Depression as a problem. Health, Medicine & Nurcing Research Paper

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Depression
Depression is also known as major depressive disorder or clinical depression. It is a mental health issue which DSM-5 characterizes with persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness and lose interest in activities they once enjoyed. Depression is a ballooning health problem for most countries around the world. More people are diagnosed with depression than ever before. Psychologist, sociologist have pegged the trend of the issue on a myriad of factors. While there have been more treatment options for depression, the problem has persisted and has continued to grow. These figures point to a huge problem ingrained in society. To help reverse depression trends, depression and mental health need to be declared a national emergency.
According to WHO, people born after 1945 are 10 times more likely to have depression CITATION Jul18 \l 1033 (Jowit). Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the united states. In 2015 alone, suicide and self-injury cost about $69 billion CITATION Ame18 \l 1033 (American Foundation for Suicide Prevention). To completely eradicate this problem that is claiming more than 129 lives in a day through suicide according to 2017 suicide statistics. In the same year, there were about 1,400,000 suicide attempts CITATION Ame18 \l 1033 (American Foundation for Suicide Prevention). By contrast, mass shooting which has been a divisive issue in America has claimed 1276 lives CITATION Eve19 \l 1033 (Every Town for Gun Safety) in the last one decade while suicides claimed over 47000 lives CITATION Ame18 \l 1033 (American Foundation for Suicide Prevention). Though most mass shootings are perpetrated by people who had depression, they also show that depression is a killer which needs to be urgently addressed. Suicides claimed more lives than road accidents and mass shootings combined. Suicide numbers were also higher than gun-related deaths in the same year. While suicide is not the only indicator of depression, it helps show ugly side of one facet of suicide. Thus, it is only reasonable that the government declares this issue a national disaster and channel more resources to fighting the problem.
Veteran politicians and celebrities like Obama and renowned movie start like Dwayne Johnson to great musicians like Paul McCartney have all called for more measures to fight depression. Therefore, declaring depression a national disaster will echo the advice of many experts that the condition needs to be prevented rather than treated. Resources need to be channelled into reducing bullying, improving work-life balance, teaching mental health in schools etc. These celebrities and other psychologists have either struggled with depression or lost people to the same either through suicide or getting hooked to drugs. It is a complex issue that experts in the field have pointed ...