Psychology and Health Anxiety and Depression

Question: Discuss about the Psychology and Health for Anxiety and Depression. Answer: Introduction: We have seen that common people mostly think depression and sadness to be the same thing. However, there is great difference between depression and sadness. Sadness is a form of human emotion that we all experience in life, while depression is a common but serious mood disorder caused by changes in brain functioning. It is necessary to understand that any person can be diagnosed with major depressive order only when the following criteria of depressive episode are present in that person for two weeks or more. These are depressed mood such as the feeling of sadness or irritation throughout the day and diminished interest or pleasure in daily life activities. Other symptoms include significant weight loss due to loss of appetite in adults. In the case of children, weight gain does not occur normally. People with depression also have irregular sleep patterns, and they develop insomnia or hypersomnia almost every day. Psychomotor agitation or retardation is observed in an individual. One study showed that depressed parents are at great risk for mood disorder and they show anomaly in attention and memory (Lopezà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Duran et al., 2013). People develop diminished ability to work or concentrate, feeling of worthlessness almost every day (Starkstein et al., 2014). From these criteria, we can interpret that sadness is an occasional emotional outcome and people do not lose appetite or weight due to it. The transition from sadness to major depressive disorder occurs when these symptoms persists for more than two weeks. In real life situation, I have seen it to be an isolated episode as well as continued period of problem in patients. Sadness and depression are both cognitive process in an individual but it differs in the regulation of emotion. Mostly depressed people have poor cognitive control. While sadness is an occasional emotional response to physical and psychological loss, the major depressive disorder may be caused by a number of factors. The factors that contribute to depression are as follows: Genetic characteristics- Many studies have suggested that genetic overlap makes people vulnerable to anxiety disorders and neuroticism. Heredity might also be a cause for depression in 40-70% cases. Stress or grief- General childhood adversity, adverse family relationship, and pessimistic attitude are the other predisposing factors for the development of depression. Precipitating factors- First episode of depression is precipitated by life events, seasonal depression occurs in winter due to overeating and hypersomnia. Perpetuating factors- Many people have a constricted lifestyle and poor coping skills. They have low activity level and dysregulation of neurotransmitter system (Ruscio Khazanov, 2016). Thus, area of depression is not a homogenous area, the diagnostic criteria has a very thin boundary between sadness and depression. Hence, in order to specifically comprehend depressive disorder, distinction between different types of depression is necessary. In my personal life experience also, I have seen that people are not able to differentiate between sadness and depression. That is the reason they do not consult physician even after continued period of depression and other associated symptoms. Therefore, it is necessary to understand people get aware about the criteria for depression and take immediate action to treat their condition Reference Ruscio, A. M., Khazanov, G. K. (2016). Anxiety and Depression. InThe Oxford Handbook of Mood Disorders. Starkstein, S. E., Davis, W. A., Dragovic, M., Cetrullo, V., Davis, T. M., Bruce, D. G. (2014). Diagnostic criteria for depression in type 2 diabetes: a data-driven approach.PloS one,9(11), e112049. Lopezà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Duran, N. L., Kuhlman, K. R., George, C., Kovacs, M. (2013). Facial emotion expression recognition by children at familial risk for depression: highà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ risk boys are oversensitive to sadness.Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry,54(5), 565-574.