A Major Depressive Disorder: Clinical Depression (Essay Sample)

Depressive Disorder
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Abstract
Clinical depression forms a complicated condition brought about by a combination of other depressive disorders. It starts as a minor issue affecting moods and sadness before escalating to a severe medical condition that disorients an individual. Sudden changes in a person's behavior demonstrate a person could be suffering from clinical depression. The primary causative agent is stress resulting from life frustrations. Failure of an individual to recover from the stress and sadness creates a permanent condition where a person fails to regulate his/her mood. The disorder affects the individual and family because the latter spares time to look after the individual. Effects from the illness may make the victim incompatible with family because of the behavior.
The use of antidepressants and psychotherapy form the standard methods of treatment. ECT, a rare process, proves more effective and quicker in containing the condition, but many debates are attached to its usage. Doctors assess the situation and advise on the best method to use on a patient, depending on the problem's extent or severity. Families should report cases of depression immediately to doctors since delays could see them developing the clinical depressive disorder that is more complicated to handle. Early reporting could also minimize the chances of suicide cases that are common with the condition.
Introduction
Depression is an emotional state where an individual experiences feelings of low self-worth. It results from changes in the brain regarding mood control. The person experiences sadness and loses interest in activities that he/she enjoyed in the past. An individual is unable to regulate mood. In severity, it can cause chronic pain or result in digestive problems. Clinical depression is the severest form of depression comprising of detrimental effects if not rectified early. It stops the normal functioning of an individual calling for professional treatment. The condition affects how a person thinks, feels or acts, thereby reducing their productivity. It interferes with any move by the person to seek help.
Symptoms of clinical depression are more pronounced than the apparent signal of sadness. It disorients a person from everyday life different to what the individual experienced before. Signs of clinical depression fall under three categories: physical, behavioral and emotional. Physical symptoms display differences in an individual's work rate or activity in accomplishing tasks. The individual suffers from reduced appetite levels. She/she reduces the amount of food intake. It can be detrimental to health due to the deprivation of nutrients in the right amount. Individuals lose weight, becoming weak. In rare instances, individuals experience increased cravings for food. It works negatively due to the effects of weight gain and obesity.
Insomnia is common with clinical depression. Patients suffer disturbances in sleep patterns. Some fail to gather any sleep due to continuous thoughts. If they sleep, they wake up earlier than usual. Victims could spend hours into the late-night sitting on their bed or lying without any sleep. Oversleeping is also common with the condition. Individuals prefer to sleep for long hours to avoid interaction with other people or minimize chances of overthinking. They spend a better part of their day sleeping thus could be unproductive at their places of work. Since the condition is lethal, many end up avoiding work to the extent of neglecting domestic chores.
Headaches, stomach upsets and digestive problems are rampant with the condition. The main course of headaches is overthinking. Individuals lose hope in life and thus see no reason to continue living. Overthinking throughout the day increases their chances of headaches. Stomachaches result in digestive problems. Digestion problems cause a change in feeding habits as individuals tend to avoid some foods. Sometimes the pain is unbearable when the aches coincide. It is common for victims to get into drugs to alleviate the pain. The symptoms may be difficult to notice since victims hardly communicate.
Behavioral symptoms show a change in an individual's attitude. It is difficult for a depressed person to concentrate on a discussion or any meaningful talk. They usually try to avoid any form of conversation. Their memory and sense of judgement are poor (Carson, 2010). They hardly remember or make sound decisions. Individuals who used to participate in activities such as sports and hobbies actively desist or show less interest. The enthusiasm disappears. Sportspeople avoid training sessions and no longer attend the games. It could even lead to a low sex drive. Couples, where one individual suffers from clinical depression may have sexual life issues since he/she fails to rise to the occasion as previously. It also becomes common to neglect their appearances. They no longer maintain their hair; some avoid bathing and maintaining cleanliness. They become prone to conditions allied to poor hygiene.
Emotional symptoms represent their change of mood or feelings. Pessimistic ideas alongside delusions and hallucinations are rampant. Victims are persistently sad for long periods. They spend time lonely without doing anything meaningful. It is common to cry for no reason. Usually, individuals feel hopeless and helpless. During the loneliness or moody times, thoughts of death or suicide become common. Many people try to commit suicide. In the event, family or friends are absent; they end up committing suicide. In extreme cases, they may threaten to kill family members or people crossing their path.
The main factors causing clinical depression include substance abuse, psychological tendencies, stress and biological changes. Depression differs from sadness or grief on losing a family member. It lasts for long and, in severe cases, goes for years. Unfavorable life events can cause sadness before driving someone into depression. While sadness is different from depression, it is a causative agent or contributor to depression. While there are definite causes of sadness, they take a while to morph into depression. They usually combine to build up the condition.
Chemical imbalances in the brain affect a person's ability to regulate mood. The human brain contains dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin, which are neurotransmitters in the regulation of mood. Brain chemicals play a vital role in determining someone's mood (Zuckerman, 2011). Depression can also be a hereditary problem, thereby giving room for biological vulnerability. However, there are minimal chances of genetic issues affecting a lineage because a member suffered from clinical depression. Other factors come into play. Clinical depression can occur to an individual whose family has no depression case.
Stress is the leading cause of all forms of depressions. Clinical depression is no exception. Stress could arise from life disappointments. Examples include isolation, stressful work environment, financial constraints, illness, failed relationships and family crises. Statistics show over 40000 Americans die by suicide each year. A considerable number of deaths arises from depression (Twenge et al., 2018). Chronic stress from failure to contain life pressures leads people to depression. They despair about life. Life pushes them to the extreme, breaking them down psychologically. Life challenges may trigger depressive episodes where individuals consider life as worthless, taking suicide as the only option.
Substance abuse also plays a role in causing depression. When depression kicks in arising from failed expectations or life disappointments, individuals may try using alcohol and other drugs to hide from reality. The drugs may overwhelm them since they have no control or prefer excessive amounts to avoid life issues. It may impair their sense of judgment and affect their social lives, especially when addiction kicks in. Violence after the usage of drugs is common. Threats to injure themselves or people around also rise. In severe cases, drug abuse may lead them to suicide attempts. Overreliance on drugs affects their appetite, which also makes them susceptible to illnesses. Drugs also pose a challenge when families and physicians try to help depressed individuals recover. Drugs affect the effectiveness of the medication, making recovery impossible or longer.
Psychological issues also play a role in causing depression. People with low self-esteem or self-critical traits are vulnerable to uncontrolled mood and overthinking. Pessimistic thoughts overwhelm them. They prevent them from realizing the positivities of life and the environment around them. Usually, such victims pose a challenge in recovery because they try to compare themselves with others, or the cloud of pessimistic thoughts covers them with sadness. While different causes may merely cause clinical depression, they may combine to trigger the problem. When they add up, it becomes difficult to regulate.
There are two primary methods of treating clinical depression. They are psychotherapy and the use of antidepressant medications. In psychotherapy, the patients work with therapists or groups to help guide him/her through experiences, feelings and the outlook of themselves in the world (Kwan et al., 2010). It aims to identify possibilities of underlying issues causing depression and devise effective coping methods to reduce the problem's severity. Other somatic therapies apply depending on the complexity of the problem. The technique used depends on the family and social support, causes of depression and personal preferences. Treatmen...