Depression by Juno Lapaz

Introduction

clapaz — 2023-08-31 00:21:16 UTC

We were drawn to study Depression due to the prevalence of the mental illness in our age group. According to the CDC, the rates of depression was highest among young adults ranging from 18 to 29 years old.
https://adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/depression/facts-statistics
https://paintingvalley.com/download-image#depression-abstract-painting-16.jpg

There isn't just one single cause to depression

mmkraus3 — 2023-08-31 00:30:09 UTC

There are many contributing factors, some of which are other mental bullying, illnesses, abuse, age, trauma, and genetics.

People of Color

clapaz — 2023-08-31 00:30:21 UTC

People of Color in America suffer major depression in much more severe bouts than their Caucasian counterparts. Studies have found racial discrimination and misdiagnosis or underdiagnosis to contribute heavily to longer and severe depression.

Adolescence and young adults

mmkraus3 — 2023-08-31 00:30:39 UTC

Social media, television, school, or work can all put a mental strain on today's adolescents and young adults. Weather that is comparing oneself to others on the internet or bullying to feeling isolated or being overwhelmed at school or work all of these are facters contributing to depression.

Women (Pregnant and Postpartum)

clapaz — 2023-08-31 00:32:32 UTC

Child-bearing, child birth, and child-raising has an incredible amount of physical, emotional, and mental strain on women. Having a new baby in the family is a large change. One must take up numerous new responsibilities, such as: sacrificing free time to feed and play with one’s own child, staying up late to soothe their tantrums, and cleaning after their messes. Each task can be draining and lead one to burn out.

Abuse

mmkraus3 — 2023-08-31 02:27:19 UTC

Children who have been abused are more likely to develop anxiety and depression.

Loss of Motivation/ interests

clapaz — 2023-09-13 23:43:52 UTC

Many experience a lack of drive to fulfill daily obligations and living necessities. In turn, many struggle to get out of bed to eat, drink water, shower, and complete their chores. Depressed individuals may also face a sudden loss of interest toward activities they normally would enjoy.

Restlessness/ Lack of sleep

clapaz — 2023-09-13 23:44:18 UTC

As depression disrupts sleep regulation, it is associated with sleep issues. “About 3/4 of depressed patients have insomnia symptoms.”
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.31887/DCNS.2008.10.3/dnutt

Difficulty concentrating

clapaz — 2023-09-13 23:44:27 UTC

Depression has a tendency make concentrating difficult. In turn, people feel as though they have brain fog, slower processing speeds, or are slower to recall events.

Fatigue/ Oversleeping

clapaz — 2023-09-13 23:44:54 UTC

Fatigue and oversleeping is a very common occurrence when one has depression.

Licensed Psychiatrist

mmkraus3 — 2023-09-13 23:50:31 UTC

Psychiatrists typically diagnose using psychological tests and one-on-one evaluations, and they also run lab tests to rule out any physical cause for symptoms. Treatment can include psychotherapy, medications, or a combination of both, and medication will be fine-tuned according to observations and results.

https://pacifichealthsystems.com/blog/is-a-psychiatrist-or-psychologist-better-for-depression/#:~:text=Psychiatrists%20typically%20diagnose%20using%20psychological,according%20to%20observations%20and%20results.

Medicine

tcpitts1 — 2023-09-13 23:52:39 UTC

Medicine is usually the next step in treatment for people with severe or regularly recurring depression. Antidepressants are taken in combination with psychological treatment and are often used to boost one's mood and increase motivation in a patient.

Therapy

tcpitts1 — 2023-09-13 23:52:48 UTC

Psychological treatment usually in the form of therapy is used as one of the first ways to combat acute or mild depression. There are many types of psychological treatments but the main two are cognitive therapy and behavioral therapy. Cognitive is aimed at trying to change the way people look at life and behavioral trying to change destructive patterns in people's lives. The main goals of this type of therapy is to relieve immediate symptoms and let people go back to everyday life.

Diagnostic tools

mmkraus3 — 2023-09-14 00:09:14 UTC

The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) is widely used to screen for depression and to measure behavioral manifestations and severity of depression. The BDI can be used for ages 13 to 80. The inventory contains 21 self-report items which individuals complete using multiple choice response formats.

Frontal Lobe

clapaz — 2023-09-20 23:31:49 UTC

One of the main structures effected by depression is the frontal lobe of the brain. Studies have found that prefrontal areas undergo a significant reduction in thickness and much more. These changes are thought to be associated with inhibiting uncomfortable neural activity, feelings and behaviors and also plays a crucial role in emotional/ motivational management and decision making.

Hippocampus

clapaz — 2023-09-20 23:33:37 UTC

The Hippocampus is another anatomical structure that is impacted by depression. This area is associated with memory and recall and is found to be smaller in patients with Major Depressive Disorder.

Amygdala

clapaz — 2023-09-20 23:34:52 UTC

Depression also impacts the Amygdala, the area associated with fear and emotional responses. According to Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, the Amygdala of those with depression often is “overly active” in response to upsetting stimuli, but “under active” in response to positive stimuli.
https://dnalc.cshl.edu/view/2074-The-amygdala-and-depression.html

Excess weight or obesity

mmkraus3 — 2023-09-20 23:41:38 UTC

Depression can lead to heart disease and diabetes by being inactive or by having poor or irregular diets.

Emotional

clapaz — 2023-09-20 23:41:39 UTC

A long term emotional impact depression has is heightened emotions, a lack of emotions or opinions, indecisiveness, and increased feelings of anxiousness. At times, depression may even trigger an anxiety disorder.

Processes 1/2

tcpitts1 — 2023-09-20 23:42:21 UTC

Depression affects people's "mood, anhedonia, and low energy or fatigue. Other symptoms, such as sleep and psychomotor disturbances, feelings of guilt, low self-esteem, suicidal tendencies, as well as autonomic and gastrointestinal disturbances, are also often present."

Brigitta, Bondy. “Pathophysiology of depression and mechanisms of treatment - PMC.” NCBI, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3181668/.

Processes 2/2

tcpitts1 — 2023-09-20 23:43:42 UTC

Depression can also lead one to become restless, easily frustrated, unmotivated, and lose interest in activities they once were interested in. Depressed individuals may also lack concentration and have difficulties recalling memories or making decisions.
https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/campaign/tips/diseases/depression-anxiety.html

Causes of Depression

tcpitts1 — 2023-09-20 23:44:53 UTC

"Rather, there are many possible causes of depression, including faulty mood regulation by the brain, genetic vulnerability, and stressful life events. It's believed that several of these forces interact to bring on depression."

Behavioral

tcpitts1 — 2023-09-20 23:51:54 UTC

Depression in the long term can affect one's behavior by making a person more socially withdrawn, engage in negative thinking patterns, and have suicidal thoughts and tendencies.

Psychotherapy/ Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

clapaz — 2023-09-27 23:50:25 UTC

The average cost of American Mental Health therapy is anywhere between $100-$200 a session. Counseling is likely to be covered by insurance and thus can be more affordable with copay, but your insurance is not guaranteed to be applicable to every counseling company/service. If the patient chooses not to get mental health therapy due to the cost, severe consequences can occur, such as: impulsive behavior, self-compromising behaviors, relapsing, suicidal thoughts/ tendencies, self harm, and suicide.

Medication

clapaz — 2023-09-27 23:50:59 UTC

The average cost of generic antidepressants is typically between $5-25 per month, depending on the medication, location, and dosage($7-$100 without insurance). If a patient wants to get the brand name of antidepressants it will cost them $200-$600(without insurance).
Most insurance plans that include prescription drug coverage will typically include antidepressants. However, insurance plans may only cover certain types of antidepressants, specific dosing regimens, or only the generic version, not the brand name.

Lifestyle adjustments

clapaz — 2023-09-27 23:52:07 UTC

Each long-term fix for lifestyle adjustments is not covered by insurance, however, these adjustments can be free or low-cost. For long-term depression, there are many lifestyle adjustments people can make to combat it. Exercise and proper sleep are recommended as they can boost natrual antidepressants in the body.

Problem Solving Therapy

tcpitts1 — 2023-10-05 00:03:59 UTC

Problem-solving therapy involves patients learning or reactivating problem-solving skills. These skills can then be applied to specific life problems associated with psychological and somatic symptoms.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

tcpitts1 — 2023-10-05 00:04:07 UTC

As mentioned previously, CBT is a treatment where one actively identifies and modifies their negative thought patterns. The therapy’s primary purpose is to target symptoms of apathy, negative thinking, loss of motivation, and more in order to be able to cope or more sufficiently function in one’s daily life. This is provided by councilors, psychologists, social workers, mental health workers, and therapists.

Speech, Hearing, or Cognitive impairments

clapaz — 2023-10-18 23:57:27 UTC

Some general cognitive impairments include reduced attention, concentration, impaired learning and memory, executive dysfunction, and a lower processing speed. In addition to these impairments, major depressive disorder is known to have symptoms of “pseudo dementia” and also doubles the chances of actual dementia in one’s later life.

Occupational Therapy

tcpitts1 — 2023-10-19 00:01:41 UTC

Depression can make it difficult to do daily tasks in one's life. Occupational Therapy aims to help these people get through their daily lives. As people with depression often struggle with having structure and meaning in their lives, an occupational therapist can help said patients build a schedule for their everyday activities. They can guide patients toward a particular job or role based on their existing values, interests, or skills in order to make one’s life more meaningful or enjoyable. They can also assist in life adjustments, responsibilities, stressors, and teaching organization strategies that will help people deal with daily depressive symptoms.

Speech, hearing, or Cognitive rehab treatments

clapaz — 2023-10-19 00:14:05 UTC

Some treatments that may counteract or reduce the symptoms previously mentioned include Cognitive Remediation Therapy (CRT) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). CRT involves training individual’s cognitive skills (ie: executive functioning, organization, focus) so they can apply those skills and be more adapt in handling real life situations. CBT, as mentioned before, is a talk or psychotherapy that helps one become aware of flawed or negative thinking to help them manage situations more effectively with a more helpful mentality.
Additionally, Physiotherapy aids depression by incorporating exercise and physical activity as a treatment plan. Studies have shown that regular exercise can help alleviate symptoms and improve mental health.

Sleep

mmkraus3 — 2023-10-26 00:13:57 UTC

“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.”

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/depression-and-sleep-understanding-the-connection#:~:text=%E2%80%9CPoor%20sleep%20may%20create%20difficulties,a%20person%20gets%20each%20night.%E2%80%9D

Regular Exercise

tcpitts1 — 2023-10-26 00:20:43 UTC

Adding regular exercise as a lifestyle change can help fight depression. Adding regular exercise into one's life could be a difficult change as some people may not have the time or energy to adhere to it on a week to week basis. However getting in touch with a personal trainer could help or getting the support of friends or family is one way to stick to exercise goals. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/depression/in-depth/depression-and-exercise/art-20046495#:~:text=How%20does%20exercise%20help%20depression,your%20sense%20of%20well%2Dbeing

Ethnic groups

clapaz — 2023-11-01 23:44:22 UTC

Depression is prevalent among this population due to people of color’s lack of economic resources including education, wealth, income, employment, and private health insurance coverage.

Additionally, Ethnic groups may struggle to receive treatment for depression due to racial discrimination, language barriers, and a lack of trust toward medical practitioners. They may additionally struggle to pay off healthcare expenses due to the wage gap or lack of health insurance that would have helped them afford treatment costs.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1199525/

https://online.simmons.edu/blog/racial-disparities-in-mental-health-treatment/

Women

clapaz — 2023-11-01 23:45:05 UTC

According to Mayo Clinic, individuals assigned female at birth are ~ 2x as likely to be diagnosed with depression than men. While the hormonal changes don’t cause depression, they increase the chances of girls developing the disorder as a primary or secondary source.

Similar to POC, women also experience struggles with affording treatment and prevention services due to the wage gap. They also face difficulties or may be reluctant to attain treatment due to language barriers, unaffordable health care costs, and due to cultural stigmas about seeking care or the fear of contributing to the stereotype that they are emotional and unable to manage on their own.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10360426/#

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/depression/in-depth/depression/art-20047725#:~:text=Women%20are%20nearly%20twice%20as,alone%20don't%20cause%20depression

Exercise

clapaz — 2023-11-17 20:19:25 UTC

Regular exercise can be effective as research shows that associations with reduced future cases of depression. A large study has discovered that at least 1 hour of exercise each week can reduce up to 12% of future manifestations of depression.

However, formal exercise at gyms may be expensive. Additionally those most susceptible to depression may already have a busy schedule and thus have difficulty fitting time into their day to exercise.

https://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/appi.ajp.2017.16111223

Sleep

clapaz — 2023-11-17 20:19:30 UTC

Taking night-time strategies can be extremely helpful by minimizing restlessness, nightmares, sleep deprivation, and furthermore reduce feelings of irritability, hopelessness, and loneliness. In turn, individuals can avoid triggering or accumulating symptoms of depression.

However, adopting this measure may be difficult due to the struggles to fully commit to a new routine. Before any positive results are apparent, you may have to consistently follow the practice for a long while. Those who are susceptible to depression are likely to have sleep problems, making it challenging to reduce the moodiness they get from the illness due to challenges to get adequate sleep.

https://www.health.vic.gov.au/patient-care/preventing-and-managing-depression