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Ariana Adkins

Mrs. Graue

English Composition II

21 March 2019

Depression: Choice or Disorder?

There once was a kid, many of kids, of all ages. These kids suffered from depression. Out

of these kids one chose to end his life because of the flooded emotions that filled his mind. The

others were lucky enough to have the ability to seek help. Depression is the step before a kid,

maybe even an adult battles with either being rescued or killing themselves because of the

suicidal thoughts that can occur with depression. I chose this topic of depression because I

myself have either experienced or knows someone who may have experienced it too. Many

people lose their lives because of the unhappiness they have experienced and because of the

emotions that leads up to ‘depression’. Where does depression come from though? It is hard to

tell because of the misconceptions of how depression occurs and whether someone really has

depression. Many people who use the word depressed or depression mostly use it as a way to

explain that they way the feel really is them feeling sad or alone but are they really depressed?

Today, many debate whether or not if depression is a choice but the only part of depression that

is a choice is what one decides to do with their life in this battle with depression because if they

do not this condition can and will progress into a much greater mood disorder that can lead one

into contemplating about suicide.

Depression affects 300 millions of people in the United States and only 39 percent seek

for help. This means that the other 69 percent are left to suffer with their mental disorder/mood

disorder. This disorder can alter how one thinks and feels and behaves. With this being said their
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is one out of five things to know about depression. This disorder can “...affect anyone.

Depression can affect people of any age, ethnicity, or social position in any geographic location”

(Depression is Not a Choice). This is a very common mood disorder that may not have a cause

but it can occur at any point. The biggest commodities of depression to note is that “...Some who

suffer from depression attempt to alleviate their symptoms by self-medicating” and, “may turn to

alcohol, drugs, sex, or other dangerous behaviors to help them cope with their thoughts and

feelings” (Depression is Not a Choice). When having depression, it may feel like a curse, it may

feel like being trapped between a four walls that are coming closer by each step, but depression

is one of the disorders that cannot be fixed in a second. Depression takes time, depression can

only be fixed naturally considering that this is a natural cause in the human body because of an

improper balance. This does not mean there is something wrong with that person, this just means

that life as one knows it is not the same as the next person. The answer is not to self-destruct but

to deal with what has come and this is the only way to move closer to rid themselves of

depression.

In today’s generation, everyone is “depressed”. This generation just makes it even harder

to understand whether or not depression is a choice or not because they choose to say that they

are depressed by misdiagnosing themselves because they are sad are exhausted. Some may

actually have depression but may not even know it themselves because of how today's generation

is set up. Teenagers even kid around by saying they want to die just because they are tired of

having to wake up and do whatever they may be doing. Some may just have to go to school and

that might feel like too much because they do not want too. Identifying whether or not one

suffers from depression has become very tricky because mostly everyone says that they are

depressed and they just might be or they are just internally tired and need a break. However,
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“whether depression is felt mildly or acutely, temporarily or persistently, it strikes just about

everyone at some point. Drs. Minirth and Meier believe, however, that the emotional pain of

depression can be overcome and avoided” (Minirth). The littlest of commodities can add to ones

misery of depression because depression like what was stated previously has no cause and it just

happens. One could be walking and then the next moment they are feeling alone and scared

because they have no clue what to do with their life or they are crying because they have no clue

why they feel the way they do and they want it all to stop. Depression is not a joking matter as

what teens may take it as, and neither is suicide. Depression is strong, it is so strong that it can

control one's body in the matter of seconds for no reason just to destroy ones life. Nobody wants

to be stuck remembering bad memories every time depression decides to rush over their body.

Memories have strong effects that can be overwhelming and then this can be the reason why

depression targets them because it can manifest that pain so that one just wants to get rid of their

lives.

Many people who suffer from depression also suffer from suicidal thoughts. These

thoughts can cause one to use substance abuse or to even physically harm themselves. When

saying physical this is referred to as self-harm such as cutting, or any attempt possible to kill

themselves. Cutting is one of the biggest factors that are from suicidal thoughts that allows a

person to somewhat deal the pain that others have dealt to them. Approximately, “two-thirds of

patients with depression experience physical pain symptoms...Coexisting pain complicates the

treatment of depression and is associated with worse depression outcomes” (Treating the

Physical Symptoms of Depression With Second-Generation Antidepressants). Pain as one should

know is one of the biggest factors that depression feeds on thus making it hard to treat without

having a reason too. Meaning that if one keeps experiencing pain it will be almost impossible for
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them to rid their depression because they keep experiencing pain or traumatic experience that is

magnified because of their mental disorder of depression. When feeling pain it is similar to the

factor that depression has that it can occur at any time. Pain can occur at any time, one can be

listening to a song, walking down the street, looking at a picture of a loved one that died,

anything. This is what makes depression and pain hard to control because once it keeps going

and once it feels like that is all that is being experienced it gets overwhelming. It gets to be too

much, and then that is when people take matters into their own hands. One could not possibly

want to feel how they feel because they decided to take their life so they could be freed. This is

what makes depression and pain seem so scary. One never knows who around them suffers from

this condition, from these thoughts, and from these actions. Depression is scary, it is even scarier

when a loved one has it and they are no longer here, it hurts, and it destroys. For this depression

must be acknowledged as a disorder and it must be stopped before many of lives are lost.

Where does depression originate? Depression is caused by biochemical changes and the

nerve cells are the main conductor of one's mood. These responses however are different for

every person. Since this is considered as a mood disorder this is also considered to take place in

the limbic system. It is something in the brain that is the emotional center, that is the limbic

system. This of course is the powerhouse of why many people the way they do. This system is

considered to control the sense of appetite, well-being, sex drive, and aggression.With this

“depression has been associated with impaired neural processing of reward and punishment”

(Depressive Patients Are More Impulsive and Inconsistent in Intertemporal Choice Behavior for

Monetary Gain and Loss than Healthy Subjects). Therefore some say that the limbic system is

the origin for where neurotransmitters are imbalanced. Which in this case, is what leads

depression to form. It has been shown that there are many different images that shows the
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differences in the brain. In these images one will see that in the center of the brain this nucleus

controls the non motor functions such as response control of action. If one thinks about it, this

makes total sense because if this is controlled by the response to action this is why depression is

linked up with the limbic system because depression is manifested by pain which occurs

physically or mentally and this is what causes the brain to respond in such a way. This is why

depression is a mental disorder because this disorder is because of the imbalance in

neurotransmitters. If there's an imbalance the limbic system then decides what to do from there

and that is how ones brain reacts the way it does, whether one has depression or any other mood

disorders such as being bipolar or even having anxiety.

Since this disorder controls people's actions that makes this a risky disorder that can be

quite dangerous if not taken care of. Most people who suffer from depression also suffer from

substance abuse and abuse that should not be used in order to cope with depression. Earlier a list

was stated and of course on the list is alcohol, drugs, and sex. These are the three topics that

should not be used in order to cope with anything as well as depression. Many “studies of

depression effects on decision-making have used tasks in which a particularly more or less

predictable answer is available, called externally guided decision-making” (Relation between

Choice-Induced Preference Change and Depression). Decision-making could be a little less

reliable when having depression because all one is thinking about at that moment is how to get

rid of the feelings they feel, how to get rid of the memories they are having, how to get rid of the

void that they feel trapped inside because of depression. It is even harder when they feel like they

can not stop it as well because they want to be in control of their emotions but they can not. This

is why people go to drugs and alcohol because the substance helps them rub the pressure off of

what they are feeling and nobody then knows what they will do after that, that is the scary part of
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that. Even when one has sex they still have to battle the fact that they can get hurt because of

that, somebody could rape them, somebody could have aids, and somebody could plan on giving

them a baby and all of this just gives more effect with their depression.

Depression is so tricky because medicine is not guaranteed to help with depression so

how does one go about getting rid of depression? Are they stuck with depression forever?

Honestly, everyone might be stuck with depression forever because one may never know what

causes that neuro imbalance and one may never know when they might be struck by depression

because there is no cause to depression is just happens. This is why “the objective of this study is

to develop the Depression Medication Choice decision aid for use during primary care

encounters, and to test its efficacy by conducting a clustered practical randomized trial

comparing the decision aid to usual depression care in primary care practices” (Translating

Comparative Effectiveness of Depression Medications into Practice by Comparing the

Depression Medication Choice Decision Aid to Usual Care: Study Protocol for a Randomized

Controlled Trial). There must be a stop depression and this is going to happen with trial and

error. Even with this method to find a cure for depression there is no guarantees that it will work

and it seems even riskier because what if the test cure happens to push people even further into

depression and speeds up how much it occurs just like how seizures occur with flashing,

obsessive staring at video games or anything. This would be a serious danger because who is to

know how these will affect each person because everybody is different and what methods that

may work for one person may or may not work for the other person. This is why depression is

very scary because this mental disorder can just happen in the blink of an eye and may or may

never have a cure. How is one to deal with that? No one knows.
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From people who have actually experienced depression they may tell you that they have

no clue why it happens. They may tell you it just happens. They may tell you that whatever and

however it happens needs to stop. People can only accept so much until it drives you crazy and

this is why depression is so strong because it pushes you to your limits to see what you do. It is

just there. Some may say, “I want so much for simple things, wellness, happiness, family

togetherness. I wish I could answer why this is happening. Sometimes I really and truly feel like

I'm going crazy. And why when I am so surrounded with love do I feel so alone? And right now

no one can say that I haven't tried.” (Depression: Out of the Shadows) This is why depression is

so strong, this is why many people must know the real of depression. This is why depression has

to be learned throughout the world because depression is the reason why many feel the way they

do and why many people are gone today because of depression. Also, “Depression is an illness

of loneliness. And the primary experience is the feeling of being isolated, of being alone, of

being cut off from everyone and everything.” (Depression: Out of the Shadows) This form of

depression, with this being a illness or loneliness may be one of the most common feelings that

many people could agree to. Many people who experience this may have some people around

them but still feel alone because that is just how depression acts. Depression does not care who is

around it just does what it was made to do and that is to make one feel. The way one copes is

how their depression will carry on. Depression still may be there but at least you could try to rid

yourself from it by doing anything helpful to yourself. For example, finding the good things

about life, finding joy in the people around you. By doing anything that could bring a smile to

your face, a laugh in your presence, anything that could lighten the dark path you walk down.

Depression does not get to beat you as long as you continue to fight it the right way. You can
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find that way out of the disorder, because disorders can help you control your own life as well as

it destroy it if you let it.

This is how people who are depressed may pretend to act.

“Depression is Not a Choice it's an Illness”. Adrien Bronner, 20 March 2017,

http://picdeer.com/tag/adrienbronner. Accessed 25 March 2019.

People who are depressed may try to hide their feelings because society today either

jokes about depression or makes them feel as if they are just choosing to be sad because they

want attention. In some cases people actually do pretend to have something wrong with them,

but others really do not. Others really struggle to “be happy” because they do not know how.

Other times if they do know how to be happy they just can not because of how depression works.

Anything can set their depression off at any moment and they have no choice but to deal with it.

The picture above just proves this idea because this is how people act and this is how people hide

their feelings because of society or because they just do not want to admit that they feel the way

they do.
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An analogy for depression.

“Interestingly a Perfect Analogy For Depression”. SLAYMYBOREDOM, 21 May 2013,

https://slaymyboredom.wordpress.com/2013/05/21/interestingly-a-perfect-analogy-for-

depression/. Accessed 25 March 2019.

Depression. People deal with depression differently. People also feel differently with

depression depending on their own bodies and emotions. Some deal with it through inflicting

abuse to themselves. Others cry it out or fake their emotions because that is what is easier for

people who suffer from depression. Nowadays, everyone is “depressed” but are not really

“depressed” but the way the analogy describes depression is the way many people can say they

feel. Depression knocks people down at any moment and if you try to fix it, it feels almost

impossible because nobody really knows how to fix depression. Maybe instead, people can come

up with some way in order to fix the imbalance of neurons that it will allow people to get rid of

depression permanently so it can not destroy people’s lives.

Depression is where your mind controls how you feel, the chemical imbalance is what

takes over your mood and your reaction to your actions. Depression can pop up anywhere at

anytime. The way you react will explain how further your depression goes on for. Now there is
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no real way to rid yourself from depression but there are way to temporarily slow it down so it

does not occur as much and when it does you will still feel in control. This disorder may seem

drowning but this disorder can only allow yourself to grow from the struggles you may have

experienced by this disorder by manifesting itself because when it does this you are left with no

choice but to cope the right way. However this ideal is not so popular for everyone and most

people resort to substance abuse and other actually try to find help but even that help can cause

them to relapse into the hole that was waiting on them. For this depression is hard to control

because depression had no rhyme or reason, it is just the way it is. If we as a people knew more

about depression and why it does what it does and how to stop it, I guarantee it would help save

lives, it would help bring happiness, and it would help better the lives of those who suffer from

depression. If there was a cure, if there was a cure depression would be beaten and this would

allow many people to live their lives without regret of anything in their lives that may have

caused them to this lonely void. If there were more studies about depression, there would be

more answers for those with loved ones that need the answers to the reason of depression. To the

final answer to be happy. Depression is a mental disorder that can lead to suicide without proper

help and without the proper choices in order to better their lives.

Works Cited

Bullmore, Edward. Psychology Today. Jan/Feb2019, Vol. 51 Issue 1, p50-88. 10p. Accessed
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February 25.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/teen-angst/201704/depression-is-not-choice

“Depression is Not a Choice it's an Illness”. Adrien Bronner, 20 March 2017,

http://picdeer.com/tag/adrienbronner. Accessed 25 March 2019.

“Giving Up”. Emma Jones, 25 October 2018, https://weheartit.com/entry/319615037. Accessed

25 March 2019.

“Interestingly a Perfect Analogy For Depression”. SLAYMYBOREDOM, 21 May 2013,

https://slaymyboredom.wordpress.com/2013/05/21/interestingly-a-perfect-analogy-for-

depression/. Accessed 25 March 2019.

Krebs, Erin E., et al. “Review Article: Treating the Physical Symptoms of Depression With

Second-Generation Antidepressants: A Systematic Review and Metaanalysis.”

Psychosomatics, vol. 49, Jan. 2008, pp. EBSCOhost.

Leblanc, Annie, et al. “Translating Comparative Effectiveness of Depression Medications into

Practice by Comparing the Depression Medication Choice Decision Aid to Usual Care:

Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.” Trials, vol. 14, no. 1, Jan. 2013, p.

127. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1186/1745-6215-14-127.

McPhee, Larkin, Michael Murphy, Michael Bacon, Brian Olson, and Jane Pauley. Depression:

Out of the Shadows. Arlington, Va.: PBS Home Video, 2008.

Minirth, Frank B., and Paul D. Meier. Happiness Is a Choice. [Electronic Resource] : New

Ways to Enhance Joy and Meaning in Your Life. Grand Rapids : Baker Pub. Group, 2013,

2013. EBSCOhost,

sinclair.ohionet.org:80/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&d

b=cat01128a&AN=scc.b1491401&site=eds-live.
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Miyagi, Madoka, et al. “Relation between Choice-Induced Preference Change and Depression.”

PLoS ONE, vol. 12, no. 6, June 2017, pp. 1–14. EBSCOhost,

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0180041.

Takahashi, Taiki, et al. Depressive Patients Are More Impulsive and Inconsistent in

Intertemporal

Choice Behavior for Monetary Gain and Loss than Healthy Subjects- an Analysis Based

on Tsallis’ Statistics. 2011. EBSCOhost,

sinclair.ohionet.org:80/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&d

b=edsarx&AN=edsarx.1111.6493&site=eds-live.