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The phenomena of men and depression is poorly understood. Men continue to be under diagnosed with depression but commit suicide four times the rate of women. This grounded theory study explored the psychosocial processes that occurred in men who suffered from depression. There were a total of nine men who participated in this study who ranged in age, educational level, and marital status. Eleven interviews were conducted with nine men.The theory that emerged from this study was Navigating Inward and Outward Through Depression. The process of navigating was the core concept and defined as a process of moving through depression and having to steer one's life in different directions in order to move in and out of the stages of depression. The first stage was: Being Different. In this stage the men attempted to share their feelings, but were constantly rejected by society came to believe that nobody cared or nobody would understand their feelings. The second stage, Concealing Feelings, refers to how the men learned to navigate out of stage one and into stage two of learning to hide their internal feelings and thoughts. The third stage, Disconnecting, was defined as the way the men would numb their emotional pain. As their emotional pain became more intense, the concealing no longer worked. The men used external behaviors to physically numb their pain. The fourth stage, Hitting Bottom, refers to the men losing hope for their future and wanting to give up on life. The men had thoughts of suicide or thoughts that death would be an option to relieve the emotional pain. The fifth stage, Acknowledging and Confronting, refers to the ability to acknowledge they were depressed and understand how depression was affecting their lives.

Researchers and theorists have suggested that two personality styles may serve as pathways for the development of depression. One personality style, sociotropy, involves intense needs for positive interchange with others, whereas the other style, autonomy, involves an excessive need for self-control and independence. These personality styles were investigated in the context of Coyne's (1976) interpersonal model of depression, which suggests that depressed persons are rejected by others. Research on this model has been equivocal, and it is possible that these two personality dimensions result in meaningful interpersonal differences within depressed persons. Depressed outpatients, (N=41) and non-depressed controls (N=41) were assessed on sociotropy and autonomy and then participated in a brief task in which a research assistant helped them plan adaptive life changes. These interactions were rated subjectively and utilizing behavioural coding. Results indicated that a combination of depression and autonomy were particularly likely to lead to rejection and less positive interpersonal behaviours. Sociotropy was related to perceptions of interpersonal deference, whereas depression was associated with self-orientation in the task. These results suggest that both depression and personality impact rejection and interpersonal behaviours in social interactions. Overall, this study represents a significant step toward greater specificity in the interpersonal model of depression, and clinical implications of these findings are described.

No description available.

Depression is a serious mental health problem in adolescents. Schools and primary health care providers are flooded with adolescents who have serious emotional and behavioural problems. Mental health specialists initially overlooked this condition, later argued against its existence, then recommended universal acceptance of it as a separate clinical entity very similar in nature to adult depression. More recently they have expressed concern over the adolescent's cognitive, linguistic, and socio-emotional development capabilities in relation to depressive symptomatology and treatment. Quality mental health services are essential to decrease the prevalence, economic toll and mortality that result from depression. This study is a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methodologies. The principal objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of depressive symptoms in a sample of South African adolescents, to investigate contributory factors at home and in school, and elicit from the adolescent participants suggestions for improving the prevailing conditions. In order to establish the focus of the study four critical questions were posed: • What is the prevalence of depressive symptoms in adolescents? • What factors in the home contribute towards depressive symptoms? • What factors in the school contribute towards depressive symptoms? • What are the suggestions made by adolescents to improve the prevailing conditions? To accomplish this delineation, a group of Grade 11 learners were identified by means of cluster sampling. The entire cluster was given the Beck Depression Inventory, which is a self-report scale for screening depressive symptoms. The results of the BDI revealed that 118/566 learners i.e. 20.84% displayed symptoms of depression. These learners i.e.118 who had scored between 19-29 on the BDI were then given a survey questionnaire to complete. The findings of this study are consistent with other studies. An analysis of data confirmed previous reports of depressive symptoms in adolescents. Gender differences showing more females than males presenting with depressive symptoms were evident in the present study. Females had more responsibilities and not much support in the household chores that led to feelings of frustration and anger. The adolescents expressed concern over their studying and living conditions. In-depth interviews were used to gather information for qualitative analysis. From the content analysis of the interviews, three main themes were identified regarding the factors contributing towards depressive symptoms. Family Relationships (home), with communication, support, outside intervention and perceptions of their parents related to the first theme. The second theme related to peer/ sibling relationships associated with communication, support, other concerns, and perceptions of peers/siblings. The final theme related to school and included communication, support, performance and perceptions of school. Recommendations made on the basis of the present findings included the need for better support structures at schools, with parents and peers/siblings. The qualitative findings indicated a need for social organizations to play a more significant role in the community. Because of this potent combination of formal and informal influence, educators can be powerful resources for the development and continuity of intervention. Educators should be trained to recognize the markers of adolescent depression and to approach and refer them to a central person such as guidance counselors or social workers for initial screening and treatment if necessary. This study has contributed to research data in an area where there is a deficiency of information and understanding. The high prevalence of depressive symptoms in adolescents is a matter of great concern to all service providers. The contributory factors in the home and school that were identified should be attended to in order to improve the living and studying conditions of the learners. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Durban-Westville, 2002.

Es konnte bisher vielfach gezeigt werden, dass Zytokine im Zusammenhang mit depressiven Störungen stehen. Darauf aufbauend untersuchten wir die Expression mehrerer Zytokine bei depressiv Erkrankten. Wir verglichen die Serumkonzentrationen der Interleukine (IL) IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-10, IL-12 und IL-13, des Granulozyten-Makrophagen-Koloniestimulierenden Faktors (GM-CSF), des Interferons-gamma (IFN-) und des Tumornekrosefaktors-alpha (TNF-) bei 64 Probanden mit einer akuten depressiven Symptomatik und bei 206 nicht-depressiven Probanden. Depressive Patienten wiesen im Vergleich zu den nicht-depressiven Probanden erhöhte Konzentrationen von IL-2, IL-5, IL¬¬-12, IL-13, GM-CSF, IFN- und TNF- auf. Bei Aufteilung der Gruppen in nicht-adipöse (BMI < 30) und adipöse (BMI ≥ 30) Probanden zeigten nicht-adipöse Depressive (n = 40) erhöhte Konzentrationen von IL-5, IL-12, IL-13, GM-CSF, IFN- und TNF- im Vergleich zu den nicht-adipösen Probanden ohne eine Depression (n=85). Adipöse Depressive (n = 24) zeigten erhöhte Konzentrationen von IL-5, IL-12 und IFN- verglichen mit adipösen Probanden ohne eine Depression (n = 121). Verschiedene Zytokinkonzentrationen waren in Abhängigkeit von körperlicher Aktivität, Berufstätigkeit und Schlafverhalten verändert, was eine Assoziation der Zytokinproduktion mit Verhaltensaspekten nahelegt. Die Ergebnisse unterstützen die Annahme einer Überexpression pro-inflammatorischer Zytokine bei der Depression und erweitern das Spektrum der Zytokine, die möglicherweise mit Depressionen assoziiert sind, um GM-CSF, IL-5 und IL-13. Veränderungen dieser Zytokine könnten zur Erklärung beitragen, warum allergische und asthmatische Erkrankungen häufig mit einer Depression einhergehen.

The recognition and diagnosis of elderly depression has been the focus of much research over the last 20 years (Brink, 1982; Goodstein, 1985; Klerman, 1983). One problem in diagnosing depression in the elderly has been adequate assessment devices that are sensitive, specific, and predictable with this population (Yesavage et al., 1983). One assessment device developed specifically for the elderly is the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) (Brink et al., 1982;Yesavage et al., 1983). This depression scale has yielded high reliability and validity with other self-rating depression scales. In recent research a Short Form Geriatric Depression Scale was produced containing 15 items, all from the original Long Form GDS. A problem with the Short Form involves the lack of research concerning its construct validity. The purpose of the present study was to demonstrate that the Short Form Geriatric Depression Scale does measure depression in the elderly, and therefore, does possess construct validity. To accomplish this task, it was believed that if significant correlations could be identified between various psychosocial variables highly associated with depression in the elderly and the Short Form GDS, validity could be established. The five psychosocial variables chosen: gender differences, physical/health problems, insufficient social support, marital status, and socioeconomic status (finances), have all been shown to be highly related-to depression in the elderly.The information used for this project was gathered from a survey questionnaire developed by the Institute of Gerontology at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. The survey questionnaire was sent to over 5,000 randomly selected elderly in the state of Indiana ranging in age from 60 to 85. Of the approximately 5,000 surveys, 2,979 were completed and returned. The survey incorporated questions concerning the five psychosocial variables reviewed and a modification of the Short Form GDS.In order to test the various hypotheses of the study, several analyses were conducted. Based upon the outcome of these analyses, it was concluded that the Short Form Geriatric Depression Scale does possess construct validity. It was also concluded that the Short Form Geriatric Depression scale does assess depression in the elderly and thus is a valid instrument to use in the assessment of depression with the elderly adult.Based upon the information obtained from the survey following hypotheses were supported:a. Elderly individuals with physical disabilities and/or health related problems had higher total GDS scores on the Short Form. b. A positive relationship was found between physiological problems in the elderly and total GDS score.c. Elderly individuals having no social support system had higher total GDS scores on the Short Form.d. A negative relationship existed between an elderly individual's social support system and total GDS score.e. Elderly widows and widowers produced higher total GDS scores than married elderly.f. Elderly individuals with low economic status had higher total GDS scores than elderly individuals with high economic status. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

Bakgrund: 10-15% av alla nyblivna svenska mödrar drabbas idag av postpartum depression, även kallat förlossningsdepression. Sjukdomen uppkommer i samband med barnets födelse och utvecklas oftast inom två månader efter förlossningen. Postpartum depression påverkar moderns självbild och kan skapa problematik i anknytningen mellan modern och det nyfödda barnet. Syfte: Belysa mödrars upplevelser i samband med postpartum depression. Metod: Studien är baserad på sex självbiografier och är genomförd utifrån en kvalitativ ansats där resultatet har bearbetats med stöd av en manifest innehållsanalys. Resultat: Det framkom fem huvudkategorier: Lycka blev en obekant känsla, Förväntningarna på moderskapet uppfylldes inte, En främling för sig själv fångad i negativa tankar, När bägaren rann över samt Ljusa stunder. Ett tydligt fynd är att mödrarna känner stor besvikelse över att förväntningarna på postpartum perioden inte överensstämmer med verkligheten samt oförståelse över sina negativa tankar som överrumplade dem. Slutsats(er): Resultatet påvisar att postpartum depression måste synligöras bättre för att fler mödrar som drabbats ska våga söka hjälp. En bredare kunskap inom vården kan möjliggöra att postpartum depression uppmärksammas bättre.  Även allmänsjuksköterskor bör lära sig att uppmärksamma sjukdomen för att kunna fånga upp dessa mödrar i ett tidigt skede.

Reports from epidemiological survey data identify that twice as many women than men suffer with depression over the life cycle. From reviewing the broad research literature, it appears that many studies focus on only one aspect of a bio-psychosocial model and, do not consider how these aspects interact. (For complete abstract open document)

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Melbourne, Dept. of Psychiatry, 2003. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves: 359-386).