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Womens Mental Health Disorder: Major Depression
Introduction
Mental health disorders severely influence individuals lives in multiple aspects, often making them incapable of completing daily tasks and communicating with others. Major depression (MD) is the most common deviation and, in 2020, it was experienced by more than 21 million adults in the United States (National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 2022). MD development is prevalent among women due to a more complicated hormonal system; thus, screening and treatment practices must consider various factors (Labaka et al., 2018). This mental health disorder paper aims to explore major depression, its symptoms, assessment, and intervention strategies appropriate for women.
Major Depression Explanation
Major depression among women is generally characterized by mood swings and behavioral changes, such as apathy, sleep problems, and weight changes. Other physical symptoms are issues with memory, aches, and decreased libido; mental signals of MD are thoughts of self-harm or suicide, anxiety, and loss of interest in daily activities (NIMH, 2022). Women experience intense hormonal changes during puberty, menstrual cycles, pregnancy, postpartum, and menopause, increasing the risk of depression (Labaka et al., 2018). In addition, external circumstances significantly impact female mental health, and work overload, conflicts in relationships, abuse, and life in insecure conditions might influence the disorders development. For instance, lack of family support, anxiety as a new parent, and lack of self-care time combined with hormonal fluctuations might result in MD even with no disease history.
Major depression occurs and develops in women regardless of ethnicity or cultural background, at different age stages, and in various settings. Although there is no direct relation between race or ethnicity and MD, minority group representatives, such as African Americans, experience more social pressure, which increases the risks of severe deviations (Rentala et al., 2019). Adolescents and adults are at the highest risk of MD, and the work or school environment enforces the symptoms as an affected person becomes less communicative and has an unstable mood. Indeed, female students involved in deviant behaviors such as drug use or conflicts are diagnosed with MD, while at the workplace, such individuals fail to complete their basic tasks (Rentala et al., 2019). When diagnosed with the disease, women experience difficulties with self-esteem, self-realization, communication, and building relationships. Furthermore, if the symptoms were not noticed and timely addressed by appropriate treatment, an affected person could start perceiving life as meaningless, refusing to fulfill their social role.
Assessment
Major depression assessment requires complex screening and tests because the common symptoms match other mental disorders, and treatments effectiveness depends on the accuracy of diagnosis. Such tools as Patient Health Questionnaires (PHQ) and Depression Scales are proven successful for MD identification, and practitioners must consider criteria from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders for evaluation (Maurer et al., 2018). Then, the assessment must include interviewing to encounter risk factors, namely family history, abuse experience, substance use, disabilities, and emotional traumas. Research demonstrated that communication-based screening is more reliable as physical symptoms of MD are the outcomes of mental switches (Sun et al., 2020). A practitioner should also consider tests for epilepsy, cerebrovascular disease, and chronic heart, kidney, stomach, and liver disorders because they affect the severity of depression. For postpartum conditions, it is crucial to perform Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale to provide a woman with timely treatment (Maurer et al., 2018). The severity of physical symptoms and patient recognition and acknowledgment of their disease must be considered for potential interventions as these factors influence the duration and intensity of therapy.
Tracking progress throughout treatment by follow-ups and re-assessment is necessary for helping women decrease the influent of MD on their well-being. Indeed, research results demonstrated that PHQs and interviews must be completed yearly for individuals with a history of MD and in accordance with the medication or therapy course for current patients (Sun et al., 2020). For instance, hormonal medication treatment requires frequent check-ups for dosage adjustment and addressing side effects. Physical examinations, such as body weight measurement, memory tests, and chronic condition evaluations, must be included in every follow-up appointment. In addition, telemedicine integration into treatment practices made remote check-ups possible and beneficial for women with unstable mental conditions.
Intervention
Major depression interventions are based on psychotherapy and medication courses and require physician supervision and the patients willingness to overcome the disease. When the treatment is successful, visible differences in behavior, communication are demonstrated, and individuals with MD feel in control of their mental and physical conditions (Sockol, 2018). Women are commonly affected by the disorder due to hormonal abnormalities; thus, therapeutic strategies that include endocrine system regulation are most useful (Dwyer et al., 2020). Pharmacological interventions are successful in helping women combat MD, and the main benefit of the medication treatment is the quick positive change. The drawback is that the endocrine system is sophisticated and might refuse to react correctly, provoking side effects such as weight gain or severe mood swings. Dwyer et al. (2020) claim that Hormone receptors are distributed throughout the CNS, often within brain circuitry related to emotion and cognition, and hormones actions there are independent of their traditionally described endocrine roles (p. 702). Indeed, although current research supports medication use for MD treatment for women, the intervention must be performed carefully and under a physicians supervision.
Pharmacological interventions might be excluded when a patient is capable of self-regulation and is not at risk of worsening conditions. In such cases, psychotherapy is the appropriate treatment for women with MD, as communication and behavioral therapy have proven successful. Research supports the intervention because it has long-term benefits and enables patients to obtain self-management approaches and learn prevention practices (Sockol, 2018). However, the disadvantage of psychotherapy is that individuals impacted by the disease might experience difficulties communicating or demonstrating their state and emotions, worsening treatment outcomes (Sockol, 2018). The intervention requires continuous motivation and involvement from the patient, and maintaining such a willingness might be challenging for women overwhelmed by life events.
While pharmacological and psychotherapy interventions are the most appropriate, holistic treatment strategies exist and require additional research and professional approval. The therapy includes spiritual practices and applies a healing context to basic aspects such as physical activity and healthy balanced nutrition (Rentala et al., 2019). The benefit of holistic strategies is that they help women with MD to feel and understand themselves better, while the drawback is the lack of approval from physicians and depression research.
Conclusion
Major depression is one of the most common mental disorders, and women are at the highest risk of developing it. Consequently, symptoms, such as changes in appetite, sleep patterns, moods, and thoughts, must be timely noticed and addressed. There is no direct relation between the risk of MD and a womans race and cultural background, yet adolescents and adults are commonly affected by the disease. Current assessment strategies include physical examination, questionnaires, and depression scales based on evaluation standards necessary for practitioners to perform differentiation diagnosis correctly. Interventions, such as pharmacological treatment and psychotherapy, are proven successful in treating and managing major depression in women. The approaches require patients motivation and physicians supervision to achieve sustainable, long-lasting results and decrease the risks of relapsing triggered by external factors.
References
Dwyer, J. B., Aftab, A., Radhakrishnan, R., Widge, A., Rodriguez, C. I., Carpenter, L. L., & APA Council of Research Task Force on Novel Biomarkers and Treatments. (2020). Hormonal treatments for major depressive disorder: State of the art. American Journal of Psychiatry, 177(8), 686-705. Web.
Labaka, A., Goni-Balentziaga, O., Lebeña, A., & Perez-Tejada, J. (2018). Biological sex differences in depression: A systematic review. Biological Research for Nursing, 20(4), 383-392. Web.
Maurer, D. M., Raymond, T. J., & Davis, B. N. (2018). Depression: Screening and diagnosis. American Family Physician, 98(8), 508-515. Web.
National Institute of Mental Health. (2022). Major depression. Web.
Rentala, S., Lau, B. H. P., Aladakatti, R., & Thimmajja, S. G. (2019). Effectiveness of holistic group health promotion program on educational stress, anxiety, and depression among adolescent girlsA pilot study. Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care, 8(3), 1082. Web.
Sockol, L. E. (2018). A systematic review and meta-analysis of interpersonal psychotherapy for perinatal women. Journal of Affective Disorders, 232, 316-328. Web.
Sun, Y., Fu, Z., Bo, Q., Mao, Z., Ma, X., & Wang, C. (2020). The reliability and validity of PHQ-9 in patients with major depressive disorder in psychiatric hospital. BMC Psychiatry, 20(1), 1-7. Web.
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