Depression: Experience with the Course Project

The course project offered an opportunity to trace people’s reaction and their attitude towards depression (major depressive disorder) through observation in settings selected previously. Depression (major depressive disorder) is one of the psychological disorders that appear to be efficiently treated and correctly addressed in modern psychology and psychiatry. This disorder was one of the most interesting topics throughout the course as it provided a sufficient number of questions to explore and gave an opportunity to observe various cases of depression in clinical and other settings.

Observations came after a thorough preparation and a subsequent analysis of places for observation to find the most appropriate one, which included public places such as a central park, several popular cafes, and public transport (subway and buses). Instead of taking pictures of strangers in the streets and the mentioned settings, it was safer, more convenient, and ethical to surf the Web in search of relevant pictures and videos that reflected conditions observed in the course of the project.

Although it was expected that individuals with major depressive disorder would look very sad opposed to other people, the distinction process did not provide any meaningful results. On the one hand, depression may appear as a condition marked by the full set of symptoms listed in the DSM guide, making individuals look frustrated, fatigued, and not finding interest in life. On the other hand, a major depressive disorder does not make a person gloomy for the entire day; it makes individuals feel sad, irritated, and angry, which may also be signs of stress. Since stress is one of the mostly spread conditions in contemporary society with people multitasking, having busy schedules, and bearing more responsibilities than they can handle, stress often comes as a signal of the future depression. At the same time, depression has a connection to biology, demonstrating the influence of hormone levels and such variables as the amount of sleep, fatigue levels, and food consumption on individuals’ depression. An exploration of depression in humans increased interest in biology, which is one of the key perspectives used to evaluate causes and treatment methods for this disorder. One of the most interesting things observed in humans was their embarrassment and feeling of guilt that arose when they were diagnosed with depression or were recommended to consult a doctor due to a set of symptoms.

Many resources found online were very helpful in developing the project, while the particularly useful ones included the official website of the Mayo Clinic (http://www.mayoclinic.org/) and videos watched on the channel of TED Talk (https://www.ted.com/talks). The website of the Mayo Clinic provided information related to a major depressive disorder, including definition, symptoms, causes, risk factors, complications, tests and diagnosis, lifestyle and home remedies, coping and support etc. The website also provided a reference so that readers could verify their compliance with “the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information” (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2015). Listing important symptoms of major depressive disorder, Mayo Clinic Staff (2015) also noted, “For many people with depression, symptoms usually are severe enough to cause noticeable problems in day-to-day activities… [while] [o]ther people may feel generally miserable or unhappy without really knowing why.” In other words, readers of the article could learn more about the condition and prepare for the appointment rather than arrive at wrong conclusions.

Since online resources are not always credible, it is essential to verify the information they provide to ensure that the audience will not be misled by false facts and fabricated evidence. Therefore, the websites of the Mayo Clinic and TED Talk provided access to many useful articles and videos that approached the topic of depression from different perspectives. The course project required a multifaceted approach to depression as a psychological disorder, applying knowledge of biological and sociological models of health to analyze causes of depression and treatment methods. When individuals feel sad, they often fail to see a counselor to receive help, misunderstanding causes and consequences of their fatigue, tiredness, and irritation.

To conclude, the course project was of great value for the future career, offering necessary experience. At the same time, an exploration of depression increased an understanding of psychological disorders that may occur with a full range of symptoms or with a few, which makes it difficult to diagnose. Nevertheless, useful resources provided necessary information from a perspective that would be comprehensible to people regardless of their background knowledge.