MEMORANDUM

TO:

Dr. Rudd Mysti LeeAnn

DATE:

May 31, 2016

FROM:

Omar Ijaz

SUBJECT:

Case Study Proposal: Is Depression Incurable?

Introduction
People often say that depression is not a real health condition. They say that it is just in your
head and you can get rid of it by pulling yourself together. They are completely wrong.
Depression is, in fact, a very real and serious health issue. Depression is not only the cause of
severe emotional pain, it causes physical pain as well. My mother has had depression for almost
25 years now, she started experience the symptoms of depression at the age of 22. Whenever she
would be in pain and complain that there is something wrong with her, she was either told by her
friends and parents to snap out of it or that there is no treatment for this disease. The symptoms
worsened with time and because she did not receive proper medical attention, depression had
become perhaps the biggest part of her life by the age of 30.
The purpose of this memo is to get approval of my case study on depression. The following
sections of the memo broadly include a brief explanation of what depression actually is, what can
make its victims feel better, the methodology I intend to use in studying it, and a Gant Chart
showing a tentative timeline of the project. The objective of this study is to make people aware
of the fact that it is everyones responsibility to aid their friends and family in combating
depression, and find an engineering alternate to the current treatment of depression.

Background
Everyone feels sad or low from time to time, it is considered normal, but if a person has been
experiencing intense sadness for weeks, months, or years they have depression. Despite the
extensive research on brain activity, it can still not be said with absolute certainty of what causes
depression. Previously people believed that a tragic event such as the death of a family member
or a lover would cause depression. Recently it has been shown that this is not the case. It is when
these tragic events keep recurring in a persons life, such as long term unemployment, uncaring
relationships, or isolation that trigger the symptoms of this condition.
There is an annual growth of 20% in the number of people diagnosed with depression, even more
worrying is the fact that 80% of the people who are depressed receive little to no medical care. It
is therefore imperative that people be made more aware and that alternate solutions be found to
treat the patients.

Methodology
In this study I intend to use scholarly articles to gather information on the rates of depression
with respect to the age range, gender, and suicide rate. To get the most up to date knowledge I
will contact or visit several doctors who deal specifically with depressed people. To familiarize
myself even more with the causes, symptoms, and effects of depression, I will interview my
mother.
The scholarly articles will be searched for using the online Texas A&M library and to ensure the
reliability of the data, I will search for articles written by specialist and researchers in this field.
My mothers doctor will also be contacted to provide a better insight on her illness and perhaps
give me a feedback on her improvement over the years. Questions that may be included in the
interview are as follows:

Timeline

How old were you when you first experienced the symptoms of Depression?
How long did you go without proper medical attention?
Is clinical treatment helpful in your case?
What is the duration of your treatment?
How often did you used to feel down/irritated/frustrated prior to the treatment?
How often do you feel down/irritated/frustrated after the treatment?
What, besides medicine, makes you feel better when you feel depressed?