Treatment of Depression
...n life is completely negative. I can always find something negative about anything and anyone. Here are some facts about depression wrote up by doctors. Approximately 18.8 million American adults, or about 9.5 percent of the U.S. population age 18 and older in a given year, have a treatable depressive disorder. Nearly twice as many women as men are affected by a depressive disorder each year. Women between the ages of 25-44 are most often affected by depression. A major cause of depression in women is the inability to express or handle Anger. Depressive disorders often co-occur with anxiety disorders and substance abuse. Mood disorders cost U.S. employers 16 billion dollars in lost work time annually. Depression affects all people regardless of age, geographic location, demographic or social position. Depressive disorders may be appearing earlier in life in people born in recent decades compared to the past. According to NIMH, 80 percent of depressed people respond postive towards treatment. 20 percent see no change after treatment and remain depressed. Existing antidepressant drugs are known to influence the functioning of certain neurotransmitters in the brain, mostly serotonin and norepinephrine. These drugs have very few side effects and the ones they do have are not that severe. Also they are safer, in means of an overdose, the body can with stand more. Older medications affect the activity of both of these neurotransmitters at the same time. Their disadvantage is that they can be difficult to tolerate due to side effects. Newer medications, such as the selective serotonin inhibitors, have fewer side effects than the older drugs, making it easier for patients to undergo treatment. Both generations of medications have been somewhat proven effective in relieving depression, although some people will respond to one type of drug, but not another. Many patients and clinicians find that combinations of different drugs work most effectively for treating depression, either by enhancing the therapeutic action or reducing side effects. Herbal medicine is similar to these man made drugs, except the ingredients are all natural. One major herb that is becoming popular among depressed people is St. John's wort. The scientifc name is Hypericum perforatum. It is a prennial herb that grows in woods, fields, and hedgerows, mostly in lime-rich soil. The chemicals that make up St. John's wort come from the plants bright yellow flowers. St. John's wort affects five chemicals present in the brain: serotonin, noradrenaline, dopamine, gammaaminobutyric acid, and interleukin-6. Serotonin, noradrenaline, and dopamine are believed to play an important role in how we feel. When some one is depressed it is because these chemicals are imbalanced. St. John's wort effects many of these chemicals which makes it better than most man made drugs. Noradrenaline is released when a person feels threatened, in a depressed persons mind, noradrenaline is overproduced. St. John's wort works to block any extra noradrenaline produced. Dopamine is part of the pursuit of pleasure and motivates physical activity. A depressed person's brain does not produce enough of this chemical. St. John's wort gives this part of the brain, sort of a stimulation, so that more is produced. Serotonin plays a part in problems with sleep, appetite, and anger regulation. This is another chemical that is normally incorrectly balanced. St. John's wort also works to correct this fault. Psychotherapy is another technique used to treat depression. This therapy helps change the negative style of thinking that depressed people often experience. A therapist will usually teach the patient skills needed to overcome this negativity. Although psychotherapy is a good method, it usally is not successful without the aid of medication. There is no way to get inside of someone's mind to actually know what they are thinking, so it's hard to believe that psychotherapy can help a person's depression. According to NIMH though, psychotherapy is very benefitial. It is also hard to believe that a person who has never had depression can say that they know how to fix it. Electroconvulsive therapy is one of the most effective treatments for depression. Eighty to ninety percent of people with depression show much improvement with this method. Electroconvulsive therapy produces a seizure in the brain of a patient, whom is under anesthisa. Electrical stimulation through the scalp makes this happen. Repeated treatments are necessary to achieve the best antidepressant response. Memory loss is common, but is typically short-lived. NIMH have found that the placement of electrodes can greatly change he out come of the treatment. Relapse of depression is common after treatment has stopped. NIMH is currently trying to figure out if medication after treatment could prevent the relapse. Marijuana is an herb, but since it is illegal, it is not catoragized with legal herbs. Experts on the use of medical marijuana, such as the CNOA, have charged that marijuana causes depression. While researching depression I have realized that many doctors believe that marijuana is not an option for treating depression. Some doctors even believe that it can cause depression. I am strongly against that theory. I never knew what it was like to live a normal life untill I smoked marijuana for the first time. At first, I just smoked every so often, just when I felt really bad. Eventually I started smoking more often, but I decreased how much I had at each time. I noticed I really started to concentrate in school more, I became more socially active, and my overall mood was a lot better than before. When I started smoking atleast 3 times a day, I felt great. I finally felt like I fit in with everyone else, except for the smoking pot part. A lot of people probably wonder how I could continue every day activities while being high. Well first off, during the day I only smoked about half of a joint, by myself. This allowed me to concentrate much better during my classes. After school I would smoke another half joint, which allowed me to focus on my homework and motivated me to do any other things I needed to. After I had completed everything, I would smoke atleast one joint, if not more, and just relax. Marijuana also helped me sleep much better at night. Studies have been inconsistent though. One study found that marijuana helped relieve depression in cancer patients; another found no benefit for clinical depression. A survey of 79 mental pati...