Theoretical Perspectives Of Depression And Its Treatment - Research Paper Example

Some cultural factors are responsible for hindering full understanding of the illness and seeking the appropriate treatment. This implies that there is a need for medical practitioners to consider cultural influences in their patients’ regard for depression and find culturally appropriate treatment for it.The expression that the world is becoming a smaller place is becoming real now more than ever due to the coming together of various cultures in a globalized world. This gives people more opportunities to encounter others from other countries or ethnic backgrounds and learn more about the cultures they come from.

One controversial issue is how mental and psychological health is viewed in various cultures and if there is a commonality in its regard. This paper specifically investigates Depression and how it is understood and interpreted in different cultures and if such has an effect on its diagnosis and treatment.Depression is associated with “feelings of extreme sadness” which not only last for long periods of time, but it is also recurrent and may further develop into suicidal tendencies (NHS, 2010.

It is usually manifested with negative behaviors stemming from negative emotions. Sometimes, the person experiencing it is not even aware that he is undergoing depression. Its concept as a serious and debilitating illness, one which has had a great impact globally, has become recognized within general medicine and the public eye in more recent times (NHS, 2010). In 1996, the World Bank published a report on the global burden of disease implicating the importance of the realization that the impact of depression worldwide is vast (Scott et al, 2003).

In 1990, 11 million sufferers of depression were identified in the US alone (Scott et al, 2003).