Description
Adversity in childhood, such as bereavement, neglect, mental abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, or unequal parental treatment of siblings can contribute to depression in adulthood.[7][8] Childhood physical or sexual abuse in particular significantly correlates with the likelihood of experiencing depression over the victim's lifetime.[9]
Life events and changes that may influence depressed moods include (but are not limited to): childbirth, menopause, financial difficulties, unemployment, stress (such as from work, education, family, living conditions etc.), a medical diagnosis (cancer, HIV, etc.), bullying, loss of a loved one, natural disasters, social isolation, rape, relationship troubles, jealousy, separation, or catastrophic injury.[10][11][12][13][14] Adolescents may be especially prone to experiencing a depressed mood following social rejection, peer pressure, or bullying.[15]
Case Study
Description
Changes in personality or in one's social environment can affect levels of depression. High scores on the personality domain neuroticism make the development of depressive symptoms as well as all kinds of depression diagnoses more likely,[19] and depression is associated with low extraversion.[20] Other personality indicators could be: temporary but rapid mood changes, short term hopelessness, loss of interest in activities that used to be of a part of one's life, sleep disruption, withdrawal from previous social life, appetite changes, and difficulty concentrating.[21]
Case Study
Description
Alcohol can be a depressant which slows down some regions of the brain, like the prefrontal and temporal cortex, negatively affecting rationality and memory.[22] It also lowers the level of serotonin in the brain, which could potentially lead to higher chances of depressive mood.[23] The connection between the amount of alcohol intake, level of depressed mood, and how it affects the risks of experiencing consequences from alcoholism, were studied in a research done on college students. The study used 4 latent, distinct profiles of different alcohol intake and level of depression; Mild or Moderate Depression, and Heavy or Severe Drinkers. Other indicators consisting of social factors and individual behaviors were also taken into consideration in the research. Results showed that the level of depression as an emotion negatively affected the amount of risky behavior and consequence from drinking, while having an inverse relationship with protective behavioral strategies, which are behavioral actions taken by oneself for protection from the relative harm of alcohol intake. Having an elevated level of depressed mood does therefore lead to greater consequences from drinking.[24]
Case Study
Description
Social abuse, such as bullying, are defined as actions of singling out and causing harm on vulnerable individuals. In order to capture a day-to-day observation of the relationship between the damaging effects of social abuse, the victim's mental health and depressive mood, a study was conducted on whether individuals would have a higher level of depressed mood when exposed to daily acts of negative behavior. The result concluded that being exposed daily to abusive behaviors such as bullying has a positive relationship to depressed mood on the same day. The study has also gone beyond to compare the level of depressive mood between the victims and non-victims of the daily bullying. Although victims were predicted to have a higher level of depressive mood, the results have shown otherwise that exposure to negative acts has led to similar levels of depressive mood, regardless of the victim status. The results therefore have concluded that bystanders and non-victims feel as equally depressed as the victim when being exposed to acts such as social abuse.[25]
Case Study
Description
Measures of depression as an emotional disorder include, but are not limited to: Beck Depression Inventory-11 and the 9-item depression scale in the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9).[38] Both of these measures are psychological tests that ask personal questions of the participant, and have mostly been used to measure the severity of depression. The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) is a self-report scale that helps a therapist identify the patterns of depression symptoms and monitor recovery. The responses on this scale can be discussed in therapy to devise interventions for the most distressing symptoms of depression.[5] Several studies, however, have used these measures to also determine healthy individuals who are not suffering from depression as a mental disorder, but as an occasional mood disorder. This is substantiated by the fact that depression as an emotional disorder displays similar symptoms to minimal depression and low levels of mental disorders such as major depressive disorder; therefore, researchers were able to use the same measure interchangeably. In terms of the scale, participants scoring between 0–13 and 0–4 respectively were considered healthy individuals.[24] Another measure of depressed mood would be the IWP Multi-affect Indicator.[39] It is a psychological test that indicates various emotions, such as enthusiasm and depression, and asks for the degree of the emotions that the participants have felt in the past week. There are studies that have used lesser items from the IWP Multi-affect Indicator which was then scaled down to daily levels to measure the daily levels of depression as an emotional disorder.[25]
Case Study
Summary
Depressed mood may not require professional treatment, and may be a normal temporary reaction to life events, a symptom of some medical condition, or a side effect of some drugs or medical treatments. A prolonged depressed mood, especially in combination with other symptoms, may lead to a diagnosis of a psychiatric or medical condition which may benefit from treatment. The UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) 2009 guidelines indicate that antidepressants should not be routinely used for the initial treatment of mild depression, because the risk-benefit ratio is poor.[42] Physical activity can have a protective effect against the emergence of depression.[43]
Physical activity can also decrease depressive symptoms due to the release of neurotrophic proteins in the brain that can help to rebuild the hippocampus that may be reduced due to depression.[44] Also yoga could be considered an ancillary treatment option for patients with depressive disorders and individuals with elevated levels of depression.[45][46]
