Depression Paper

Depression Paper

PSY/270

April 14, 2013

Mood disorders can be debilitating and difficult to treat. They hinder normal daily functioning and contribute to the sufferer’s emotional stress. Unipolar depression and bipolar disorders are especially detrimental to the way a person interacts with the world around them.

Depression, also known as unipolar disorder, is a state of sadness, hopelessness, and loss of interest or motivation to participate in normal daily activities. While everyone can relate to a state of depression at some point in their lives, perhaps a break-up with a significant other or the loss of a loved one, unipolar disorder is differentiated by 3 main characteristics. The duration lasts at least 6 months and often longer, the intensity is severe and may continue to progress with time, and for some people, the loss of the will to live accompanies the depression (Comer, 2011).

The symptoms of depression fall into several categories. Emotionally: in addition to extreme sadness, a person may find difficulty in experiencing pleasure or find no joy at all. This extreme is known as anhedonia. Many people also report feeling agitation, anxiety, or anger. Lack of motivation is another symptom. Many of those suffering depression find daily life such as getting to work, or even eating, a struggle or many times, impossible. Behaviorally, a depressed person will not socialize with others and may not participate in any activity at all. Cognitively, negative thoughts predominate and the preoccupation with inadequacy, uselessness, worthlessness, and even death are the thinking patterns of the depressed. Physically, they lack the energy to participate in daily activities and sleep for long periods of time (Comer, 2011).

The causes of depression are not fully clear; however, twin studies indicate that there may be a genetic link to the disorder and the predisposition to unipolar disorder may be inherited. Current research is also attempting to identify a...