Detrimental Effects Of Untreated Depression

For Americans, depression is a mental health issue that is particularly prevalent, occurring in over five percent of the population every year. Types range from postpartum depression to PDD (Persistent Depressive Disorder), and can rise in any one of the millions of Americans at any time. A variety of risk factors, from being a social minority to media representation, along with hereditary links, can lead one to develop any type of depression throughout life, manifesting in different ways. Unfortunately, social stigmas oftentimes prevent treatment or worsen one’s condition, leading to detrimental effects. Depression, a disease that 85% of the population will experience at least once in their life (Moreh, & O’Lawrence, 2016) is typically characterized
However, the effects of untreated depression are very real, and very harmful to people driven away from help by stigmas, lack of money, and their own fear of it. Depression has an extensive list of harmful symptoms that “when untreated these problems can become chronic or recurrent and interfere with an individuals’ everyday life” (Moreh & O'Lawrence, 2016). When depression is treated, patients are usually given SSRIs, or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, which allow for more serotonin to be available for the brain, which is often a problem for those who are depressed. In a 2013 study, patients who were untreated were compared against those who received a type of SSRIs, the duration of the depressive episodes before remission recorded. What was found was that those left untreated experienced longer episodes before they recovered fully from it, while those who were treated with SSRIs and therapy achieved remission from depression at a quicker rate (Bukh, Bock, Vinberg, & Kessing, 2013). This backs up years of research that treatment, consisting of therapy, which may be combined with drugs, is extremely effective in treating a disease that visibly affects brains when viewed under PET scans. The effects of drugs can also be viewed
Having family members with mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, and a few other disorders put one at a disadvantage, as they may have inherited the genes that caused their parent(s) to develop the disease. Other things that may trigger types of depression are major losses, such as a death, a miscarriage, or traumatic events throughout life. In other instances, social pressures from media representation, bullying, and impractical ideals that society presses onto young, impressionable youth. To prevent these pressures and events from impacting a person so much that they fall into depression, they should be taught positive coping skills to turn to, such as reaching out to counselors, friends, and anyone they can confide in, meditation, exercise, and other such activities. This helps to prevent people from turning to substance abuse, isolation, and self-harm, all of which can be detrimental and dangerous in the long-term if there is no treatment or communication. Sometimes, people do not have access to these coping skills and knowledge of them in time though, or they are not able to cope effectively because they may have become overwhelmed. If this happens, measures can be taken to help reduce the symptoms of depression, ranging from taking SSRIs and seeking counseling to keeping communication with people and practicing forms of self-care. For myself, cleaning and rearranging my room often works, but for the