Psychological Disorders: Clinical Depression

Summary: Clinical depression, also known as major depressive disorder, is one of the main types of depression and falls under the most common mental illness out there. It is often described as a mood or state that is much different than general grief or sadness as they last much longer than the “normal appropriate emotional responses” (ex. mourning the loss of a loved one is considered to be normal and would not be considered a part of clinical depression). It can affect anyone at any time, but it is usually diagnosed in someone in their 20’s and unfortunately, women are two times more likely to suffer from clinical depression than men are. Major depressive order can also vary from acute to severe depending on the person and their situation.

Other symptoms include loss in things that you used to find pleasure in, lack of energy, slower thought process, thoughts of death or suicide, increase or decrease in appetite and interrupted sleep or even the inability to sleep. It is believed that there are two main causes to clinical depression; psychological factors and biomedical factors. Psychological factors are situations such as progressive negative thoughts towards ones self or the world around them. Biomedical factors are often revolved around the decrease of neurotransmitters being released into the brain. The main neurotransmitters that cause problems if they are not released properly or there are not enough of them in the brain are serotonin and norepinephrine. Often times when these symptoms are present, but the victim is not diagnosed, their depression could last four months or longer than if it was treated right away. Clinical depression can have an extensive existence as it can last two or more years and that’s why it is so important to see a doctor right away if you experience these

These types of medications allow for people suffering to reach their therapeutic needs without having to see a therapist etc. There are two main types of anti-depressants; tricyclic anti-depressants and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI’s) such as Prozac. The make-up of the drugs is different, but they both prevent the imbalance of serotonin and/ or norepinephrine (if taking tricyclic antidepressants) by building up the neurotransmitters in the brain and allow them to continually have contact with the nerve cell receptors. By having a longer contact with the nerve cell receptors, the patient’s mood can be positively