Reasoning Behind Depression

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Reasoning BehindDepression

• Meghan Fox

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Depression Symptoms

• 5 or more of these symptoms in a 2 week period
  are needed for a diagnosis
• loss of interest or pleasure in activities that
  were once enjoyed
• change in appetite or weight
• difficulty thinking or concentrating
• sleep pattern altered
• oversleeping or lack of sleep

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Depression Symptoms Cont...

• Persistent, sad, anxious, or empty mood
• Feelings of helplessness, guilt, worthlessness,
  and pessimism
• Thoughts of death or suicide
• Persistent physical symptoms headaches,
  digestive disorders, and chronic pain

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Depression Statistics Facts

• Affects an estimated 9.5 of adult Americans ages
  18 and over in a year or about 18.8 million in
  1998
• Nearly twice as many women (12) are affected as
  men (7)
• During a six month period approximately 6.6 of
  women and 3.5 of men will have depression
• Nearly 10 of young adults in the USA experience
  an episode of serious depression
• 1 in 8 women will develop depression during their
  lifetime

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Depression Statistics Facts Cont..

• As many as 1 in every 33 children may have
  depression
• 1 in 8 adolescents have depression
• Teenage girls are more likely to develop
  depression than teenage boys
• In the year 2000 it is thought that in any 1-year
  period, 9.5 of the population, 18.8 million
  American adults will suffer from depression
• Manic-depressive illness occurs in 1 in 200
  people
• Depression is set to become the second leading
  health problem by 2020

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More Depression Statistics Facts

• Only 1 of 3 will seek care
• Approximately 15 of those hospitalized will
  commit suicide
• Depression occurs in the late 20s of age,
  frequently between ages 25-44
• Depression affects about 121 million people
  worldwide
• Depression was the 2nd leading cause of
  disability in the age category of 15-44 for both
  sexes in 1998
• Depression is now the leading cause of disability
  in he U.S and worldwide

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Continuum of depressive symptoms in the population
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Theories of Depression

• Caused by biological processes
• Ego-damaging experiences
• Self-deprecating thoughts
• Evolutionary perspective is that depression is a
  defense mechanism

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Evolutionary Reasoning of Depression

• Nesse Williams
• Depression comes in the result of a loss. How can
  a loss be helpful?
• Low mood keeps us from jumping abruptly to
  escape temporary difficulties
• High and low mood mechanisms are for adjusting
  the assigning of resources to the best
  opportunities

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Behaving Different After a Loss in a Way to
Increase Darwinian Fitness

• Stop what you are doing
• Set aside the usual human tendency of optimism
• Take off the rose-colored glasses

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Depression in good abilities

• John Hartung suggests
• Depression is common in people whose abilities
  are a threat to their superiors
• The best protection is to conceal your abilities
  and deceive yourself about them so to more
  readily conceal your ambitions

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Depression You Just Cant Win

• John Price theory
• Depression is a result of when a person can not
  win a hierarchy battle, and refuses to give in to
  a more powerful person.
• Depression is an involuntary signal of obedience

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Dr. Nesses recent explanations

• Some forms of depression were clearly a result of
  genetic vulnerability brain abnormality
• Depression developed as a useful response to
  situations in which a desired goal is
  unattainable.
• Follows Dr. Emmy Guts theory that depression is
  a normal mechanism. Its an attempt toward
  adaptation to a problem.

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Dr. Nesses recent explanations Cont...

• Depression as a defense strategy. Low costs when
  compared with potential for protection
• Dr. Nesse draws on the work of Dr. Klinger
• Todays society puts on the pressure to set
  larger goals

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Is the Environment to Blame

• We are in an epidemic of depression
• 39,000 people in 9 different studies carried out
  in 5 diverse areas of the world and found that
  young people in each country are more likely than
  their elders to experience an episode of
  depression
• Higher depression rates are found in societies of
  a higher degree of economic development

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Depression Comes from Unrealistic Goals

• Few can ever achieve goals that envy sets for us
• None of us can ever achieve the fantasy lives on
  TV

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Factors Likely to Increase the Occurrence of
Depression

• Occupation
• Obesity
• Marital status (formerly married)
• Children living in the household
• Cancer, other illnesses or diseases
• Education level (college)
• High population of area
• Poverty
• Poor relationships with others

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Other Scientist Speculations

• Depression is a plea for help
• A strategy for manipulating others into providing
  resources
• A signal of submission or yielding in conflict
• A way to conserve an organisms resources and
  energy in hard times
• Depression is a malfunction in brain chemicals

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Dont Fight It

• It then seems to not be sensible to block
  depressive properties with medications
• Dr. Paul Gilbert said but do we really want a
  society where we drive everyone mad and then give
  them drugs to get them out of it?

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Conclusion

• Depression has a reason may it be biological or
  for our own defense. It then may seem wise to not
  block the depressive properties with drugs.
  Depression growth in the recent years is a result
  of higher pressure on even higher set goals.