NURSING 3PA2 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Atypical Depression, Genetic Predisposition, Major Depressive Episode
10 Apr 2018
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Document Summary
Mood disorders are disorders of emotion, including mania and depression. Depression is among the leading cause of disability worldwide, with approximately 8% of adults experiencing major depressive episodes at some time in their lives. Suicide is estimated to be the cause of death in up to 15% of individuals with major depressive disorder. The prevalence of major depression among women is double that in men. It is thought that the reason for this is that women are more apt to recognize mental health issues and go to their doctor. In research conducted by the national institute for mental health, they found that when speaking to men in focus groups, depression often becomes masked. For example, in sematic complaints, like migraines, back pain, or irritable bowel syndrome, it is therefore often not recognized as depression. The prevalence of bipolar disorder or manic depression is approximately 1% in the population at large, approximately equally distributed between men and women.
