A History of Untamed Depression - Case Study Example

Major Depressive Order Case Study Introduction Ann is a 30-year-old woman who is married to drunkard fiance and bothhave two children, whereby one is a girl and the other a boy. Ann is currently a teacher at a nearby fifth grade students and teaches mathematics. She was referred to a physicatirist in the Monash Medical Centre with a gradual mental illness over the two the last three weeks. Most of the neighbors attributed the behavior to the financial problems resulting from her drunkard husband. Upon the observation and diagnosis of the physicatirist, Ann was confirmed to be suffering from abnormal emotions in relation to the level of her sadness and bereavement. She had previously been diagnosed with a deficiency disease due to deteriorated eating habits. Moreover, she was experiencing intense lack of sleep by the time the relatives members realize that there existed a healthy problem with one of their family member. Consequently, she is under extended observation by her physicatirist to determine the level of depression that she is currently experiencing. Upon listening to a few details of Ann’s present behaviors, the physicatirist has made a remark to the family members that Ann is suffering from an intense depression known as Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). History of Patient The patient confesses to a history of untamed depression, which began four months four months after her husband became an alcohol addict and could not take care of the family. She is experiencing a number of psychophysiological changes including loss of appetite, difficulty in concentrating, feels of guilty, loss of sexual desire, hopelessness feeling, increased anxiety, Insomnia, disturbances in sleep, constipation, frequent crying, fatigue and lack of energy, slowed speech and action speed, suicidal thoughts, and decreased interest in working or socializing with workmates and friends. Recently, she has started taking wine on with the reason that she is trying to calm herself and make life more bearable. The principal from the school that Ann teach has raised issues of the current Ann’s behavior that is characterized by increased irritability as well as a distinct change in her moods. A week ago, she had thrown out a pupil from her classroom simply because the student failed to give a correct response prompting the intervention of the principal. Ann has also recently been noted to is most of her classes and even more disturbing, not reporting to work. Moreover, she has experienced deteriorated self-care and social relations with not only with the workmates and with friends, but also with her family members However, it was not adequate to implicate solely the husband’s drunkenness to the sadness and bereavement emotions exhibited. Following the hardships that Ann has faced raising her two kids and taking care of her alcoholic husband, she had once attempted to commit suicide. Recently, about two weeks ago, Ann had been treated of hyperactivity in the Monash Centre by the family doctor who opted to give her a dose to be taken within a time limit of one week. Past Psychiatric History Regarding Causes of MDD At the beginning, Ann had no abnormal reactions to emotions until her first diagnosis by a family doctor that fund her with hyperactivity soon after her husband run out savings in the bank and resulted to the drinking habit from the little income he got. Consequently, the relationship between Ann and her husband stated to deteriorate making it difficult to cater for their two children. This family environment may have contributed majorly to the MDD that the physicatirist gave as the most susceptible illness that Ann is suffering from. The unbearable family environment was one of the contributing factors towards the MDD illness. A history of Ann’s family indicates that his father had the same Major Depressive Disorder. The comparison of concordance rates occurring from major depression between the monozygotic and dizygotic twins indicates a 37 percent heritability. Consequently, Ann had inherited the Depressive disorder from her father. The severity and Early onset of Ann’s depression Cleary indicated that heritability might have played a major role in the patient’s current MDD illness (Mcintyre & Nathanson, 29). The psychiatrist diagnosed Ann’s Monoamine and determined that she had a substantial deficiency of the chemical. The monoamine is a biochemical that forms a system vital for the modulation of many parts of the brain concerned with emotions, thinking, and behaving. The monoamine-deficiency that Ann exhibited is known to minimize the catabolizes of norepinephrine and serotonin in the synapse. Consequently, the minimized inhibition leads to decreased availability of neurotransmitters. The neurotransmitters are chemicals in the brain that are liked to a person’s moods (Belmaker & Agam 55-68). The incidence of Ann’s monoamine deficiency may have also contributed to the Major Depressive Disorder. The patient, being a female was prone to hormone changes that are caused by thyroid problems and menopause among other conditions. Ann had been diagnosed earlier wit imbalance of the body’s balance of hormones before expressing MDD symptoms. This change in the balance of the patient hormones may have as well triggered the depression with which the disorder intensified because of the other described contributing factors. The family of the patient was a source of stress because of the financial constraints. Stress has been classified to a major contributing factor to Major Depressive Disorder because of the negative effect it has on the brain. The fact that the patient was subjected to stress increased the release of corticotrophin-releasing hormone into the pituitary receptors, which in turn facilitate the release of cortisol in the blood causing the depression (Belmaker & Agam 55-68).. Conclusion The MDD mental illness has no predetermined cause and may be a result of a number of contributing factors and causes. Ann’s case study presents a number of possible causes that may have led to her MDD illness as well as the symptoms that the physicatirist may use to diagnose her and administer the right dose. The history and background of the patient is evident to the existence of depression, a severe depression, that need frequent diagnosis and treatment following the diversity of the causes and contributing factors. Work Cited Belmaker, R.H. Belmaker and Galila Agam. "Major Depressive Disorder." The New England Journal of Medicine, 358 (2008): 55-68. Mcintyre, Roger S and Jay Nathanson. Severe depression. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010. Print. Read More