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Essay on Depression and Psychology
Depression can be more than disabling it can be fatal. In fact, many more Americans die from suicide each year than from homicide. In 1998, more than 29,000 Americans took their own lives while 17,400 were the victims of homicide. Depression is the single most significant risk factor for suicide.
Many people think that depression is a normal part of aging: "who wouldn't be depressed if ..." is a common thought in the face of chronic illness, loss, or social transition. Often, the stigma that those with depression and other serious mental disorders confront in their everyday lives discourages sufferers from discussing their illness and seeking help. (John J. Miletich, 1995)
Moreover, depression comes in different sizes and shapes. Sometimes, when asked if they are "depressed" the answer from persons suffering from depression is "no". "Depression without sadness" is one of those seeming paradoxes that impede its recognition. Conditions such as heart attack, stroke, hip fracture, or macular degeneration and medical procedures such as bypass surgery are sometimes associated with the development of depression. Patients are especially vulnerable to the onset of depression when recovery is delayed, treatments refused, or problems with hospital discharge are encountered.
As in all illnesses, there are gradations of depression. Major depression produces physical, emotional, and spiritual pain. The pain of depression is incomprehensible to people who have not experienced it. Depression often accompanies chronic illness and may cause a condition that has been called "total pain." (Sheldon H. Gottlieb, 2003)
As everyone gets the blues sometimes. But when a few days of the blues stretch into weeks and affect many aspects of your life, it's time to get help. Most people think of depression as a feeling of overwhelming sadness. While this is often the case, psychiatrists recognize that depression instead may take other forms...................
