Diagnosing and Treating Depression Essay -- essays research papers

When someone says the word depression, it causes a great deal of confusion to American people today. Frequently, depression is used to describe when someone is feeling low, miserable, or having ‘gotten out of bed on the wrong side'. However, doctors use the word in two different ways. They can use it to describe the symptom of low mood, or to refer to a specific illness, Depression. Doctors make a diagnosis of depression after assessing the severity of the low mood, other associated symptoms and the duration of the problem. People who have experienced an episode of depression are at risk of developing another in the future. A small amount of people may experience an incidence of depression as part of a type of bipolar disorder, manic depression, which is characterized by episodes of both low and high dispositions. Depression is very common in the United States, occurring in more than five to ten percent of Americans over their lifetime. A â€Å"depressing† statistic is that women are twice more likely to get depression than men. There are no individual personality types that are more at risk than others, yet some risk factors have been identified. These include inherited or genetic factors, such as having parents or grandparents who have endured depression. Some non-genetic factors that can contribute to depression are having a tragedy early on in life such as the death of a parent or close friend. The causes of depression are very obscure and unknown to psychologists. Heredity is a major factor because it leads to the chemical imbalances of the neurotransmitter, Serotonin. Early life experiences like a death may make some people more susceptible. Another cause of depression could be stressful life events, such as losing a job or ... ... of phone numbers that you can call to receive help. Sometimes these are better because you can talk to a real person, even a depression survivor, who can more easily understand your problems. The first is the Yellow Ribbon Suicide Prevention Program whose number is 1-800-SUICIDE (1-800-784-2433). Another anonymous hotline is the National Depressive & Manic-Depressive Association (800) 826-3632. The National Foundation for Depressive Illness also has a 24/7 hotline: (800) 248-4344. The last hotline is D/ART Depression Awareness, Recognition, and Treatment: (800) 969-6942. Feel free to use any one of these toll free numbers to try and control your, or a friend’s, depression. One book that can help is Frank Minirth’s Freedom From Depression. Overall, depression can lead to many worse things, and the best thing that we can do is identify it early and try to treat it.