Clinical depression statistics All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. For example, it is possible to refer to "depressed thyroid function" or to a depression of blood flow in a particular area. For individuals who are in genuine need, however, the fitness cost of major depression is low because the individual is not generating many fitness benefits. Clinical depression statistics. The inability to adequately express one's feelings or to not have them be accepted as valid by others can lead to a feeling of unexplainable sadness or grief. In the field of psychiatry, the word depression can also have this meaning of low mood but more specifically refers to a mental illness when it has reached a severity and duration to warrant a diagnosis, whether there is an obvious situational cause or not; see Clinical depression. Honest signalling theory: When social partners have conflicts of interest, 'cheap' signals of need, such as crying, might not be believed. During this period, which can last anything from days to years, the individual must find a new way to interpret his thoughts and feelings and reassess the extent to which his appraisal of his reality is realistic. Some general physiological considerations include geics (i.e. a hypothesised innate disposition to depression), neurochemistry (e.g. high levels of stress hormones such as cortisol, low dopamine activity), sleep patterns, female hormone imbalance (e.g. PMS in women), male hormone imbalance (testosterone) in men, use of medication (e.g. corticosteroids), chronic illness (e.g. diabetes or hypothyroidism), and seasonal factors (e.g. seasonal affective disorder related to hormones and sunlight). The social navigation hypothesis emphasizes that an individual can bee tightly ensnared in an overly restrictive matrix of social exchange contracts, and that this situation sometimes necessitates a radical contractual upheaval that is beyond conventional methods of negotiation. Aspartame was associated with a significant difference in number and severity of symptoms for patients with a history of depression in an experiment [24]. Depression can be the result of many factors, individually and acting in concert. While a depressed mood is usually seen as deleterious, it may have adaptive benefits. For individuals who are not genuinely in need, the fitness cost of major depression is very high because it threatens the flow of fitness benefits. Clinical depression statistics. Bipolar depression medication
The loss of a loved spouse, child, friend or relation, a physical illness or loss of lifestyle, tends to lead to feelings of depression. Disturbed sleep patterns, such as insomnia, loss of REM sleep, or excessive sleep (Hypersomnia). |