Depression - Powerpoint presentation

Depression

Depression is a disorder that causes a persistent feeling of sadness ad loss of interest in things that a person once enjoyed. It affects how a person feels, thinks or behave and overall the sense of well-being (Costello, 1993). Signs and symptoms of depression vary widely among people. The symptoms persist for a long period and can interfere social and family life. Different people will have different sign and symptoms, and they include:

· Persistent feeling of sadness, hopelessness, tearfulness or emptiness. This the feeling that the situations cannot be changed and thing are not going to be better no matter what.

· The loss of interest in daily activities that one used to like. It loss in pressure for normal activities such as sex or sport.

· Sleep abnormalities that come either as insomnia or hypersomnia

· Weight abnormalities or appetite loss. It entails a significant loss in weight or gains in weight over a short period. A loss of appetite also indicates depression.

· Getting frustrated or angry over the small matter. It is whereby the victim feels agitated or restless and get violent over a non-issue.

· A poor concentration that cause trouble in focusing, making decisions and poor memory. Epitomized by slowed speaking, thinking or movement.

Several strategies can be used to prevent depression, especially by good health habits. Healthy diet improves blood circulation and reduces inflammation effects on the victim’s body. Treatment option depends on the type of depression that a person have (Souery et al, 2006). Depression may be treated by putting the patient on medication. It is whereby the patient is prescribed to antidepressant. Anti-depressant are known to work on brain chemicals called neurotransmitters that are involved in regulating mood.

A combination of anti-depressants and therapy is also used to treat depression. There are different types of depression therapy, including cognitive behavioral therapy and counselling. Cognitive behavioral theory helps people with depression restructure negative thought patterns and helps them to recognize the causes of depression. Counseling entails talking about the problems and feeling to a counselor in a confidential environment.

In addition, it is evident that training and exercising ease depressions. Souery et al (2006) argued that training makes the body to release feel-good brain chemicals such as neurotransmitters that reduces depression. Exercising helps the body to release immune system chemicals whose accumulation worsen depression. Regular exercise boost self-confidence, take away the worries and increase socialization.

Short-term effects of depression include fatigue. Fatigue results from low energy levels in the blood due to poor feeding habits (Fournier et al, 2010). Fatigue also arise from the accumulation of immune system chemicals and low production of brain chemical such as neurotransmitters, which make the brain relax. Furthermore, depression causes a loss of interest in life. Evident when a person with depression lacks an enthusiasm for activities that they liked in the past. People with depression often they suffer from loneliness because they feel sidelined and isolated from the normal life and always troubled with expressing their affection. Also, they seem uninterested in personal hygiene and often succumb to lack of enthusiasm and energy by oversleeping to escape the stress.

In the long term, people with depressions experience a drop in memory, making it easier to forget things quickly. Moreover, there are cases of weight gain leading to obesity due to overeating or malnutrition from not eating enough food. People with depression get weakened the immune system that makes them vulnerable to diseases (Fournier et al, 2010). Depression victim experiences a sexual problem. Men may experience erectile dysfunction, the decline in sexual desire and difficulties in ejaculation. On the other hand, women are unable to achieve orgasm or delayed orgasm and just find sex boring. Depression also causes chronic aches and pains or worst, suicide.

References

Costello, C. G. (Ed.). (1993). Symptoms of depression (Vol. 172). New York: Wiley.

Fournier, J. C., DeRubeis, R. J., Hollon, S. D., Dimidjian, S., Amsterdam, J. D., Shelton, R. C., & Fawcett, J. (2010). Antidepressant drug effects and depression severity: a patient-level meta-analysis. Jama, 303(1), 47-53.

Souery, D., Papakostas, G. I., & Trivedi, M. H. (2006). Treatment-resistant depression. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 67, 16.