Depression_Paper

    Assignment: Depression PSY/270 Throughout history people have suffered depression and its disorders. Even in the Bible is says that Job as well as King David suffered from depression or melancholia. The problem is that most of the time these people were actually suffering from major depression and even bipolar disorder. At times it is hard to distinguish major depressive disorder to bipolar disorder. There are great similarities and at times someone can be misdiagnosed with the wrong illness. It is important to know the difference in the two and to also know the symptoms. Just as it is important to know the reasons what and how, it is also important to know the why. When diagnosing major depressive disorder it is important to know that there is a noticeable change in mood, which involves sadness and even irritability and then there are other physical symptoms such as; interrupted sleep pattern, change in appetite, change in sexual inclinations, intestinal bothers, crying, fixation on suicide, and a slower reaction time. It is unusual for them to last less than two weeks. (Belmaker,M.D. & Agam, Ph.D., 2008). There can be many different causes for major depression such as; traumatic experience, unresolved issues, and possible family or work related stress. There is no specific determination as to how people have major depression or where it comes from. Usually when someone receives professional therapy as well as medication the depression can lessen and not be forthright in their lives. One treatment of depression are SSRI’s these are medications that increase the amount of serotonin in the brain, because when people are suffering from depression there is a lower amount of serotonin in the brain. SSRI’s are better in most cases as a treatment due to the fact that MAOI’s have dietary restrictions as well as reactions with certain foods that will cause illness when taking the medication. This is also a medication that is chosen over TCAs because of the fact that SSRIs do not cause a drop in blood pressure or affect the heart rate as TCAs tend too. The most common forms of medication that are used in treatment for major depression are Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, Celexa, Luvox and Lexapro. These medications have very little side effects and they usually occur during the first month of treatment. In more contrary cases of depression some suggest electroconvulsive therapy. It is during these treatments that the patient is placed under anesthesia and given a controlled seizure multiple times. After ten minutes or so the patient is awakened and able to go home. This works sometimes the first time and then medication takes over after that, other times the patient requires multiple trips for the therapy over an extended period of time. The only side effect noted is that there is some short term memory loss that usually dissipates on its own. And of course another form of treatment is psychotherapy. This is done extensively over a period of 10 to 12 weeks. This is something that most psychiatrists recommend to all patients while they are also using other medications or forms of therapy. After understanding and reading about major depression it is on to bipolar disorder. As stated before major depression and bipolar disorder tend to not be recognized or diagnosed properly. In most cases bipolar disorder is not the first choice when it should have been. When someone is misdiagnosed this can cause more problems. The antidepressants that are given are fine but should be included with a mood stabilizer which is not usually the case. This can cause the patient to have erratic and significant mood changes (Perlis, Brown, Baker, 2006). Many believe that unlike major depression bipolar disorder is more hereditary and genetic than anything. It is more likely for someone to have bipolar disorder if their parents etc. have also had bipolar disorder. People that have bipolar disorder tend to have two different ways to live without medications. They are either suffering from manic episodes where they are more impulsive and require little to no sleep or they are in depression episode they are suffering from self-loathing and hopelessness. Most symptoms of bipolar disorder start showing in the teenage to early adulthood ages. This is usually when misdiagnosis happens. The symptoms for bipolar disorder can be the same as major depressive disorder but also have a few different ones such as sleeping little but having a great deal of energy, racing thoughts without concentration, acting recklessly and even possible hallucinations and delusions in severe cases. The treatment for bipolar disorder is medication; this is a medication that has to be taken every day. Those that stop taking their medication will have all of the symptoms and episodes. Along with medication patients are encouraged to change certain lifestyle habits, go to therapy, and have a good social support to deal with their emotions and problems (Perlis, Brown, Baker, 2006). Both of the disorders that were discussed can be managed with strong will, professional help, and even medication. They are both disorders that when treated properly patients can live normal, happy, healthy, lives. There is no shame in either of these disorders and people should not feel as though there is. They are both illnesses that can be treated as long as the patient is willing to do the work and follow the instructions laid out. References Belmaker,M.D., R.H., & Agam, Ph.D., G. (2008). Major Depressive Disorder.  The New England Journal of Medicine, (358;1), p.2-38. Retrieved from http://www.uni-ulm.de/pharmtox/humanmedizin/referate/Psych-1.pdf Perlis, M.D., R. H., Brown, Ph.D., E., & Baker, M.D., R. W. (2006). Clinical Features of Bipolar Depression Versus Major Depressive Disorder in Large Multicenter Trials.  The American Journal of Psychiatry, 163(10), p.225-231. Retrieved From: http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/163/2/225