Depression is one of the most common and serious mood disorders affecting millions of people around the world affecting how a patient feels, as well as, his or her abilities to handle expected every day activities in an effective manner. However, it is also considered as one of the conditions that is least diagnosed regardless of the high number of people suffering from the mental condition. Consequently, this exposes a significant gap in knowledge on this mental disorder, as majority of the people do not have a clear understanding of the impacts associated with this health issue.
Definition
One key aspect to note about depression is that it does not have a universal definition, as the definition tends to differ depending on the subject or discipline. However, Fox, Lillis, Gerhart, Hoerger, & Duberstein (2018) define depression as the onslaught of feelings of despondency or dejection, which may affect one’s capacity to deliver on expected objectives. From this definition, it can be noted that indeed depression tends to have a major impact on a patient’s ability to control his or her feelings, thus, affecting performance.
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Epidemiology
Epidemiology associated with depression has been studied in different parts of the world as a way of trying to understand the underlying impacts associated with condition. Karakus (2018) notes that depression is one the leading causes of morbidity worldwide attributed to the risk factors associated with this condition. Lifetime prevalence varies from one country to another, which ranges from between 3% in Japan and 17% in the United States. Some of the regions with the highest rates of depression include Middle East, North Africa, and Russia.
Clinical Presentation
Clinical presentations of depression tend to vary from one patient to another taking into account that patients show varies signs that would suggest variations in the condition. The first clinical presentation of depression is feelings of sadness, anxiety, or “empty” mood. Reicher & Matischek-Jauk (2017) indicates that patients suffering from depression tend to experience significant signs of anxiety resulting in occurrences of sadness. Secondly, patients with depression tend to be very irritable. Chow, Chalmers, Flynn, McLandress, & Steadman (2018) indicate that irritability is one of the notable symptoms that would suggest that a patient is suffering from depression, which creates a significant challenge in trying to interact with others in the social environment.
Complications
The first major complication associated with depression is excess weight or obesity. Scorza, Masyn, Salomon, & Betancourt (2018) point out that patients suffering from depression tend to experience the excessive urge to eat, which results in eating disorders contributing to excess weight or obesity. The second notable complication associated with depression is heart-related issues including hypertension or hypotension. Depression is a key risk factor for heart-related conditions considering that the patient experiences notable shifts in anxiety levels.
Diagnosis
To help in diagnosis of depression, psychologists and psychiatrists are expected to use the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5 th Edition (DSM-5), which provides a standard classification for a wide array of mental disorders. DSM-5 plays a critical role towards building on diagnosis of depression among other mental health disorders. Usage of this tool provides mental health professionals with a front from which to reflect on some of the possible symptoms that the patient is projecting with regard to this particular mental disorder.
Conclusion
For depressed patients (P), does electroconvulsive therapy (I) compared to pharmacological therapy alone (C) substantiate to be an effective and safe choice for improving depression (O) over one year (T)?
References
Chow, P., Chalmers, R. P., Flynn, D. M., McLandress, A. J., & Steadman, V. G. (2018). A Technique to Measure College Students on the Depression-Elation Continuum. College Student Journal , 52 (2), 177-186.
Fox, R. S., Lillis, T. A., Gerhart, J., Hoerger, M., & Duberstein, P. (2018). Multiple Group Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the DASS-21 Depression and Anxiety Scales: How Do They Perform in a Cancer Sample?. Psychological reports , 121 (3), 548-565.
Karakus, Ö. (2018). Depression and Hopelessness Levels of University Students According to Their Opinions on Finding Employment or Falling out of Labor Force in Turkey. Universal Journal of Educational Research , 6 (1), 190-194.
Reicher, H., & Matischek-Jauk, M. (2017). Preventing depression in adolescence through social and emotional learning. International Journal of Emotional Education , 9 (2), 110-115.
Scorza, P., Masyn, K., Salomon, J. A., & Betancourt, T. S. (2018). The impact of measurement differences on cross-country depression prevalence estimates: A latent transition analysis. PloS One , 13 (6), e0198429.
