morning, sustain relationships or work.

"It is not surprising that with such a wide range of symptoms, identification varies from one doctor to another.

"Sane believes that it is better to risk over diagnosis than to leave depression untreated. One in ten people with severe depression may take their own life."

The number of prescriptions for antidepressants in England hit a record high of more than 31 million prescriptions earlier this year - a 6% rise in two years.