Preview

Health

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2818 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Health
Students are asked to select one of the following mental illnesses;
Schizophrenia
Obsessive compulsive disorder
Depression
Bi Polar disorder
Eating disorders
Anxiety disorders
1. Imagine you are a medical professional; provide a description of your chosen mental illness. Included in your response include signs and symptoms of the illness, relevant data showing an impact on the health status of Australians, any relevant risk factors and any known protective factors.
Depression is a condition of mental disturbance, with a lack of energy y and difficulty in maintaining concentration or interest in life. It is said that and that within any year at least 10,000 young people in Australia will suffer from depression – though some may recover and improve their state within the year.

Although depression is thought to be an extreme state of sadness, there is a huge difference between clinical depression and sadness. Sadness is a common emotion experienced by all humans regularly – usually on a daily basis. Sadness is a natural reaction to many situations in a person’s life; it is a negative emotion that is said to be healthy – for example, in the case of a loss of spouse. However, depression is both physical and mental illness with many symptoms. Depression doesn’t only involve being in an unhappy mood and can be a huge risk and cause many problems in a person’s life.

Depression is considered to be an emotional, physical and cognitive state that is intense and long-term, it can be categorised as a non-psychotic mental illness in most cases, but can be a psychotic illness in some cases. This is because depression disturbs a person’s ability to cope with many day to day activities as well as many situations. Depression is the most prevalent and common mental illnesses in Australia.

There are many symptoms of depression that can be evident within an individual this can include things such as reckless behaviour (substance abuse, compulsive gambling, dangerous

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Everyone knows what depression is, or at least they think they do, but, no one really knows what depression is unless they have it or have battled with it. Depression is defined as a serious mood disorder that involves emotional, behavioral, cognitive, and physical changes severe enough to disrupt a person’s ordinary functioning. People with depression always believe something bad is going to happen, they go through life with the constant feeling of low grade happiness, they want to be happy but the depression literally will not let them. It’s not imaginary or “all in your head” and it’s more than just feeling “down”, it’s a real and serious illness caused by changes in hormone levels, medical conditions (say suffering from cancer or being…

    • 941 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Depression is a mental illness characterised by extreme sadness and usually people suffering with it are full of guilt but cannot always state why they feel that way. Depression has become a fairly common mental illness as Kessler et al (1994b) found that around 17% of people will experience a major episode of depression during their life.…

    • 904 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Depression, a serious medical illness that involves the brain, it is a disorder of the brain. Depression usually starts between the ages of 15 and 30. There are a variety of causes, including genetic, environmental, psychological, and biochemical factors. Some symptoms can include sadness, change in weight, difficulty sleeping or oversleeping, energy loss, feelings of worthlessness, loss of interest or pleasure in activities you used to enjoy, and thoughts of death or suicide. Depression is a serious kind of mental illness that should be treated as soon as possible, before something undoable happens. Usually when depression reaches it climax the…

    • 856 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Mental Illness is when your thoughts feelings and behavior have a negative impact on your life. Everyone known mental illness exist but are uncomfortable about the fact it can be happening right in front of them. People who struggle with mental illness to get the help they need. Depression A serious medical condition in which a person feel very sad, hopeless and unimportant and often is unable to live in a normal way. Depression effort about one and four people.in American. Elizabeth Medina is a pageant queen who is studying pre-med and science major. She explains how depression tried to take over her life. Grown up in a Dominican family. She gives three main reason how depression started building up in her life. But at the end…

    • 457 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Depression is one of the most common mental disorders in the United States most commonly present amongst teenagers and young adults although it is…

    • 730 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Depression is a commonly experienced mood disorder across Australia. It is characterised by ‘a state of sadness, gloom and pessimistic ideation, with a loss of interest or pleasure in enjoyable activities.’ (1) Across Australia, depression is a widespread health problem. In 1997, an Australian survey showed that of all respondents, 11.6% reported a depressive disorder. (2) In contrast, the same study conducted in 2007, showed that of all respondents, 11.6% reported a depressive disorder. (3) This data indicates an increase in the prevalence of depression. Of those with depression from the findings of the 2007 survey, 14.5% of this proportion were female, and 8.8% were male. (3) Depression can affect people at all stages of the lifespan. A 2007…

    • 178 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Depression is a mental illness caused by chemical imbalances in the brain. Scans on patients with clinical depression showed that they had less brain volume in several regions, including the frontal lobe, basal ganglia and hippocampus than normal, non-depressed patients. Depression can affect the way a person sleeps, eats, and functions on a daily basis. People with depression often have feeling of hopelessness, lack of energy, and they take no pleasure in things that normal people enjoy. A depressed person usually lacks motivation to do nearly anything, even the basic everyday must-do’s. Major depression is a disease that affects 5 percent of the global population (Depression’s Chemical Imbalance Explained | Psych Central News). Some people may only experience depression during and after a traumatic event, but most depressed people have to deal with the illness for a lifetime. Depression is a mental illness because it is a disease that attacks and affects the brain.…

    • 1573 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In Australia the third leading disability burden on the country are mental disorders accounting for almost 30% of the total years lost due to disabilities (1). In 2007 among young Australians mental health problems and disorders account for the largest burden of disease in the age bracket 12-24 year olds. (2) Of anxiety, depression and substance disorders depression accounted for almost a quarter (24%) of all cases in this age group. (2) Depression is used to describe ‘transient states of low mood experienced by people at sometime in their life through severe psychiatric disorders’ (3). Depression is a serious illness, people feel low, sad and hopeless intensely for long periods of time and without reason (4). Depression can lead to isolation and reclusive behaviors making it extremely hard for people to participate in normal everyday activities (4). For young Australians to be withdrawing from society at such a young age is a worrying factor as all these individuals are valuable to the community.…

    • 1752 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Depression is defined by Webster’s Dictionary as “a state of being depressed; a state of feeling sad. A psychoneurotic or psychotic disorder marked especially by sadness, inactivity, difficulty in thinking and concentration, a significant increase or decrease in appetite and time spent sleeping, feelings of dejection and hopelessness, and sometimes suicidal tendencies” (Merriam-Websters).…

    • 2003 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    First of all it is important to understand what really constitutes depression. All of us feel down from time to time perhaps based on having a "bad day". However when feelings of sadness last for several weeks, months, or years, and are accompanied by other symptoms such as change of appetite, isolation from family and friends, sleeplessness, etc. these are symptoms of depression.…

    • 2258 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Depression – a feeling of overwhelming sadness, quilt, lose of interest in pleasurable activities and a feeling of worthlessness. People tend to feel tired, blame themselves for their problems, failures in life, and unable to make the simplest decisions. In acute cases people suffer from lack of concentration, insomnia and lose interest if food and sex. (Morris)…

    • 1085 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Depression is a serious condition that requires professional intervention. While we all feel down from time to time, depression goes well beyond these occasional feelings of being down in the dumps or having the blues. According to the National Library of Medicine, clinical depression "is a mood disorder in which feelings of sadness, loss, anger, or frustration interfere with everyday life for weeks or more." Over a quarter of all suicides are a direct result of depression. Given the severity of the disease, it is worrisome that an estimated 10 million American seniors over the age of 65 are depressed.…

    • 484 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Depression is hand in hand with the persistent feeling of sadness that seems to be taking over one's life. There is fatigue, less energy, insomnia and even excessive sleeping. Loss of interest in occupations that once were pleasant and joyful, overeating or the loss of appetite that could then lead to eating disorders. If there is feelings of worthlessness, helplessness, and guilt that don't seem to go away and keep tormenting this could also be signs of depression. Something to always look out for is warning signs of suicide that are connected with depression such as the switch of emotions from very sad to very calm, always talking or thinking about death or "wishing" to be dead, putting themselves at risk, and giving away prized possessions. Depression is a serious mental disorder that shouldn’t be taken lightly, it has pushed many people over the edge making them think suicide was the only way out becoming the 3rd leading cause of death…

    • 748 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Depression is best known as an overwhelming sadness. There are many other symptoms including irritability, lack of sleep,…

    • 1285 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Depression is defined as a feeling of sadness, feeling blue, unhappy, and miserable or down in the dumps. True clinical depression is defined as a mood in which feelings of sadness and anger interfere with your everyday life for an extended period of time. The news article dated January 12, 2010 in the New York Times, Titled; Mental Health: Deficiencies in Treatment of Depression reports that antidepressant drugs used for the treatment of depression seems to work more effectively on the severally depressed patients, more so then the patients that has a more milder form of depression. Researchers have found that most Americans that suffer some type of depression will never seek treatment and only half will receive treatment of any kind.…

    • 539 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays