Depression in the Lifespan
Depression is a multifaceted and complex phenomenon affecting multiple age cohorts. It is therefore important to understand what differential age-related risk factors account for the manifestation of depressive symptoms, whether precipitating factors are genetic or environmental, also how specific treatment interventions might change depending on age-related needs or age-appropriate interventions. A developmental approach to depression can provide some insight into how clinicians can improve treatment interventions and promote a more nuanced and realistic understanding of the disorder. The symptoms of depression are also likely to be different for different age cohorts, in part due to developmental differences, but also to biological differences in brain structure and chemistry, life experiences and socialization. This topic is important to both clinical and counseling psychology because reframing depression from a developmental perspective can shed light on etiology and best practices.
Review of Literature
Literature has generally not focused on a developmental theoretical perspective, even though early research showed that "socioemotional, cognitive, linguistic, social-cognitive, neurobiological,...
Even in persons with full-blown depression, such alterations of negative life patterns can be helpful. Although "depression can be treated in a variety of ways," either with antidepressant medications or counseling, "most people benefit from a combination of the two. Some studies have shown that antidepressant drug therapy combined with psychotherapy appears to have better results than either therapy alone. ("Major Depression," 2006, Medline Plus Encyclopedia) The most common medications
Clinical Depression Major depressions or unipolar depressions are some of the names by which the term Clinical depression is known, which is a type of depressive disorder. To explain, it is a condition that is to be diametrically observed, in the sense that the expert does not count on a patient's self-report but checks for indications of depression that can be noticed and recognized. (Schatzberg, 2002) Clinical depression is a
Thus, most of the research cited in this literature review address the efficacy of treatment interventions on alleviating the symptoms of major chronic depression. 5. The authors found that while antidepressants were "effective" in treating the symptoms of chronic major depression, "no particular drug was better than another," (p. 2). The main conclusion drawn from the review of literature was that patient outcomes improve when patients are more involved in
Discussion Depression can have profound and devastating effects on individuals, including the elderly. Since the elderly population is continually aging, it is important that factors involved in treatment interventions for depression among the elderly be investigated to its fullest extent. The purpose of this study is to illuminate the effectiveness of different treatment modalities among the elderly and the influence that personality traits have on outcomes. This proposal aimed to ask
Various intervening and overlapping factors are responsible for their susceptibility to depression. As much a stress-related problems can be zeroed in to blame for prevalence of this illness, nurture and nature play a role in a person's coping abilities. Genetics also contribute to the probability of a person to experience major depression. It does not, however, run in the family, but increases the likelihood of a person to experience
Depression There is a stark and medical difference between feelings of sadness and clinical mood disorders such as unipolar depression and bipolar disorders. Both disorders can have a profound on the quality of life of an individual. Often times the two disorders are precipitated by specific events and sometimes they just are, in any event effective diagnostic tools and treatments exist. It is not a hopeless situation in the least. In
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