Abstract
The questions about what causes depression are not so important as complicating the theories about depression. This necessary complication of theory is essential for understanding the depressed person as a complex person, and for generating kinds of intervention therapies that can ease the symptoms of depression. Because there is no specific cure, as yet, for depression, it is crucial that people in the health care professions have greater theoretical resources for understanding the relations between the environment and the person. Nurses in particular need to participate more with the work of theorizing, because they mediate the relations between the client, or patient, and the larger medical institution that effects their care.

Tags:theories, of, depression

Abstract
Depression is a problem that needs to be dealt with seriously in our society, especially among adolescents who do not know how to channel what they're feeling into something positive and constructive. This paper examines how the depressed adolescent goes through vulnerability, insecurity, low self esteem and the desire to end his life as he sees it not going anywhere in the future. It looks at how all these problems and symptoms should be dealt with treatment and medication which would be the most efficient and long lasting on the individual.

Outline
Introduction
Recognition of Depression in Adolescents
Support for Treatment of Adolescent Depression
Current Research of Treatment Options for Depressed Adolescents
Recognition of How Adolescent Thinking Effects Depression
Unrealistic Expectations
Automatic Thoughts
Maladaptive Assumptions
Low Self-Esteem or Negative Self-Concept
Treatment Recommendations
Past, Present and Future
Best Treatment Options/Suggestions
Focus On Adolescent's Strengths, Resources and Current Competencies
Evaluate Depressive Levels
Inherent Wish to Change/Resistance & Setting of Goals
Support, Empathy & Time
Conclusion

From the Paper
"The maladaptive behaviors of a depressed individual can vary from his social skills to his concentration ability to his attitude towards authority. The depressed individual would not act his age or be emotionally distraught or seek too much attention. Socially, the depressed adolescent would be isolated and shy and prefer to be unaccompanied. Cognitively, the depressed adolescent would be lazy and incapable of learning and would underachieve. He would not be able to sit still in class or have long concentration duration. The depressed adolescent would also be very rebellious towards authority as well as stubborn and disobliging (Gerald R. Patterson, 1990)."

Tags:psychotherapy, suicide, medication

Abstract
The paper asserts that depression is a social matter. The paper relates that according to Myers (2005), just as laughter can be infectious, illness can be contagious and we are happier around happy individuals than we are with people who are depressed. The paper discusses how at the most extreme, when a depressed person commits suicide and this is publicized, suicides are known to increase. The paper explains that depression contains a definite social influence because it affects other people's moods and thoughts. The paper reveals that depressive symptoms are the most common form of psychological distress and people have resources to manage those symptoms (Turner & Lloyd, 2000).

From the Paper
"Depression is a social matter. According to Myers (2005), just as laughter can be infectious, illness can be contagious and we are happier around happy individuals than we are with people who are depressed. At the most extreme, when a depressed person commits suicide and this is publicized, suicides are known to increase. Depression contains a definite social influence because it affects other people's moods and thoughts. Depressive symptoms are the most common form of psychological distress and people have resources to manage those symptoms (Turner & Lloyd, 2000)."

Tags:depression, effects, coping

Abstract
The paper discusses how good health is dependent on all factors that are connected to the person's life and impact every aspect of a healthy existence, whether mind or body related. The paper then discusses how when life issues, changes in health or changes in the mental health of a person begin to evolve because of the environment within a person's life, depression can become evident. The paper describes how for decades, the treatment of depression has occurred through the use of psychological/psychiatric therapy and/or medications. However, the paper reveals that these treatments have not been universally successful and in some cases they have caused an increase in the depressive symptoms that the person experiences, which is the case in relation to certain medications. The paper explains that it is for this reason that holistic treatments for depression have been studied and have been proven to support positive outcomes in the lives of depressed individuals.

Tags:depression, health, issue

Abstract
Major depressive disorder is classified under a larger group of related disorders of mood, which includes bipolar I and bipolar II disorder, cyclothymic disorder and dysthymic disorder (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2000). The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM IV-TR) put forth the following criteria for diagnosing a major depressive disorder seen for at least two weeks must both manifest as an abnormal mood (depressed mood, anhedonia or irritable mood in children and adolescents) and meet at least three more criteria observed for at least two weeks: feeling of fatigue; slowing or agitation in carrying out activities; poor concentration; suicidal thoughts or thoughts of dying and death; disproportionate guilt; loss of, or decrease in appetite or weight loss; increased or decreased sleep time (APA, 2000). A strong familial history may predispose an individual towards depression but is not part of the diagnostic criteria.

From the Paper
Mood Disorders: Major Depressive Disorder (Outline) I. Major features: abnormal mood; feeling of fatigue; slowing or agitation in carrying out activities; poor concentration; suicidal thoughts or thoughts of dying and death; disproportionate guilt; loss of, or decrease in appetite or weight loss; increased or decreased sleep time (APA, 2000). II. Case Example: 32 year-old female initially complaining of back pain a. Mental Status Examination b. DSM-IV Multiaxial Evaluation III. Pharmacological Treatment: Duloxetine (Cymbalta^A'A(r))

Tags:mood, disorders, depression

Abstract
The paper explains that the elderly have much to offer the younger population and this can give them a strong sense of purpose. However, the paper shows how, for too many of these individuals, this is not the case and they end up feeling alone and depressed, which eventually leads to suicide. The paper examines major depressive disorder, dysthymic disorder and bipolar disorder. The paper provides a literature review that deals with the treatment for depression and the risk of suicide in the elderly population. The paper also discusses methods of suicide prevention.

Outline:
Abstract
Summary
Introduction and Rationale
Previous Theory and Research
Strengths and Gaps in the Literature
Conclusion and Recommendations

From the Paper
"Literature into the issue of depression and the suicide rate where elderly people are concerned is important for several reasons. Consider these facts: The highest rate of suicide in the United States is among the elderly population. Moreover, suicide rates steadily increase as age advances in individuals of all races and both genders. Those that are 65 years and older successfully complete suicide attempts 50% more often than the national average. Every 90 minutes a senior citizen in the United States commits suicide. Population experts estimate that by 2030, the elderly population will be about 20% of the population-about 75 million people (Heisel, 2004). Clearly, the problem of suicide among the elderly is significant and if left unaddressed can be expected to increase."

Tags:major, depressive, dysthymic, bipolar, prevention

Abstract
Do children get depressed? And if so, how would we know it, and measure it? And if they do, would this be different at different stages of childhood? Would it be different for girls and boys? These are the kinds of questions that have intrigued some researchers. However, the body of literature on the subject of depression in young people is by no means as large as the body pertaining to adult depression. Nevertheless, some research has been done. This paper evaluates one particular research question within that field, with reference to five different empirical research studies.

Tags:depression, adolescents, research

Abstract
The paper discusses how while our understanding of what makes us human continues to expand, the article brings to mind serious doubts regarding the overzealous medication of society at large. The paper shows how one begins to doubt whether an individual is truthful about being depressed or merely acquiring medications as emotional crutches to get through a bleak existence that may well be the root cause.

From the Paper
"In the article by Cloud (2007), he discusses the possible benefits of feeling emotions such as sadness based on Allan Horwitz and Jerome Wakefield's "The Loss of Sadness: How Psychiatry Transformed Normal Sorrow into Depressive Disorder." The article first touches on the rising prevalence of depression and the (legitimate) drug prescriptions given that aim to treat depression. It goes on further to elucidate on the paradigm shifts observed in the understanding of depression over the last century. It is interesting to note that these shifts paralleled the growth of knowledge in many disciplines apart from psychology, such as medicine."

Tags:psychology, major, depression

Abstract
This paper describes clinical depression, first categorizing it and then expanding upon the various facets of depression. The paper begins with a broad description of the condition and then takes a closer look at the parameters of depression itself. A history of depression is also provided as well as several key assertions that can fairly be made about depression: 1) there are definite factors which can be used to help the depressed individual; 2) being depressed is as much a disease as something like heart disease or cancer, but luckily, it does not have to be a fatal one. The paper concludes that the challenge for organized psychology and medicine going forward will be to both increase the understanding of the disease and improve treatment options.

Outline:
Introduction
The Parameters of Depression
The History of Depression
Conclusion

From the Paper
"The human mind, as the most complex among all forms of life on planet earth, can experience a wide range of feelings, emotions and reactions. As such, it is perfectly normal for human beings to occasionally feel sad for a variety of reasons, ranging from the loss of a loved one to an unpleasant experience and the like. For some individuals, however, feelings of sadness never subside, or can intermittently incapacitate the individual for weeks, months, or years on end. This can be classified as clinical depression, which separates the normal cases of "the blues" from a serious psychological condition which can lead to suicide, homicide, or any other of a wide variety of horrible manifestations (Belsky, 2007)."

Tags:treatment, therapy, suicide, Lincoln

Abstract
This paper outlines the historic association between women and depression and highlights society's proclivity to believe women are more susceptible to mental illness due to their hormones. It argues, however, that women are more likely than men to experience depression and mental illness due to their social and political stance within society; that is, women are more likely to be depressed because, in a patriarchal society, they have "more to be depressed about". It covers physical and sexual violence, gendered economics, family 'responsibilities' of women, and the gendered implications of female embodiment.

Outline
Women and Mental Illness: From Hysteria to Depression
The View from the Bottom Rung of the Gender Hierarchy
Physical and Sexual Violence
Cultural Implications of Female Embodiment on Economic (In)Dependence
Family Caring Responsibilities
Damned if They Do and Damned if They Don?t: the Feminine Gender Role

From the Paper
"The connection between women and mental illness is a long and, in many ways, inseparable one. Historically, in our cultural myths, it is women who are "mad" or drive men to "madness" "spinsters, crones, and witches are all depicted as slightly mad, while the Furies and the oceanic Sirens are supposed harbingers of madness. Let us not forget either that it was the first woman, Eve, who brought both literal and symbolic madness, in the form of disharmony and evil, to "man-kind." The extensive medical history between women and mental illness begins in recorded history, not surprisingly, as intricately bound up with that which defines them as "other" their biology. Four thousand years ago the Egyptian "Kahun Papyrus" associated female distress with the "dislocation... of the uterus." Fifteen hundred years later, Hippocrates described the female disease "hysteron" caused by an organic imbalance of the womb, and thus the female "hysteric" was born. By the seventeenth century C.E., dominant medical discourse had relocated the site of women's mental illness from the womb to the brain, and hysteria became a disease of the mind."

Tags:feminism, gender, health, marginalisation, mental, oppression