Depression: Symptoms And Analysis

Depression is a very common mental illness that affects a person's mood, how they feel, think, and handle everyday activities such as eating, sleeping and working. In nimh.nih.gov's article, it is discussed that there are five major types of depression: persistent depressive disorder, perinatal depression, psychotic depression, seasonal affective disorder and bipolar disorder. These different types can develop under certain circumstances, but all cannot be diagnosed until the symptoms are present for at least two weeks. Symptoms common in someone with depression include but not limited to: persistent sad or anxious mood, irritability, feeling hopelessness, loss of interest or pleasure in activities, decreased energy, difficultly making decisions,
The most common eating disorders are anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder. These illnesses are all a combination of sociocultural, psychological, and biological factors. ATTRIBUTIVE TAG- Anorexia nervosa is characterized by starving oneself and excessive weight loss. It is evident someone is suffering from this when they show a dramatic weight loss, are preoccupied with their weight, food, calories and dieting, and show different behavior changes. There are serious health consequences that can follow this disorder like a abnormally low heart rate and blood pressure, osteoporosis and muscle loss. Bulimia nervosa is described as the continuous cycle of binge eating and the using a method such as vomiting or laxatives to undo it. Symptoms to be aware of for bulimia nervosa are frequent episodes of consuming large amounts of food followed with behaviors such as vomiting, feeling out of control during a binge eating episode, and self esteem issues relating to one's body image. Warning signs are evident if a person shows binge eating and purging behaviors, exercises more than needed, swelling of the cheeks and jaw, discoloration of the teeth, calluses on the back of the hands from self induced vomiting, a withdrawal from friends and family, and behavior issues that relate to weight loss and dieting. It is important to fully under stand the consequences of bulimia nervosa. The entire digestive system can be damaged and purging can lead to electrolyte and chemical imbalances within the body. Inflammation of the esophagus resulting from purging can cause it to rupture and teeth can decay from stomach acids. The most common eating disorder is binge eating, which is described as reoccurring episodes of eating large amounts of food in a short period of time. The person usually feels a loss of control and experiences extreme shame.