According to World Health Organization (WHO), about 5% of adults suffer from depression, which will become a severe health condition. For the past few years, many individuals have been diagnosed with depression due to anxiety caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Medical experts and psychologists advise that individuals must seek medical attention in case of anxiety and much stress, which mostly leads to mental effects. According to reports by the WHO, depression is caused by various reasons, including loneliness, alcohol and drugs, personality, or stressful events. As depression develops in the immune system, it eventually affects the body’s physical functioning, weakening the ability to concentrate and manage life obstacles. Due to the rising number of patients suffering from depression affecting mental health, the United States healthcare system mobilized for conventions to create awareness of the effects of depression. However, the effort to reach out to patients in societies who might be suffering from depression is a challenge since most depressed people do not speak up.
The interaction of psychological, genetic, physiological, and environmental factors is the primary cause of depression based on recent psychiatric analysis. Melnyk et al. explain that depression extends to severe health conditions if the victim fails to seek medical attention in the first stage (940). Once a personal experience changes how they perform their duties or psychological factors that negatively affect their minds, it is advisable to seek medical attention. For example, depression affects the mood, including anxiety, guilt, mood swings, and apathy directly controlled by the mind. Depression causes changes in the body’s normal functioning as regulated by the mind. Changes in moods and loss of interest are effects of depression, indicating mental illness may be caused by uncertainties of an existing situation. The condition worsens when the individual stays lonely and indoors without exercising their body, affecting the brain system (Melnyk et al. 937). At this stage, if the patient does not seek psychological advice and counseling sessions, the condition affects memory, leading to severe effects on their mental health due to low moods. Thus, such individuals develop low self-esteem and fail to participate in everyday activities at the household or community level.
Another cause of depression is excessive thoughts. Depression does not affect mental health at once. It is a process that can take even years to develop, depending on the patient’s exposure and the thoughts running through their minds. Suicidal thought is a factor that can result in depression, and most individuals fail to seek psychological intervention since their minds are deep into their thoughts (Melnyk 118). For example, loneliness and isolation expose people to extreme thoughts on coping with the environment. The neurotransmitter in the brain begins to imbalance due to excessive thoughts, and an individual develops a sense of committing suicide due to mental effects. If the situation and the surroundings do not change for their wellness, the condition worsens, and the depression affects their mental health. At this stage, the patient can not think straight since their minds are filled with negative thoughts, causing depression.
Thirdly, feelings are also causes of depression. Sometimes, being attached to someone or something might cause healthwise troubles if the situation changes. Medical experts indicate that people with strong emotions towards something or someone are at a high risk of developing depression if things turn against their wishes. For example, when a person loses a loved one, the bitterness and agony in their heart can persist for days, months, or years. Such feelings expose the patient to a high risk of depression. The mind triggers what happened, and sometimes, it is difficult to accept the bad news. The attachment creates agony and pain until the victim develops depression due to hard feelings. Psychologists advise that the bereaved should seek counseling sessions to help them adjust to the new environment without their loved ones (Birk et al. 803). However, feelings and emotions are delicate, especially for someone whose mind is triggered by the event. Eventually, the affected develops mental illness due to depression of what happened and the new norm of not associating with their friends or loved ones.
Another cause of depression is physical health, especially for patients diagnosed with chronic diseases. The United States healthcare program indicates that most individuals suffering from chronic diseases die due to mental illnesses caused by depression (Melnyk et al. 932). For example, cancer has resulted in the loss of lives over the past years. The high death rates are due to a lack of confidence in fighting the disease. Once the patient develops thoughts and changes behaviors due to cancer illness, it directly affects their mindset and, with time, develops depression which outweighs their medical treatment to cure cancer. Thus, it is crucial to embrace counseling sessions, especially when one is diagnosed with a chronic condition, to avoid mental diseases caused by depression.
Overall, mental health is a condition that outweighs the ability of an individual to participate in daily activities or join other colleagues at work or society duties. Depression creates room for loneliness, guilt, hopelessness, sadness, and chronic fatigue that develops into severe mental illness if not treated in time. From a scientific view, body functioning is determined by the mind and thoughts that run through every minute. If a person experiences fatigue and anxiety, it means that something is causing a nuisance and should be overlooked to avoid depression. Thus, saving lives from mental illness starts by evaluating the cause of the first stage of depression.
Work Cited
Birk, Jeffrey L., et al. “Depression and Multimorbidity: Considering Temporal Characteristics of the Associations between Depression and Multiple Chronic Diseases.” Health Psychology, vol. 38, no. 9, 2019, pp. 802–811. https://doi.org/10.1037/hea0000737.
Melnyk, Bernadette Mazurek, et al. “Interventions to Improve Mental Health, Well-Being, Physical Health, and Lifestyle Behaviors in Physicians and Nurses: A Systematic Review.” American Journal of Health Promotion, vol. 34, no. 8, 2020, pp. 929–941. https://doi.org/10.1177/0890117120920451.
Melnyk, Bernadette Mazurek. “Reducing Healthcare Costs for Mental Health Hospitalizations with the Evidence-Based COPE Program for Child and Adolescent Depression and Anxiety: A Cost Analysis.” Journal of Pediatric Health Care, vol. 34, no. 2, 2020, pp. 117–121. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedhc.2019.08.002.
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