by Thom W. Conroy

Created on: July 19, 2009

In past generations of the medical community, the thoughts and views of depression were that of a temporary condition that passed with time and medication. Individuals with lingering long-term symptoms were considered mentally ill with little hope of recovery to a normal and productive life, and were treated as "broken people". With further study into the understanding of depressive states, it is generally now universally accepted within modern medicine that depression is a true medical condition, and it is treated with the respect deserving of any other debilitating illness. Due to advancements in mental health therapies and medications, in most instances individuals suffering the effects of depression can return to a normal and productive life after diagnosis and abbreviated hospitalizations.

Depression is very much a real medical condition, in that many instances of depressed behavior are attributable to a chemical imbalance in the brain. With pharmaceutical intervention, the depressed individual is enabled to have near perfect brain function, although the root of the depressive episode may have underlying psychological origins requiring therapy. In any instance, the goal of the health care provider is to return the patient to the community armed with the tools and coping skills to overcome future depressive episodes with a minimum of medical assistance. Only in the most severe cases are patients suffering from depression hospitalized for long durations or heavily medicated.

The medical issues associated with depression can be devastating and crippling in nature, ranging from eating disorders to insomnia, and from social and compulsive disorders to suicidal acts and other self-injuring behaviors. Poor diet and nutrition attributed to bouts of depression can result in any number of serious health issues, as a depressed individual's general apathy affects every aspect of daily life. Many individuals battling depression also have issues with drugs and alcohol, and the impact of addiction only magnifies the frequency and depth of depressive episodes. Personal relationships erode, family units disintegrate, and the support system of the depressed person disappears as they slide further into the darkness that disallows normalcy.

Those who question the validity of depression as a real medical condition most likely require an informal education on the destructive nature of the illness, and how an otherwise healthy and intelligent person can be severely handicapped by a very real health issue. It would be a fair assumption that until an individual has a personal encounter in some manner with depression, it is quite difficult to comprehend the scope and depth of the medical condition.

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