Historical and Societal Perspective of Depression

Depression
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Historical and Societal Perspective of depression
Depression has always been a mental health problem for humanity. Throughout recorded history, there are documents that prove the existence of depression. The documents describe different diagnoses and many ways to treat it. Depression was initially called melancholia, and it thought to be the individual was taken over by demons (possessed). The historical understanding of depression was that depression was a spiritual or mental illness rather than a physical one CITATION Nem \l 1033 (Nemade, n.d.). They were treated by exorcists and priests who used different techniques, such as beatings, restraint, and starvation, to drive demons out of the afflicted person's body. As societies and medicine developed, the understanding of the condition also developed. In ancient Rome and Greek empires, depression was both a biological and psychological disease. Hippocrates believed it was caused by an imbalance of the body fluids, specifically black bile in the spleen CITATION Rob17 \l 1033 (DeRubeis & Strunk, 2017).
In contrast, Persian physicians such as Rhazes (865-925) considered depression a mental illness and used hydrotherapy and early forms of behavioral therapy to treat his patients CITATION HSt18 \l 1033 (Moffic, Peteet, Hankir, & Awaad, 2018). In 1621, Robert Burton published Anatomy of Melancholy, which described psychological and social causes of depression CITATION Cha17 \l 1033 (Foster & Herring, 2017). He recommended diet, exercise, travel, purgatives, bloodletting, herbal remedies, marriage, and musical therapy as a treatment for depression. In the 18th and 19th centuries in Europe, depression was thought to be inherited and led to eugenic methods of cleansing the society CITATION Nem \l 1033 (Nemade, n.d.). Throughout history, depression was not fully understood, and it was not until the 20th century when it was considered a mental illness. However, it is important to note that some societies still consider depression to be caused by demons and still use unscientific and inhumane techniques to drive out the demons.
Incidence and Prevalence
An estimated 17.3 million adults in the United States had at least one major depressive episode (MDE). This number represented 7.1% of all U.S. adultsCITATION Nat19 \l 1033 (National Insitute of Mental Health, 2019). National Institute of Mental Health also reports that the prevalence of MDE was highest among individuals aged 18-25, and females were more likely to have MDE than men. Depression often leads to death by suicide, which has been on the increase. According to the CDC, from 1999 through 2014, the age-adjusted suicide rate in the United States increased 24%, from 10.5 to 1...