Introduction
Depression can have various forms of manifestation, each of which has a certain level of influence on a person. Clinical depression is a complex and severe disease that negatively affects the daily lives of individuals who develop it. Treatment of this mental deviation requires the development of programs and approaches that will help reduce symptoms and allow people to live happily and productively. However, a thorough study of the disease is needed to develop these measures. Therefore, clinical depression is a complex psychological disease, the study of the causes, contributions, and consequences of which is of critical importance for determining how to treat it.
Methods
Before proceeding to the analysis and interpretation of information about clinical depression, it is necessary to determine the methods that will help to find it most effectively. Within this section, it is essential to determine that the primary research design of this research proposal will be descriptive. It can provide the most complete and clear understanding of the causes of clinical depression and its impact on individuals.
Establishing this aspect provides the possibility of finding measures and tools in the search for information to help patients suffering from this psychological problem. Research states that a “descriptive study is designed to describe the distribution of one or more variables, without regard to any causal or other hypotheses” (Aggarwal & Ranganathan, 2019, p. 34). Thus, within the framework of this work, the main variables are the symptoms of clinical depression, factors influencing its occurrence, symptoms, and demographic variables such as age, gender, and socioeconomic status. Regarding the data, the indicator will search for the necessary information.
The definition of the research design contributes to the establishment of the methodology of the scientific paper. Because this type of research is qualitative, using such a method as a literary review may be of particular value. It is a study of the existing literature on the selected topic and analyzing it to get answers to the questions posed. It is pointed out that “a literature review is an excellent way of synthesizing research findings to show evidence on a meta-level and to uncover areas in which more research is needed” (Snyder, 2019, p. 334). This method was chosen due to the absence of an observational study. However, the literary review provides an opportunity, in addition to studying academic papers, to research case studies of various patients, which is of particular value.
However, when choosing this methodology, it is necessary to consider several factors. First, it is essential to carefully study the selected sources for bias. This aspect can significantly affect the results, as it is based on a subjective attitude to the outcomes obtained.
Another factor is the level of relevance and reliability of scientific papers. To limit the occurrence of this problem, the sources for this work were selected within the last five years. Moreover, when searching for data, a search was used with keywords such as “clinical depression,” “clinical depression symptoms,” and “clinical depression causes and impact.” This step contributed to the acquisition of the necessary sources that focus on the chosen topic. The research question becomes, “What are the symptoms, demographic, and influence factors associated with clinical depression?”
Results
Of particular importance in the study of clinical depression is the consideration of demographic factors, which are age, gender, and socioeconomic status. It is stated that “women are about twice as likely as men to become depressed” (Bruce, 2021, para. 8). Another source emphasizes that distinguishing between male and female depression becomes a factor in increasing disparities. Hyde and Mezulis (2020) indicated that “depression includes genetic factors, pubertal hormones, and pubertal timing” (p. 6).
Therefore, researchers say that a significant role is played by the biological component, which does not include gender differences. Moreover, the factors influencing this aspect are exposure and the level of resistance to stress stimuli. On the other hand, the study also shows that “girls and women experience more stress than boys and men, beginning in early adolescence” (Hyde & Mezulis, 2020, p. 7). In addition, it is also essential to consider such an aspect as negative cognitive style, which affects the appearance of symptoms of clinical depression.
The study by Abrams and Mehta is valuable when considering demographic factors such as age and socioeconomic status. Researchers have shown that “the lowest education group showed the highest depressive symptoms throughout the age range, and the highest education group showed the lowest symptoms throughout” (Abrams & Mehta, 2019, p. 4). Thus, individuals who did not have an education or just graduated from high school are more inclined to have problems with their mental state than those who have university or college degrees. This is due to multiple factors, such as illiteracy, lack of awareness about psychological illnesses, income, and life satisfaction.
It is worth noting that such a factor as age is of profound importance in the development of symptoms of clinical depression. Thus, Rice et al. (2019) stated that “symptoms in adolescents are changes in appetite, weight gain, weight loss, insomnia, loss of energy and in adults are loss of interest/anhedonia and loss of concentration” (p. 178). A distinctive feature for juvenile patients is vegetative symptoms in early-onset forms of depression. Paying attention to this aspect strongly affects the methods of treatment and care. It is also worth paying attention to the fact that in adolescence, the development of depression is also affected by such a biological factor as a change in the hormonal background. This transformation in the human body can make individuals more susceptible to life events and contribute to the deterioration of their psychological state.
The last variable worth paying attention to is the relationship between socioeconomic status and the development of depressive disorder. Xue et al. (2023) emphasized that “adults living in high-income inequality counties had worse reported overall physical and mental health than adults living in low-income inequality counties” (p. 23). This fact is of interest because it focuses on how differences in wealth affect the well-being of individuals. This study also indicated that low socioeconomic status forces individuals to live in an unsatisfactory environment, which negatively affects their psychological state. This is due to the constant feeling of irritation and stress due to experiencing need and finding ways to increase this status in society. Moreover, people living below the poverty line often experience pressure and discrimination from society and discrimination in areas such as education and health.
Discussion
Regarding gender differences, it is also challenging to determine which of their gender is more prone to the development of this problem and whether there is a correlation between these indicators. Thus, a study of the literature has shown that when considering biological characteristics, there are no distinctive differences between men and women since genetic factors, pubertal hormones, and pubertal timing play an important role. In addition, the tendency to depressive disorder is caused by the cognitive side of the personality and an affective factor, such as a collision with stress at an early age. Thus, it is impossible to say for sure that such a demographic factor as gender is a direct cause of the development of clinical depression.
Quite a large part of the studies examined the correlation between age and clinical depression. It was highlighted that the symptoms of this psychological disorder differ in adults and adolescents. This factor is critical because it provides an opportunity to understand which patient care programs can be more effective at a certain age. In addition, the age factor must be taken into account when identifying the causes of depression. This is due to the fact that adults and children acquire this disease with some differences. Thus, in minors, the leading role may be occupied by physiological development, which is characterized by a change in the hormonal background. This aspect makes them particularly susceptible to various types of stress factors that can further cause depression.
Limitations in obtaining psychological assistance for people with low socioeconomic status are the most disturbing factor. In other words, due to a lack of resources, individuals do not have the opportunity to receive the necessary treatment and care, if essential, in these conditions. Due to these circumstances, most of the disorders, including clinical depression, remain untreated, which is reflected in an increase in the statistics of this disease. Despite the efforts of public and private institutions that direct their activities to provide free advisory services, the number of people with depression in this category of citizens is growing.
Another critical factor is the lack of education and awareness of the problem among people with low socioeconomic status. Individuals may have insufficient knowledge about the symptoms of depressive disorder, thereby taking this problem lightly. This is a consequence of the refusal to search for a specialist who can help in the treatment of clinical depression. In addition, due to a lack of knowledge, the phenomenon of stigmatization of this kind of mental issue can gain strength. It consists in denying the existence of depression and thereby not encouraging the provision of treatment or its acquisition. Therefore, socioeconomic status has equal seriousness and influence as well as factors such as age or gender.
Conclusion
To draw a conclusion, it is necessary to take into account the information acquired during this study. Thus, clinical depression is a fairly common disorder that can occur in individuals regardless of age or gender. Studies have shown that despite the fact that there is an opinion that women are twice as likely to have depressive disorders, factors such as genetic factors, pubertal hormones, and pubertal timing are more important. On the other hand, for women, this problem may be more relevant in cases where they experience a lot of stress in childhood. In other cases, biological and physical indicators have a significant influence on the probability of clinical depression.
Another essential factor that was considered in the framework of this research paper was age. The studied scientific literature notes that for minors, the development of clinical depression depends on vegetative symptoms in early-onset forms of depression. Furthermore, adults and adolescents have different predominant manifestations of depressive illness, but they have similar aspects that affect their appearance.
The socioeconomic status of patients is critically important when considering cases of clinical depression. Its value to researchers lies in the fact that it is reflected in the restriction of access to medical and educational resources that can limit the symptoms and consequences of the disorder. Moreover, the fact that individuals living in countries with high-income inequality countries have a low financial capacity to obtain the necessary treatment is of concern. Additionally, they are subject to much stress due to the conditions in which they live and the search for ways out of this situation.
References
Abrams, L. R., & Mehta, N. K. (2019). Changes in depressive symptoms over age among older Americans: Differences by gender, race/ethnicity, education, and birth cohort. SSM-population Health, 7. Web.
Aggarwal, R., & Ranganathan, P. (2019). Study designs: Part 2–descriptive studies. Perspectives in Clinical Research, 10(1), 34-36. Web.
Bruce, D. F. (2021). Causes of depression. WebMD. Web.
Hyde, J. S., & Mezulis, A. H. (2020). Gender differences in depression: biological, affective, cognitive, and sociocultural factors. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 28(1), 4-13. Web.
Rice, F., Riglin, L., Lomax, T., Souter, E., Potter, R., Smith, D. J.,… & Thapar, A. (2019). Adolescent and adult differences in major depression symptom profiles. Journal of Affective Disorders, 243, 175-181. Web.
Snyder, H. (2019). Literature review as a research methodology: An overview and guidelines. Journal of Business Research, 104, 333-339. Web.
Xue, Y., Lu, J., Zheng, X., Zhang, J., Lin, H., Qin, Z., & Zhang, C. (2021). The relationship between socioeconomic status and depression among the older adults: the mediating role of health promoting lifestyle. Journal of Affective Disorders, 285, 22-28. Web.