Preview

Depressive Disorder Research Paper Am

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
4069 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Depressive Disorder Research Paper Am
Depressive Disorder: Causes, Diagnosis and Treatment
Amy Robinson
Liberty University

Abstract
This paper will examine the causes of depression, trouble with diagnosis of depression, and the treatment process. Depression can be simple to diagnose, however, this paper will discuss the fact that many people will have more than one disorder that needs to be evaluated and therefore the symptoms of depression may be masked by others. Once all problems are evaluated a thorough treatment plan can be created. Some of the treatment options are pharmacological, therapeutic, and many times spiritual. These different approaches, when integrated together, can allow a person to change their thought process, their behavior and give them freedom from their pain and stress.
Keywords: diagnosis, treatment, disorders

Depressive Disorder: Causes, Diagnosis and Treatment
People diagnosed with mood disorders, such as major depressive disorder, dysthymic disorder and bipolar disorder make up about 9.5% of the US population (NAMI). This population not only has been diagnosed with one disorder, but many have multiple disorders, such as depression linked with anxiety, and/or substance abuse. Those who have been diagnosed with depression or a combination of disorders (comorbidity) are at a greater risk for harming themselves and others. The National Institute of Mental Health (2013) stated that more than 90% of people who commit suicide each year have been previously diagnosed with a mood disorder such as the ones listed above. While depression is common, it is also a very serious disorder that some may take lightly when first diagnosed. Depression can be caused by several combinations of different factors, like genetics, biology and their environment. For some people, having family members who suffer from depression, makes them more vulnerable to symptoms of depression.
Depression Overview There are several different forms of depressive disorder a



References: American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.) Crockford, D. N., & Berg, A. (2013). Diagnosis and Treatment of Depression in Patients with Substance Use Disorders Ishizaki, J., & Mimura, M. (2011). Dysthymia and Apathy: Diagnosis and Treatment. Depression Research & Treatment, 1-7 Kaufman, E Khalsa, S., McCarthy, K., Sharpless, B., Barrett, M., & Barber, J. (2011). Beliefs about the causes of depression and treatment preferences Nes, R., Røysamb, E., Reichborn-Kjennerud, T., Harris, J., & Tambs, K. (2007). Symptoms of anxiety and depression in young adults: genetic and environmental influences on stability and change Page, A. C., & Hooke, G. R. (2012). Effectiveness of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Modified for Inpatients with Depression Price, J. (2012). Cognitive behavior therapy: a case study. Mental Health Practice, 15(9), 26-31. Sarris, J., O 'Neil, A., Coulson, C

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    The BDI-II contains a substantial revision of the original and revised BDI-1A (Beck et al., 1996). The BDI-II omits signs associated with weight loss, body image, hypochondria, and working difficulty in order for the assessment of symptoms to comply with the American Psychiatric Association’s DSM-IV criteria (APA, 1994)). For BDI-II, worthlessness, loss of energy, agitation, and concentration difficulty were added as new symptoms of depression. The 21 items that comprise BDI-II are categorized into cognitive, affective, somatic, and vegetative symptoms of depression. The 21 depression symptoms that comprise BDI-II are sadness, pessimism, past failure, loss of pleasure, guilt feelings, punishment feelings, self-dislike, self-criticalness, suicidal…

    • 309 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Knaus EdD, W.J. (2012). The Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Workbook for Depression. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications, Inc…

    • 1610 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Over the years, it has been evident that many scholars, researchers, and mental health professionals in the psychology field are heavily relying on college/university students when studying mental health conditions. More specifically, a prominent mental condition that has dramatically risen over the years in its prevalence is what most people encounter at least once in their lifetime but the extreme aspects of this disorder causes excruciating emotional pain and is highly debilitating. This disorder is depression. Depression is a disorder on a spectrum and the more extreme the illness is, the higher level of damaging effects it has, incapacitating an individual. Moreover the diagnosis, impact, and effect of depression vary from person to person. Almost everyone feels melancholic and depressed at one point in time due to external factors that they are faced with, but a clinical diagnosis is made when the ‘depressed’ state of mind takes control of one’s life and becomes detrimental to their health. For example, it can take a toll on one’s health and intervene with one’s lifestyle limiting their ability to do several things such as working, interacting with individuals, finding the energy to do things and so forth. According to the DSM IV model, an individual who suffers from major depressive disorder must have symptoms of depression such that they either have a depressed mood or a loss of interest/lack of pleasure in daily activities consistently for at least a period of 2 weeks. This requirement excludes depressed moods caused by substance use such as drugs, alcohol and medications.…

    • 2540 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    It is important for MDD to be identified and treated early on, as MDD that is not treated appropriately results in recurrent depressive episodes, with each successive episode increasing in severity. As MDD is highly associated with suicidal ideation and suicide, it is imperative that MDD be treated to ensure patient safety. Risk factors for MDD are a prior episode of depression, lack of social support, lack of coping abilities, medical comorbidity, substance use, and presence of life and environmental stressors. In…

    • 8675 Words
    • 35 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    From the early philosophers, scholars and scientists’ perspectives, depression is a mystery caused by unknown powers in the universe. Based from early accounts, depressed or melancholic people demonstrate bizarre behaviour, in which nobody could pinpoint the reason behind. Symptoms range from extreme sadness and lack of zeal in life to drastic mood changes. With the gradual development of modern scientific processes and correspondence among experts, specialists were able to define depression, identified its symptoms, and tried to discover its causes and remedies.…

    • 1697 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Bipolar disorder is usually treated with mood stabilizers such as Lithium or carbamazepine, anticonvulsant medications such as valproic acid or lamotrigine, or pairing antidepressants with mood stabilizers. However, bipolar disorder can be treated with a combined treatment of mood stabilizers and individual, group, or family therapy. There are many more treatments for unipolar depression. Biological treatments include brain stimulation such as vague nerve stimulation, trans-cranial magnetic stimulation, and deep brain stimulation. This option of treatment is usually the last option because it is used for treatment-resistant depression. Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) is also used as a treatment for depression although it is considered controversial. This type of treatment can cause dislocated jaws and shoulders and even broken bones. It can also cause short-term and even long-term memory loss. Another biological treatment for unipolar depression is antidepressants. These include mono-amine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors, tricyclics, and selective serotonin reputake inhibitors (SSRIs). The different types of antidepressants have different ways of combating the symptoms of depression. Other ways that are used to treat depression are free association therapy; operant conditioning which uses behavioral techniques such as pleasurable activities and rewarding behaviors that are not depressive;…

    • 991 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Best Essays

    Farinde, A., (2013). The Beck Depression Inventory. The Pharma Innovation Journal, 2(1), 56-58. ISSN: 2277-7695. Retrieved from http://www.thepharmajournal.com…

    • 1419 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Although science isn’t certain of the exact mechanism that causes the onset of clinical depression, however, that uncertainly did not quell the firestorm of speculations about what was the impetus of clinical depression in human. For centuries mankind has speculated about what triggered it and continued in to the Renaissance. Philosophers and scientist supposed that bodily fluids called humors were responsible for our moods and personality. The black bile they called it, was the one that caused depression. And by the 17th Century, dualism- the separation of mind and body was the doctrine shaping the argument at the time. Subsequently, it was asserted that depression was a disease of the mind and came about as a result of something being off-centered in an individual’s physical or social environment. As the 20th century emerged, the man credited with being the father of psychoanalysis believed that a dysfunction of the brain would explain mental illness. As neuroscience advanced over the years, assessments by neuroscientist came to know that many cases of psychopathology surfaced because of dysfunctions in particular brain structures or particular brain chemicals.…

    • 1866 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    As with the second study reviewed, the second study also had a very large number of patients who proved to be ineligible or who were declined for study participation, thereby lending to an assumption of selection bias (Kuyken, et al., 2008). The study assessed 1,469 patients for eligibility, listing the rationale for exclusion and inability to complete the study in full detail. A total number of 123 patients were included and eventually 104 were analyzed (Psychotherapy MBCT n=52; antidepressant medication ADM n=52). The third study used fewer instruments to measure outcome, although equally as valid and reliable to include: Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and interestingly DSM IV (4th ed). Another interesting feature of this study is that all participants were taking ADM, as this was inclusion criteria, however the patients in the psychotherapy group were tapered off ADM over the course of the study. After the study period, which lasted for 15 months, rates of ADM usage in the psychotherapy group was significantly reduced, and 75% completely discontinued their ADM (Kuyken, et al.,…

    • 1198 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Depression: A state of low mood and aversion to activity, a class of mental illness.(Pages 380-381, 400, Chapter 11)…

    • 391 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Andrews, Linda Wasmer. Encyclopedia of Depression. Vol. 1 [A-L]. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood, 2010. Print.…

    • 1684 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Antidepressants Causes

    • 874 Words
    • 4 Pages

    It is possible to treat depression through the means of antidepressants, diet, exercise, and psychotherapy. Depression affects many people and is a widespread problem. It is not only a problem for the United States, but it is a problem throughout the entire world. Suicide rates are increasing and more strategies are being formulated to prevent the rate from continuing to rise, however the strategies are ineffective if there are no people to implement them. Depression rates are also steadily rising, As previously mentioned, the study conducted by the National Institutes of Health showed that around fifteen million U.S. adults older than eighteen (6.7 percent) had suffered from depression at least once within the previous year. The symptoms of depression such as sadness, difficulty sleeping, inability to concentrate, headaches, stomach aches, loss of appetite, restlessness, and others are common symptoms of depression that are easily dismissed as common behavior. Depression is a dangerous illness that can result in death, but all forms of depression are receptive to…

    • 874 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Mood Disorders

    • 3778 Words
    • 16 Pages

    As many as 19 million Americans million are affected by mood disorders ( The two main types of mood disorders are bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder which are described as disturbances in mood, behavior and emotion.“ Bipolar disorder is a complex disorder in which the core feature is pathological disturbance in mood ranging from extreme elation, or mania, to severe depression usually accompanied by disturbances in thinking and behavior, which may include psychotic symptoms, such as delusions and hallucinations” (Craddock, Jones 1999). Major depressive disorder or unipolar depression is characterized by a consistent low mood and lack of interest in things typically enjoyed .A second classification of major depressive disorder, is dysthymic disorder which is a chronic but less severe form of major depression (John W. Santrock 2007). Also major depression has many subgroups including seasonal affect disorder and postpartum depression. While there are many treatment options for the symptoms of mood disorders and promising scientific research, much is still unknown about a disorder that affects so many lives.…

    • 3778 Words
    • 16 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    When people think of treatment for depression, most of the time they probably think psychotherapy, talking about the problems, coming up with strategies for better coping and a hope to gain closure or go into remission. Sometimes, due to hormonal imbalances and stress-related brain damage, these therapy talks need to be supplemented with other therapies, through drugs, vitamin supplements, a simple change in diet, or eventually, maybe even gene therapy.…

    • 559 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Since the client has been experiencing depressive symptoms, it can be possible for the client to have a diagnosis of major depressive disorder. What constitutes major depressive disorder is that the client must experience five or more symptoms for at least two-weeks. Although the client displays five symptoms listed in the major depressive disorder section, the client has been experiencing the symptoms for five-years instead of two-weeks. The client states that she experience mild depression, but does not state that she was diagnosed with major depressive disorder. Therefore, the client does not meet the criteria for major depressive disorder.…

    • 626 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays