Perception of Depression amongst North American and African Cultures Essay

Depression or unipolar impression is a nonher name for Major Depressive disorder. It is a mood disorder characterized by depress mood, it oftentimes manifests in lack of inte succor in family, drill and social life, changes in eating and sleeping habits, emotional and health check cut back for the self, difficulty in concentrating, and loss of interest in life (Rush, 2007). well(p) same(p) any other pathological disease, it has risk factors, signs and symptoms, and a inwrought course. Like any other disease it cornerstone be hard-boiled with proper medical and psychological therapy. Yet it is non savvyd as such(prenominal) by the community. There is remarkable lack of awargonness and more or less printing in the communities, in spite of the staggering statistics virtu completelyy the disorder. Unipolar manpowertal picture affects 7-18% of the American state at least once out front the epoch of 40 (Kassler, McGonagle & Zhao, 1994). In the United States al unriva lled, the number of females be in figure of speech to be suffering from clinical opinion (Murray, 1997). It has also been observed that 2.5 portion of children and 8.3 percent of adolescents are cast down at any given time. These evaluate are subscribeably higher than the figure of the past decades (Depression Statistics Information, Internet). Yet, it has been found that exactly 20 percent of depressed mass undergo medical intervention (Depression Statistics Information).This is caused by numerous reasons with ignorance or lack of concern and sensory faculty around the disorder considered as the biggest suspect. In fact, a United States surgeon worldwide report in the Hispanic community states that less than 10 percent of the mentally ill people get out ever approach a mental clinic (U.S. surgical incision of health, 2000). This is possibly the result of lack of concern on their part, or due to the fact that in the Hispanic communitys, non-medical methods of manipu lation for the depressed. It is imperative that we key out whether other communities also show a comparable of lack of awareness and concern approximately imprint. amicable intelligence & medicine attempts to find cultural differences in the conceptual models of first gear by an inter meeted with northeastward American immigrants and African Americans (Karasz, 2005) . His study demonstrated that Americans were more of the view that depression was a pathological disease of the body just the like any other disease and begd medical therapy. According to the author, the people from the African community were more probably to explain depression in terms of a social and moral enigmas and conformed to the belief that self counseling was the right instruction to deal with the issue of depression. Different communities feature dissimilar perceptions about the disease, people of certain cultures prefer going to spiritual healers quite a than look medical attention (Nayem, 20 05). Some cultures prefer to treat this charge with alternative therapies to allopathic ones. Depression, though a serious and debilitating disease, does not command the same attention as other medical disorders like heart disease, Parkinsons disease, or even obesity.According to Pasacreta (2008) there has been slim attention given to depression and its consequences when we compare it with other diseases. For example obesity has been associated with diabetes more times. Even though depression also has a similar association with type II diabetes, not many people are aware of this fact. Since public concern is lacking in communities, many depressed people fail to come forward, and receive proper treatment. If this trend continues preponderance of depression leave behind continue to rise. Though the attitudes of different cultures may veer toward the disease, it does not change the fact that depression poses enormous costs for individual, family, and the orderliness (Nayem F, 200 5). Depression is a severe disease with far reaching effects, start from the patient, who may inflict self harm, leading to a family life, which cannot function in the same way as before (Scott, 2003). There has been research demonstrating depression as a burrden to people, communities, and health services as the treatment is capacious term and the patient has little or no productivity to corporation (Nayem, 2005). This research further highlights the need to conduct a survey to survey the perception of depression across various cultures. People are oblivious(predicate) of the magnitude of the problem and its scotch implications. In certain cultures, inability to key the disease or disregard of its seriousness lead to delayed medical opinion and treatment. Through this study, we result try to bear the various levels of awareness that different cultures hasten about the disease.The severity of depression usually gets exasperate if it is not treated promptly after diagnosis . This leads to a greater centre on the country. Scott (2003) echoed this sentiment when he stated In the National Health Service the cost of treating depression (887 million) exceeds the cost of treating both hypertension (439 million) and diabetes (ccc million). However, here, the direct health care costs are dwarfed by the substantiating costs (i.e. days lost from work owing to depression exceed all other disorders and the economic burden on family members and society is considerable). North American and African cultures both differ in there perceptions about depression as a disease. Different cultures may feel that depression is a problem but western sandwich cultures are more likely to view it as a disease which needs medical therapy just like any other, whereas the people from the non western culture will perceive depression as more of a social and moral problem which requires self-management. There will generally be a lack of friendship about depression as a disease in the non western community. The false beliefs and stigmas will be more present in non western cultures as compared to their western counterparts. How widespread is serious depression? According to Dr. Nathan S. Kline of the new-fashioned York State Department of psychogenic Hygiene, it has been estimated that 15 per cent of the adult population of the United States has roughly degree of depression which is serious enough to be in need of treatment. This amounts to about 20 million people, which makes it not save the most frequent psychological disorder but also one of the most common of all serious medical conditions. Depression is so widespread that it has been crabed the common cold of mental disturbances. Studies report that women outstrip men in suffering from depression by a ratio of about 2 to 1, though some claim that this is because women are more unforced to admit that they are depressed. Depression afflicts all races and every social and economic level. While the mala dy is most common between the ages of sixty and seventy, it strikes all age groups and has been rising among persons in their twenties. Why do so many millions of persons suffer from depression? Much study has gone into uncovering the ensconce causes of mental depression. Flaws in human society constitute one important source of the problem. Illustrating an aspect of this are comments by Dr. John Schwab, of the University of Florida College of Medicine Were in an era of change right now. Old values such as the old work ethic are be rejected and people are caught in an ideological vacuum. Kids see that the fruits of four carbon years of scientific progress may be more acidic than sweetbut they dont know what to put in its place, and consequently there is a sense of futility. Because of this, many disillusioned youngsters seek escape through drugs and other means. The search for highs among the young, observes Dr. Schwab, is often only a flight from the lows. Also contributing to the rise in depression is supermobility. Families that obligate changing their places of residence, hopping about from house to house and city to city, do not stay in one place long enough to make solid relationships with other people. A psychiatrist at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center wrote Psychiatrists around Boston have been aware for some time of what is called the Route 128 syndrome or in Florida the Cape Kennedy syndrome. It is found in young families who have moved too much, and its components are a preserve too centered in his career, a depressed wife and turbulent children. Sometimes depression results when a person reaches a plateau in his life after many years of painstaking labor. A hard-driving avocation executive may finally achieve the top position in his company, only to realize that he no longer has a death in life. Housewives in their forties and fifties often suffer from what psychiatrists call empty nest syndrome. By this time their children usually have magnanimous up, their husbands are at work for most of each day and they moldiness face lonely hours in houses devoid of people. What about the feelings of inferiority that often accompany depression? Here too the responsibility may rest with human society. How so? Because it is often at a tender age that children are made to feel unattractive. Their peers may ridicule them if they are unable to do what the majority consider the in thing. If a youngster tends to be clumsy and uncoordinated, schoolmates and playmates can influence the child to believe that he cant do anything right. Children of this type often combine the generalization I am weak, with the value judgment Its disgusting to be weak. such youths are likely candidates for depression.MethodParticipants Approximately 40 students (20 western, 20 international) students from a Midwest liberal arts college will participate in this study. every(prenominal) of them would be selected using randomized sampling. Particip ants will be offered candy for the climax of the survey.Materials The survey questionnaire will consist of questions related to assessment of knowledge and attitudes towards depression and a demographic data form. The survey forms will contain unappealing ended questions only. It will consist of 3 parts. The first section will consist of demographic questions to gather information about the participants How long have they lived here. Have they adopted the western culture of living or not. The wink part will consist of closed questions. The participants will have to take on from the given options in the questionnaires. There will be questions that ask whether they consider depression to be a serious disease.Whether they believe it is a disease of the mind, body, or mind and body. Questions related to stigma would also be include for example do they believe mentally ill people are more aggressive than others? Do they believe mental illnesses are not as severe as physical ones? Do t hey believe depressed people can be cured with drugs only, or do they require social and community help? Moreover, to support the validation of the results of the survey, the review of publications to be utilized within the research shall show a item scale of measure that is used by psychologists to identify the behavior of populace with regards to depression from different cultures all over the world.Procedure It is imperative to find out exactly how different cultures perceive depression as a disease. The researcher plans on conducting this research. This research will deal with the perception of depression as a disease amongst western and non western cultures. The research will also look into the level of awareness in different cultures about the prevalence of disease in their societies. This research will try to substantiate if the perception of depression varies with different cultures. To complete the said aim, the research will be conducted on campus. Participants will be debriefed on the study being researched. The researcher would then have the participants sign a consent form before they participate in the study. After which, a survey fit out would then be handed out to them and they would be given terzetto days to return them back.Data analysisA one way ANOVA would be conducted to analyze the data. Since we have two independent examine populations and more than two variables. This will allow for the comparison of attitudes about depression for members of Western and non-Western cultures. Using the ANOVA we can calculate whether the stated answers have associations with either the western or non western societies. 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