All of us feel sad from time to time. Feeling sorrow, crying, or feeling sad are hallmarks of being a human being. However, sometimes these feeling are much more than a normal ‘blue spell’, and symptoms can become so severe they physically incapacitate a person, even bringing their normal thinking processes to a grinding halt. This is Major Depression: a painful disease accompanied by severe suffering.
Major Depression is when five or more symptoms of depression are present for at least 2 weeks. These symptoms include feeling sad, hopeless, worthless, or pessimistic. In addition, people with major depression often have behavior changes, such as new eating and sleeping patterns. Major depression increases a person's risk of suicide. Almost 15% of the people with Major Depression commit suicide. This statistic is frightening.
Many researchers believe Major Depression is caused by chemical imbalances in the brain, which may be hereditary or caused by events in a person's life.
Some types of depression seem to run in families, but depression can also occur in people who have no family history of the illness. Stressful life changes or events can trigger depression in some people. Usually, a combination of factors is involved.
Each year, more than 18 million Americans -- men and women of all ages, races, and economic levels -- have depression. However, it occurs more often in women.
Although, Major Depressive Disorder seems to affect everyone the same, regardless of race, economic status, or religion; race does seem to play a difference. A recent study indicated that the severity of Depression and its persistence do differ based on a person’s race.
Black women were much more likely to be severely depressed than white women. For example, black women suffered a significant higher degree of functional impairment. They suffered the inability to perform activities of daily living almost 33% of the time, compared with only 10% for white women.
Additionally, less than half of black women sought treatment for their depression, as compared to almost 60% of white women. Could this be due to economic differences? Or is seeking mental health treatment more taboo among black women? The black women in America has had to be strong, in many ways, stronger than the black men; could seeking help for depression be seen as a sign of weakness? Or are mental health services inaccessible to black women?
Certainly this area is worthy of further study to identify and understand racial differences, and eliminate disparities.
Mental Health America
http://www.nmha.org/go/site-policies#content_policy
National Institute of Health. HHS
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000945.htm
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