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Under federal law, workers with mental health conditions may be protected against discrimination and harassment at work related to their condition, have workplace confidentiality rights, and have a legal right to reasonable accommodations that can help them perform and keep their job. The equality act also covers those with depression. Changing/implementing laws that are geared towards those with depression, can help them in many ways, but the difficulty in implementing these laws is the time it takes, and the fact that not everyone will agree to vote on implementing these laws.

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Breaking the stigma surrounding mental health and encouraging open conversations about mental illness is the starting point for those with depression to open up more and feel more comfortable seeking help. Media campaigns will help appeal to individuals with depression, showing them that it is okay and that their are other people out there like them, and resources available to help them. The problem that might come with implementing some of these media campaigns is with the validity and sincerity behind them. Some media campaigns might promote products or websites for their own profit/benefit, and it may cause distrust in some of these media campaigns.

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Screening for depression allows professionals to look for the condition in patients who do not report symptoms, according to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF). Screenings is meant to target the individual, and also their environment. Screening by itself, without treatment and follow-up, is not effective, and should be done in a appropriate setting.

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Helpline: a confidential, free, 24-hour-a-day, 365-day-a-year, information service, in multiple languages, for individuals and family members facing mental and/or substance use disorders. Employees on these helplines are trained professionals that have most likely gone to college and graduated in fields centered around counseling and psychology. There job is to be there for the person with depression, talk them out of any suicidal thoughts that they may have, and also provide proper counseling, guidance, and next steps.

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Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)/ Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

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Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)/ Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

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- ECT is known as a procedure done under general anesthesia, in which the small electric currents are passed through the brain, intentionally triggering a brief seizure, with depression this causes chemical and cellular changes in the brain that receive the severe depression.
- CBT is known as a talking therapy and is a common treatment for a range of mental health problems and it teaches you coping skills for dealing with different problems, and focuses on your thoughts beliefs and attitudes affect your feelings and actions.

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Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)/ Biofeedback devices 

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Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)/ Biofeedback devices 

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-TMS is the procedure where the magnetic fields are used to generate an electric stimulus which then stimulates the brain to improve symptoms associated with depression, which assists in the treating of depression.

-The other device would be a Bio feedback device and its a type of mind and body technique you use to control some of your body’s function, such as ones heart rate, and the breathing patterns and the muscle responses. This helps reduce the symptoms of depression.

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Another way to prevent depression is to maintain a healthy lifestyle. This is keeping up with yourself and doing stuff that feels good for you. This can be going to the gym or also just doing some skincare and self-care stuff. Engaging in physical activity can help release endorphins. Endorphins are natural mood lifters. A specialist for this would be a personal trainer.

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A preventive measure for depression is to develop strong social connections. This is to go out and make new friends to have a good support system. This is helpful when you have depression so that you know you can always talk to someone instead of being alone. This can prevent depression by feeling wanted by people. A specialist that might help is a trusted adult.

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People with Chronic Illness or Chronic Pain Affected by Depression 

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People with Chronic Illness or Chronic Pain Affected by Depression 

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People living with chronic illnesses or chronic pain conditions have a higher risk for depression. Dealing with never-ending physical discomfort, limitations, and the emotional toll of managing a chronic health condition can contribute to feelings of sadness, and hopelessness. The stress associated with chronic illness can also exacerbate symptoms of depression, creating a complex interaction between physical and mental health.

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Adolescents and Young Adults Affected by Depression

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Adolescents and Young Adults Affected by Depression

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Adolescents and young adults are usually defined as individuals between the ages of 12 and 25. They are at higher risk of experiencing depression. This period of life involves significant physical, emotional, and social changes, which can lead to increased stress. Factors such as academic pressures, peer relationships, family dynamics, hormonal changes, and identity formation can contribute to the development of depression in this age group.

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Diet and nutrition are big factors for a healthy lifestyle. It plays an important role in cognitive function. Reducing the intake of highly processed foods and incorporating a balanced diet can provide the necessary nutrients for optimal brain function. It has a significant role in managing and improving symptoms of depression. This is a manageable lifestyle change for someone with depression. A professional who can help with this is a nutritionist.

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Establishing a good routine can be a healthy lifestyle change. When having depression you may adapt to not having a routine and falling into a hole. Having a structured routine can help. By having a structured schedule people can better manage their time and it makes it easier to maintain attention. This is a very manageable lifestyle change that most people can do. A therapist can help with maintaining a good routine.

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Exercise involves activity requiring physical effort carry out to sustain or improve health or fitness. A personal trainer in a gym or a physical therapist can help deliver this exercise. Physical therapy can release and encourage the production of chemicals called endorphins that trigger a positive feeling in the body.

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Psychomotor retardation is the changing in speech, motility, and cognition. This can be treated with prescribed antidepressants. Some specific antidepressant that they also take are TCAs(tricyclic antidepressants), or MAOIs (monoamine oxidase inhibitors) at a later stage for the treatment. These treatment helps with the speech, motility, and the cognition issues that come with psychomotor retardation. This is prescribed by physicians and psychiatrist.

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Psychomotor retardation is one of the main features of major depressive disorder (MDD) or, more simply, depression. Psychomotor retardation is the slowing down or hampering of your mental or physical activities. You typically see this in the form of slow thinking or slow body movements.

There is a lot of existing research on psychomotor retardation. However, more studies are necessary to improve the current methods of diagnosis as well as the treatments for depression. Here's what you need to know.

A clinician will diagnose psychomotor retardation by carefully looking at your speech patterns, facial expressions, eye movements, posture, and body movements for signs of psychomotor slowing. Special tools, tests, and rating scales are often used to measure the symptoms.

Psychomotor retardation symptoms in speech can show up as longer gaps between your words and sentences or a decrease in your speaking volume, for example. If you have psychomotor retardation, you may also show less expression on your face.

The clinician will also look at your posture. A person who has psychomotor retardation usually slumps forward.

The clinician will watch for increased self-touching behaviors, especially around your face, which is a symptom linked to psychomotor retardation. They will also look for slow movements of your legs, hands, head, and torso.

Psychomotor retardation symptoms are usually diagnosed by a clinician in the morning. This is because the symptoms may be more obvious during the morning hours.

Medication is often the first option to treat psychomotor retardation. About 50% of patients show improvement with medication. Your doctor may start you on a class of medications called SSRIs (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors). They may also consider atypical antidepressants, TCAs (tricyclic antidepressants), or MAOIs (monoamine oxidase inhibitors) at a later stage in the treatment.

ECT, or electroconvulsive therapy, is another treatment option in some cases. In ECT, small electric currents are passed through to the brain under general anesthesia. ECT can be an option if the patient isn't responding to antidepressants or shows signs of psychosis or being suicidal.

In psychosis, a person loses touch with reality because of the way their brain processes information. ECT is also an option if a person has catatonia, a group of symptoms in which a person may stop moving and speaking.

Another type of treatment called rTMS, or repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, has been cleared by the FDA to treat major depressive disorder. With rTMS, magnetic pulses are sent repeatedly to the nerve cells in the brain. There isn't much research on rTMS yet, but the treatment does help reduce the severity of psychomotor retardation symptoms in some cases.

The word "psychomotor" refers to physical actions that are the result of mental activity. When a person has psychomotor retardation, their mental and physical functions slow down. Your thought processes and body movements can be affected. So can your eye movements and facial expressions.

Psychomotor retardation was discovered more than a century ago. Some potential causes have been identified since then. Clinicians also have several methods they use to diagnose the condition. But more research is still needed to understand how it works.

Psychomotor retardation is a symptom of depression. While research on the causes of psychomotor retardation is ongoing, factors that can cause the condition include:

Biological causes. Changes in how the basal ganglia of the brain work can cause psychomotor retardation. Neuroimaging studies show links between psychomotor retardation and decreased blood flow in certain parts of the brain, such as the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, left prefrontal cortex, angular gyrus, and the anterior cingulate.

Neurochemical research suggests links between psychomotor changes and faulty dopaminergic neurotransmission in patients with melancholic types of depression or MDD. Neurotransmission is the process of certain cells in your brain passing messages to each other. In melancholic depression, the symptoms can often be more severe than those seen in other types of depression.

Other research has shown a link between psychomotor retardation and overactivity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, or the communication routes between your hypothalamus, pituitary gland, and adrenal glands. The HPA axis produces cortisol, which is the hormone your body releases to deal with stress.

Other medical conditions. Psychomotor retardation symptoms can be more pronounced if you have other medical conditions such as diabetes or premenstrual exacerbation (PME). Bipolar depression may also make you more likely to develop psychomotor retardation symptoms.

Aging. Sometimes, psychomotor retardation can be caused by aging. Some slowing down of mental and psychical activities is normal with aging. But with psychomotor retardation, this slowing down may appear to be more severe.

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What to Know About Psychomotor Retardation

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Find out what you need to know about psychomotor retardation. Discover the causes, symptoms, and treatment.

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DBT is known as a type of talk therapy for people who experience emotions very intensely. Helps with mindfulness, emotion regulation, distress tolerance, interpersonal effectiveness. It helps with the effect of regaining control of their lives and break from the cycle of depression. The people who can deliver DBT is a licensed mental health professional who has training and experience with DBT, or a psychiatrist.

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A support group entails a group of people that share similar problems and with that, they can share coping strategies and have a community that can make them feel belonged and empowered. This helps with anxiety and low self-esteem. It is usually mediated by a counselor, sociologist, social psychologist, or any other psychologist.

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CBT is known as a treatment that involves the efforts to changing thinking patterns. It has been shown with promising evidence that it is some of the most effective treatment for depression. It challenges the negative thoughts and override them with a more realistic and positive thought process. CBT alone is shown to be 50-75% effective for overcoming depression and anxiety after around 5-15 modules.

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Antidepressants help those with depression improve their mood and emotions. For generic antidepressants it costs $62.50 for 30 tablets with no insurance, and for branded antidepressants it cost $487.75 with no insurance. It depends on the insurance but most insurance plans do cover the prescriptions, and if it doesn't they would have to pay out of pocket. The long term consequences of not choosing this treatment could be still staying depressed and not improving their health and emotional symptoms.

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A long term treatment for depression can include therapy. Each session can range from $100-$200 depending on how trained the therapist is and how experienced. There are many different types of therapy that can cater to depression such as cognitive behavioral therapy and interpersonal therapy.

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Once an individual goes a long time with depression. They begin to form negative thoughts such as committing suicide. Individuals can end up committing the act because of the obsession they create over thinking about it due to the depression they're going through.

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Suicidal ideation is when you think about killing yourself. The thoughts might or might not include a plan to die by suicide.

You may have heard suicidal ideation referred to as "suicidal thoughts." Not everyone with suicidal ideation acts on it. But if you or a loved one has it, you should get help right away.

Some people with suicidal ideation say they feel:

They might show outward signs of mental distress. For example, they could:

Use more alcohol or drugs

Act aggressively

Retreat from family and friends

Have severe mood swings

Behave recklessly or impulsively

Someone with severe suicidal ideation may also:

Buy a weapon

Collect or save pills

Give away their valuables

Tell friends and family goodbye

Search online for ways to kill themselves

Take dangerous risks, like driving far too fast

Make out a will or set other affairs in order

If you think you might be having suicidal thoughts, talk to your doctor as soon as possible. During your appointment, they will:

Your treatment plan could include:

A safety plan. Your doctor or therapist will help you come up with one specific to you. It could include lists to help you:

Spot things that trigger negative or suicidal thoughts, like certain images, situations, or moods

Come up with healthy ways to de-stress, like relaxation techniques or exercise

Identify loved ones and professionals you can reach out to for support

Make your home safer to make suicidal actions less likely

Talk therapy. A mental health professional can teach you ways to take charge of negative or suicidal thoughts. They can also help you treat an underlying mental health condition or substance abuse problem that might trigger suicidal ideation.

Medication. If a doctor or therapist recommends this, it may take a few tries to find the right medicine and dose for you. Don't stop taking any medication without talking to your doctor first.

Hospital care. Your team might recommend this if you think about suicide often and if the thoughts last a long time or include a plan to die by suicide.

If you're concerned that someone you care about might have suicidal ideation:

Have a candid talk. Ask them: "Are you thinking about killing yourself?" As hard as it is to ask this, experts say doing so won't make your loved one think about suicide more.

Show support. Research says talking about it and acknowledging it may help your friend think about suicide less often.

Help them stay safe. If you can, get rid of any items from their home that the person close to you could use to make suicidal actions. And keep your loved one away from places that could pose a danger to them, too.

Find support. Add the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline -- 800-273-TALK (8255) -- and the Crisis Text Line's number (741741) to your phone contacts. Share these numbers with your loved one, too. You could also connect them with someone else they trust, like:

A mental health professional

Another family member or friend

A spiritual advisor

Stay in touch. Check in with them often after you talk. Let them know you're there for them when they need you.

Your doctor will also ask in-depth questions to figure out why you might be having suicidal thoughts. They will use the questions to screen your risk of suicide. The standard questions may differ and might depend on the doctor's office or the hospital you're visiting.

The questions are often called suicidal ideation scale. They may ask you to rank the intensity, type, and duration of your thoughts on a scale of 1-10 or ask questions with varying options such as, yes, no, maybe, and always, among other options.

They may ask questions like:

Have you ever wished you were dead or wished you didn't wake up?

Have you actually had any thoughts about killing yourself?

Have you thought about how you might do it?

Have you had any intention of acting on these thoughts of killing yourself?

Have you started to work out or worked out details of how to kill yourself?

Do you intend to carry out this plan?

Have you done anything, started to do anything, or prepared to do anything to end your life?

Based on your answers, your doctor will assign a risk and come up with a treatment plan that suits you best. They may also refer you to specialists like psychologists or psychiatrists to give you the help and support you need.

Doctors and mental health professionals have a number of ways to help you feel better. The right treatment plan for you depends on things like:

How severe your suicidal thoughts are

How often you have them and how long they last

How detailed or extensive they are

There are two types:

Active suicidal thoughts. This is when you're not only having suicidal thoughts but also have the intention to complete suicide. This may include having plans or a method to carry it out. (For example, using a weapon.)

Passive suicidal thoughts. This is when you have thoughts of suicide, like "I wish I could go to sleep and not wake up," but you have no real intention to harm yourself or plans to complete suicide.

Doctors also like to pay attention to how likely you are to complete or make plans to complete suicide at a given time. They may base it on how often, how long, and how intense your suicidal thoughts are.

Acute suicide risk. This refers to mild to moderate to severe risk of completing suicide in the future. It will depend on many things, such as significant stressors, plans, intensity, specific plans, and duration of your suicidal thoughts. Your doctor will address your symptoms at your current risk level.

Chronic suicide risk. This refers to ongoing long-term risk of completing suicide in the near future. Usually, a person who's a considered a chronic suicide risk has a specific plan to self-harm, signs of lack of self-control, and intent to complete suicide. They may also have access to weapons to carry the plan out.

This classification is based on your previous history of attempts to complete suicide, depression, mental and physical health background, and current risk factors for suicide.

You could reach out to a:

If you've attempted suicide and you're injured, call 911. If you're not alone, ask someone else to do it.

If you're about to harm yourself, you should:

Call 911.

Call or text 988, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. (You can also chat online using 988lifeline.org/chat/.)

Call 888-628-9454 to speak to someone in Spanish.

U.S. veterans or service members can call 988 and then press 1. You can also text 838255. To chat, go to veteranscrisisline.net/get-help-now/chat/.

The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is available 24/7, and it provides free and confidential support when you need it.

Call 877-565-8860 if you're transgender and want to talk to someone who's transgender or nonbinary (someone who doesn't identity with any gender). Press 2 for Spanish. You can call this number even if you're not sure you're transgender.

You could also call the help line of the National Alliance on Mental Illness at 800-950-NAMI (800-950-6264) or the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255.

Things that can make you more likely to have suicidal ideation include:

Many things can cause suicidal thoughts and ideas. You're more likely to have them if you:

If you're feeling this way, talk to someone close to you. Consider reaching out to a professional who can help you figure out how to move forward.

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Suicidal ideation means you've thought about killing yourself. Learn more, including how to get help right away.

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This article shows the close connection between sleeping problems and depression. Depression and Insomnia are closely related in that three quarters of depressed patients have Insomnia symptoms. People with Insomnia also have a 10 times more risk of developing depression rather than those that get good sleep. Not getting good sleep can lead to a multitude of problems in ones life, including problems in both emotional and physical health

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Which comes first? "Either one can be the starting point," says Johns Hopkins sleep researcher Patrick H. Finan, Ph.D. "Poor sleep may create difficulties regulating emotions that, in turn, may leave you more vulnerable to depression in the future-months or even years from now. And depression itself is associated with sleep difficulties such as shortening the amount of restorative slow-wave sleep a person gets each night."

If you have depression , daily stresses-such as financial worries, an argument with your spouse, or a jam-packed evening commute-could also lead to more nighttime wake-ups and more trouble getting back to sleep than someone without depression would experience.

Understanding the relationship between insomnia and depression can help you spot risks early, get the right help, and recover more fully if you are experiencing both. You'll feel healthy, well-rested, and able to enjoy life again. Here's what you need to know about depression and sleep:

Take sleep problems seriously.

You should tell your doctor if you:

have trouble falling or staying asleep

feel tired during the day

have physical pain, discomfort or other complaints (for instance, signs of obstructive sleep apnea or pauses in breathing at night) that prevent you from getting a good night's sleep

Treatments such as cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia and continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) devices for apnea can restore good sleep, helping you sidestep related conditions like depression. (People with sleep apnea have a fivefold higher risk of depression.)

Stay alert for signs of depression.

These include feeling hopeless, helpless or sad; trouble concentrating and remembering things; loss of energy; daytime sleepiness; loss of interest in activities that once gave you pleasure; or thoughts of suicide or death. Tell your doctor if you have any of these. (Call 911 if you have thoughts of suicide.)

This is especially important if you're discussing insomnia with your doctor. "Insomnia may be a separate condition or it may be a symptom of depression," Finan explains. "Your doctor needs to know as much as possible to treat the right problem."

Get help for both depression and sleep.

If you have insomnia and depression, don't assume that medical treatment for one will automatically cure the other. Treatments for depression, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and other medications, may improve your mood and outlook, but they may not be enough to improve your sleep.

There's some evidence that lingering sleep problems in people undergoing depression treatment increase the risk of a slide back into depression. The good news: There's also some early evidence that CBT-I (cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia), along with depression treatment, improves sleep in people with depression and may increase the chances of a remission of depression.

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Depression and Sleep: Understanding the Connection

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People with insomnia have a higher risk of depression. On the other hand, depression can trigger sleep problems. Knowing the connection between depression and sleep can help you recognize symptoms and get treatment for both.

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Anxiety is a long term consequence of depression. Anxiety can prevent someone from being able to carry out their everyday life. People with anxiety often avoid going out because of constant fear that stems from traumatic events in the past. As a result, trauma from the past can trigger extreme anxiety for the rest of a person's life.

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Depression is common for people that are battling drug and alcohol addictions. It can cause substance abuse that can lead to emotions and feelings of loneliness which is associated with depression. Drug abuse can cause changes to the brains function and structure making it likely to develop depression.

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What occurs during depression is reduced gray matter volume and reduced functional activity in the hippocampus would lead to negative emotion and the inability of cognitive processing in depressive patients.

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This is a short video explaining how the neurobiology of depression works.

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How Depression Affects The Brain - Yale Medicine Explains

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Studies show that 280 million adults in the world have depression. Depression in adults can occur due to financial responsibilities, traumatic events, divorce, and etc.

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As time has gone on, studies have shown that 3.7 million adolescents in the United States have depression. This goes to show that people of all ages can have depression and it can then start to affect their schooling, changes in social interest, loss of interest in fun activities and change in appearance.

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The loss of a loved one can cause a person to react in many ways. It can cause them to have an anxiety attack, chronic fatigue, thoughts of suicide, and of course, depression. The memories and relationships we formed with our loved ones lasts with us for our entire life time, and when we lose those that we love, depression is typically the reaction that follows.

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Depression has also been found to be hereditary. Adults with depression can genetically pass it down to their children. This can result in their children passing it down to their children. Depression can be diagnosed at any age.

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Abuse is a huge cause of depression. Long and short-term abuse can affect one's life leading to depression and causing people to have mental health issues such as anxiety.

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Our group chose the topic of depression because it's a worldwide issue that affects many people of all ages. Depression can affect all aspects of life and can lead to suicide which is why depression has been such an issue.