Depression

Most people have heard of depression.  But what IS depression? Why are we affected by it? What causes us to be depressed? Some high school students gave examples as towhat they think depression is.

• You feel sad about everything and sometimes you’re not very sociable.
• Depression is when you’re sad.
• Depression is when you’re feeling bad.
• A quick mood change
• When you’re sad or depressed by something.
• When you feel like the world is against you.
• Sadness
• When you feel emo

Many responses were given, some more accurate than others. The truth is that depression is a psychiatric illness that causes people to feel hopeless and miserable. It can also cause them to have less energy and make it harder for them to concentrate. 

Depression has many causes. You can actually inherit depression from your parents’ genes. Depression is 40-70% inheritable but is in combination with your environment.

Using anti-depressants, ironically, can cause depression because they change the level of some neurotransmitters like serotonin, the neurotransmitter that causes anger, body temperature, mood, sleep, vomiting, sexuality, and hunger, and norepinephrine, the chemical in the brain that controls focus and attention.

People with low-self esteem are more prone to depression. People who go to get help from psychologists can correct themselves and increase their mood. This can be caused by someone’s personality and environmental causes like stress.

Early childhood experiences like death of a parent, neglect or abandonment, abuse sexually, mentally, and physically can increase the risk of depression in later years.

People who have no job, have money issues, have family dying, rape, and other life experiences also increase the risk of depression. Being bullied can also cause depression.

Stress can cause depression because of all of the pressure put onto you, which your brain can’t handle, causing your brain less capable of sending neurotransmitters.

Alcohol and substance abuse also causes depression. Being drunk creates a change in mood and so does using drugs. Sleeping medication also causes depression.

Child birth also causes depression because of the hormonal changes. It usually affects women three months after birth and can last months after.

Depressive symptoms vary from person to person, but the most common symptoms are:

• Sadness
• Fear
• Emptiness
• No pleasure of activities
• Alterations in appetite or weight gain
• Insomnia (inability to sleep) or Hypersomnia (too much sleep)
• Slower thinking skills
• Tiredness physically
• Tiredness psychologically
• Feelings of guilt, nervousness, and anxiety
• Difficulty of focusing or decision making
• Thoughts of suicide
• Hating self
• A decrease in self-esteem
• Poor hygiene
• Noise sensitive
• Paranoia of serious illness
• Fear of going insane
• Changes in awareness of time
• Periods of crying
• Behavior changes like irritation
• Sleep problems like nightmares
• Social isolation
• Alcohol addiction

More than 1 in 6 people in the US will suffer from depression in their lifetime. People who are depressed usually think that they are alone, but in reality they aren’t. Many famous people suffered from depression. Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, Pyotor Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Marilyn Monroe, and even Vincent Van Gogh suffered from depression. Those who are depressed are in the same boat as those very famous people!In a survey, people were asked if they ever felt depressed. Out of 50, 16 out of 50 people in the survey were depressed. The results were relatively close to the U.S. average of depressed people.

Depression is linked to physical alterations in your brain. The brain has these “neurons”, the things that transmit messages, and it also has “neurotransmitters”, chemicals that control the signals of your brain. An imbalance of these neurotransmitters is what causes depression.

Depression can affect anyone, but there are three groups that depression can affect more easily than others. Women have twice the risk of getting depression. That is because of hormonal changes from puberty, menopause, menstruation, and pregnancy. Men, on the other hand, are not as likely to get depression as women, but they are more aggressive and hostile and may try to hide it using alcohol or drug abuse. They are also four times more likely to suicide when in depression. Old people are also affected by depression. They may suffer from depression after their spouse dies and they must adjust to being alone. They also might have to adjust to being physically ill. They may think that they’re just suffering from the curse of old age, and won’t get help as a result.

There are many types of depressions. The most common depression is, ironically, atypical depression. Atypical depression is major depression, but differs from another type of depression, melancholic depression because people with atypical depressions act positively towards other activities. They can also gain weight, sleep a lot, sluggish paralysis, and also are sensitive to being rejected in love. 

Another common and better known depression is bipolar depression. It is one of the parts of bipolar disorder, which you swing from depression to mania, which is being extremely enthusiastic about something. People who are diagnosed with bipolar are diagnosed with the same criteria for major depression, but many of the symptoms are the same as atypical depression. It can be confusing because someone suffering from bipolar disorder could be manic to depressed in a matter of minutes. It could take days, even weeks for the switch.

Psychotic depression is a depression in which you have delusions and hallucinations. You may think that you are someone else other than yourself and you may hear things that aren’t there.

Another depression is catatonic depression. Catatonic depression is rare, and when you have it, you may be in a daze, you may do too much exercising, and you may also have an extremely negative outlook. You may also move oddly and you can also mimic others in their actions and words.

Seasonal affective disorder is a disorder that causes depression because of lack of sunlight. It may come in the dark fall and into winter, and ceases in the spring. People who already suffer from depression are also affected by seasonal affective disorder because of all of the darkness without the sun.

Postparium depression is depression that can happen four weeks after childbirth. It may be called “baby blues”. Postparium depression is considered a major depression and can be caused by the hormonal changes after childbirth.

There are many treatments for the many varied depressions there are. Medication and psychotherapy are the two main treatments for depression.

Some typical modern day medicines are Celexa, Paxil, and Prozac. They are all selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), which boost the level of serotonin. These SSRIs affect the part of the mind that stops you from becoming obese.

Norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (NRIs) like Edronax have a good effect on concentration and motivation.

Norepinephrine-dopamine reuptake inhibitors such as Wellbutrin stop the neurotransmitters from being reabsorbed.

Serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) like Effexor are a new type of anti-depressant that works on both serotonin and norepinephrine. Noradrenergic and specific serotonergic antidepressants (NASSAs) are a new form of antidepressant that increases serotonin and norepinephrine.

Psychotherapy, which is a fancy word for counseling, a person gets help by being told by a psychiatrist how to fix a problem and help process it. When psychotherapy is effective, people will develop a different method of thinking and thus having more effectiveness than antidepressants.

Another option is ECT, or Electroconvulsive Therapy, A.K.A Electroshock treatment. Short bursts of electricity while the patient is under the effects of an anesthetic to produce a fake seizure. In the past, people have used direct electroshock while the patient is awake but now it is required that the patient be unconscious. ECT has a very effective short term effect and must be maintained to last. Usually ECT is only used in emergencies like in catatonic depression.

In short, depression can hit hard but CAN BE CURED with the right method. Though you don’t have a 100% chance you may be able to lower the level of depression. People with depression have emptiness in them, but it can be filled.