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Naomi Do Isa Nguyen Jordan Day Gavin Jones Ernesto Saavedra Writing 1010 Final Draft Depression at Large Depression is one of the most widely debated topics in todays society. What is depression, what causes it and why, are some of the questions we have been asking people. We have gotten mixtures of answers and opinions from people around the age of 18-21. On the social media website; Facebook, we posted the question, What is your view on Depression? Is it a problem? We got several replies and a debate sparked from this. The debate was whether or not depression is self-inflicted or if it is a chemical imbalance caused by over medication. That type of view [the majority of cases [of depression] are self-inflicted, so not really a problem. I believe depression medication is the problem (Cory Maxfield)] right there is a major problem. And coincidently is the view most of the public seems to have on people with depression.

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Depression comes from a chemical imbalance in the brain. It's NOT self-inflicted. You can NOT just get over it. You can NOT pray it away. It's disease. Would you tell someone born with diabetes or a hole in their heart that it was self-inflicted? That they should get over it? I sure hope not. Gwen Langan This statement was made against another person that that believed that medication was the problem. The way we see it, they are both right, but in different ways. Before the 1950s people used opioids and amphetamines to cure their depression. Since then, much better and safer drugs have been created. However, they are abused, some on a more extreme level. Xanax is among one of the most abused prescription drugs, let alone anti-depressants (Ladd par.4). Depression is real, and it is a problem. What I think a lot of people confuse "depression" with is feeling down or feelings of sadness for a few days or weeks. No. That's just feeling down. That's not DEPRESSION. People who say it is all self-inflicted are incorrect. There are things people can do to help it though, besides medication. Like proper nutrition (fruits, veggies, whole grains, lots of water, no soda, etc.), exercise, forcing yourself out of the house doing things you once loved, and adequate sleep. There are, however, cases where those things will never shake feelings of depression. Medication used as it is necessary is a wonderful thing created by people who are, in general, inspired by God (after all, God is in control) when used appropriately and NOT as a "quick fix", as most Americans use most medications for (Lisa Day, Masters of Psychology University of Oregon 2010). From what one of our group members have heard and from his family and friends, depression is a problem. The problem lies in a variety of reason: ignoring depressed people,

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confusing depression with just being sad or blue, and abusing the drugs used to treat depression, & much more. The problems that come about depression is often described as indescribable. "And that's the most frustrating thing about depression. It isn't always something you can fight back against with hope. It isn't even something it's nothing. And you can't combat nothing. You can't fill it up. You can't cover it. It's just there, pulling the meaning out of everything. That being the case, all the hopeful, proactive solutions start to sound completely insane in contrast to the scope of the problem. It would be like having a bunch of dead fish, but no one around you will acknowledge that the fish are dead. Instead, they offer to help you look for the fish or try to help you figure out why they disappeared. (Hyperbole and a half). It seems that are more people willing to help you find the fish, then figure out what happened. We feel that the key to fixing this, is acknowledging its existence. Depression is often called, the common cold of mental illnesses, just asks any psychology major, but there are a key differences between the common cold and depression. People dont normally die from a cold. We polled over 50 people about depression over Facebook and in person, trying to find out who suffers from depression and who has been affected by depression in some way during their life time. 5 out of the 50 admitted to having been clinically diagnosed with depression, while 20 out of 50 think they have had depression in their life but never sought treatment for it. 50 out of 50 people either knew someone with depression or were close to someone who was depressed.

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Depression is a mental illness, and can be caused by many factors. Those who suffer from depression might experience a wide array of symptoms. Most people begin with depressing thoughts. The feelings or thoughts associated with depression are some such as sadness or unhappiness, loss of interest in pleasurable or normal activities, decreased concentration, or difficulty to express affection to loved ones. When depression is affecting someone, the mental disorder takes hold of a persons thoughts; Energy becomes depleted and they find it difficult to just shake things off. With constant depressing thoughts, what tend to follow are physical symptoms such as chronic fatigue and loss of energy. Depression severely affects a persons mental health, and those who suffer from clinical depression will most likely find themselves experiencing physical symptoms as well. The thoughts, feelings, and fatigue become overwhelming. Going through daily life might become a difficult task for someone dealing with major depression, causing the individual to become even more depressed. Other physical symptoms could include: irritability, angry outbursts, slowed thinking and body movements, insomnia or excessive sleeping, loss of interest in sexual desire, changes in appetite, weight loss or gain, crying for no apparent reason, aches and/or pains(Goldberg par.1). Untreated depression can often result in self harm, frequent thoughts of death and dying, or suicide. Untreated depression also increases the chance of risky behavior such as alcoholism, promiscuity, and/or drug addictions. The effects of depression may be short term while others are longer lasting. Some long term effects found of untreated depression are chronic tension headaches, hyperventilation, high blood pressure, ulcers, or psychosomatic illnesses(Servier UK Par.2).

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Depression can affect a persons entire life. Daily tasks range from school, to work, to family. Individuals who suffer from depression start becoming absent to their normal duties. They might lose their jobs or fail a class when theyre stuck in a spiral of depression. With the loss of interest and affection towards anyone at all, families become affected. Families become stressed out as one of their members is in a constant state of sadness and might have frequent thoughts of suicide. Children may become concerned and some even start becoming sad or depressed themselves. The experience of depression is a vicious cycle between wanting to get help and not being able to. Individuals struggle to maintain sanity as the effects of depression constantly take control of how they see and how they feel about everything around them. There are a variety of causes for depression not all of them are mental -some are physical, like childhood abuse. There are some people who even have a genetic predisposition of suffering from severe depression in their lifetime. It states within the article that it is not known what causes depression exactly but there are a number of factors involved with having depression. Some of these factors can be as simple as moving into a new house or the changing of the season, but can be as complex as misfiring neural receptors in the patients brain. Here is a list of some of the causes of depression that we have found, stress, smoking, biological differences, illegal drugs, neurotransmitters, hormones, inherited traits, early childhood trauma, and environmental changes. We have found these terms mentioned on multiple sites related to mental health and depression so we believe that they are some of the strongest factors for having depression. One of our group members was diagnosed with depression as a small child. Their therapist diagnosed the cause of their depression as combination of childhood trauma,

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imbalanced hormones, and environmental changes. They were prescribed several medications to combat the hormones and environmental changes as well as therapy to deal with the childhood trauma. This goes to show that it takes a combination of factors to cause depression. If it were a single factor it would have been easily dealt with by the patient but the multiple factors made it so that the patient needed to seek outside help to combat the depression. A person who is suffering from depression should not hesitate to get help. Dont think that you are the only one out there suffering from depression there are many out there. Many patients who suffer from depression try to hide and avoid the situation, while you should do the opposite and reach out for help. There are many different ways people cope with depression. There are three main ways to cure depression. Before stepping into any of these treatments you must research and ask a doctor which is best for you. Though some medicine (antidepressants) does help, some people see that medication is only a short term way to cure you from depression. You dont always want to depend on medication for they cant cure underlying problems. These antidepressants help improve symptoms of depression by increasing certain brain chemicals. Brain chemicals are believed to help improve emotions (WebMD par. 1). If you are under severe depression then medication is best for you, but it is important that you try other things first. Going to therapy you can find a therapist that will help you develop relationships, set health boundaries and handle life problems. Therapy helps you step back and see what might be contributing to your depression and how you can make changes (Smith et al par.7). Theres also group therapy that you can attend also, in group therapy you can sit and listen to your peers that are going through the same thing as you are. Lifestyle changes are the long term cure. It may be the only thing you need to treat your depression. Theyre simple but the most powerful way to cure depression (Smith et al par.3). Lifestyle changes that can help you treat depression are

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exercise, nutrition, sleep, social support and stress reduction. After depression is cured from lifestyle changes you can keep doing these changes to make sure you have a better chance of not getting depressed. To raise depression awareness we have decided to create brochures and pass them out. These brochures will consist of questionnaires, phone numbers, and websites to go to if you need help. The questions on the brochure are to see if you are depressed and to help learn about it. It's not just straight up boring questions, it's kind of like a game where you follow the lines. These brochures will also have attracting colors so that it will get ones attention. It will not be packed with information because there will be websites leading to what you need. We will be passing them out everywhere, mostly around Salt Lake Community College because many students and professors are not fully aware of importance of depression. We will be leaving them on tables in the cafeteria and around places as table toppers as well. People look at things when they're eating just to see what it is. One of our group members noticed that leaving it on the tables catches people's attention while they're sitting there studying or eating. Many people are depressed, will not even know about it. People are not aware of depression so we are reaching out to help people understand and know more. Another approach which is more of a long term solution would be online campaigning about depression. Online campaigning can get you more information and more help. Since technology is more advance people are always online or reading things online, rather than picking up a book or newspaper. Having it online people can go on and express the way they feel or talk without having to tell others who they really are. Depression makes you exclude yourself from others, having an online campaign can help them. People go online and express how they feel and there are people out there who respond to you. We researched many campaigns that are

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out there; even Facebook has a campaign for depression awareness. There are pictures on this Facebook and status updates where it says "it's okay to not be okay" and things that make you feel like everything will be okay(Facebook). A lot of people go on this page and share about things they've overcame or what they're dealing with right now. It's like a group therapy, except you don't have to meet up with the people you are talking to. An online campaign can be easily known by many in today's society. Just a "like or share" on Facebook could start a chain and many people are able to see it. If the word gets spread then less people will be affected by depression or understand more about it. Depression shouldn't be a matter to take lightly. You could lose your life or a loved one. It can cause major problems that many won't even know until the symptom gets worse and also harder to cure. If you're under depression people around you may be affected while not even knowing it. It's a state of mind that everyone should be aware of instead of thinking it's not a big deal. Raising depression awareness now is for a better tomorrow. Nothing will ever happen if we just sit there and not try anything. Even if it's just a piece a paper, someone will be able to learn from it.

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Work Cited "Depression." NIMH RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2013. http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/depression/index.shtml "Depression." - Long Term Effects of : Servier UK. N.p., 27 Nov. 11. Web. 01 Dec. 2013. http://www.servier.co.uk/disease-information/depression/long-term-effects-of-depression.asp "Depression Awareness | Facebook." Facebook. N.p., 15 May 2010. Web. 02 Dec. 2013. "Drug Options for the Treatment of Depression." WebMD. WebMD, n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013. http://www.webmd.com/depression/symptoms-depressed-anxiety-12/antidepressants Goldberg, Joesph, MD. "Side Effects of Untreated Depression." WebMD. WebMD, 04 May 2013. Web. 03 Dec. 2013. http://www.webmd.com/depression/guide/untreateddepression-effects "Hyperbole and a Half: May 2013." Hyperbole and a Half: May 2013. N.p., May 2013. Web. 22 Nov. 2013. Ladd, Brandon. "Top 10 Abused Prescription Drugs." Listverse. N.p., 21 Dec. 2010. Web. 22 Nov. 2013. http://listverse.com/2010/12/21/top-10-abused-prescription-drugs/ Smith, Melinda, M.A., Lawrence Robinson, Jeanne Segal, Ph.D, and Damon Ramsey, MD. "Antidepressants (Depression Medication)." : What You Need to Know. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013. http://www.helpguide.org/mental/medications_depression.htm