MDD

The typical symptoms of major depressive disorder are depressed mood most of the day, reduced interest or pleasure in all or most activities, significant weight loss or gain or significant decrease/ increase in appetite, trouble sleeping or sleeping to much, psychomotor agitation or retardation, fatigue or loss of energy, feeling worthless or guilty in an excessive or inappropriate manner, problems in thinking, concentrating, or making decisions, and recurrent thoughts of death and suicide. These are the nine symptoms in which define a depressive episode; of these at least five must occur during a two week period. (1)There have been studies to show that depressive disorders do run in families although other disorders are more likely, it is more so likely that you can develop a depressive disorder if your biological parent also suffers from a depressive disorder. (1)The most consistent of neurobiological abnormalities in people with depression disorders is altered brain-wave activity while sleeping. Depressed individuals often have less slow wave sleep and go into rapid eye movement earlier into the night than non-depressed individuals. This is the reason while most depressed people often can not get a good night sleep. In major depressive disorder neuroimaging has shown that people with MDD often show a decrease in the metabolic activity in the cerebral cortex. The amygdale is also overactive during depression this is one explanation for the symptoms of depression because this is responsible to help store and recall emotional memories. Another disability that occurs is death or lack of neuron ability, mostly in the prefrontal cortex which also controls the amygdale. (1)People with a low socioeconomic status, especially for those that live in poverty are more likely than those higher up in the economic level to develop depression. Also one thing that may predispose your likelihood of having depression is that in America Latinos are much more likely than whites to develop depression. This may be in concurrance with the higher levels of poverty among this race but it is still significantly higher. The depression rate is also twice as high for females as males, this may be due to rapid changes in hormones but no one truly knows. (1)If I knew one of my friends was experiencing the symptoms I listed above I would let her know of the resources available here on campus. We can come here to the psychology department and talk to someone and get her help. Some common treatments include first-line treatment for most people with depression today consist of antidepressant medication, psychotherapy, or the combination. In situations where these options are not effective or too slow for such as in a person with delusional depression and intense, unremitting suicidal thoughts, electroconvulsive therapy may be considered. ECT is also sometimes referred to as electroshock or shock treatment (3). Treatment for depression is varying successful and there are many treatment options available for depressed individuals (3). For about two-thirds of those individuals who have a major depressive episode they will recover completely. The other one-third may recover only partially or not at all. People who do not recover completely may have a higher chance of experiencing one or more additional episodes (2).Works cited:1) Textbook2) http://www.allaboutdepression.com/dia_03.html3) http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/mentalhealth/chapter4/sec3_1.html