Philosophy

Depression is a mental disorder that presents itself with loss of interest, low moods, low self esteem, lack of sleep and appetite, loss of interest and pleasure, and poor concentration. Every human being is prone to depression regardless of the environment, age and sex. This work tries to establish various causes and available treatment of depression according to previous studies done on this subject.

Depression is a major health problem that affects millions of people around the world. The general causes of depression are loss of a spouse, torture, loss of a job, harm either by a natural disaster or otherwise, broken romantic relationships, rejection and marital problems. Depression comes with different effects on health and social life of the patients. There are various treatments for depression and some of them are mentioned below.

Potential causes

Lack of money
Data from the Belgian Households Panel Survey by Liam et al., (2010, 35) showed that lack of money increased depression of the same degree in both men and women. Evidence also shows that being unemployed increase the symptoms for depression. Where women are financially stable and are independent e.g. college students and the Yoruba culture, the gender difference of depression is minimal.

Divorce
This usually plays a major effect on young divorced women. Evidence shows that there are more divorced young women than men. The rate of depression increased when the divorce has to raise a family all by herself. The stretch between household chores, bringing up the children and working for a living increases chances of depression.

Substance use
Evidence collected by the Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing showed that high use of Cannabis, tobacco and alcohol lead to depression. This they proved was especially among men who are majority users. This comes mostly when the addicted individual cannot access drugs or during withdrawal period.

Psychological factors
These include ability to cope with hardships, and other personality characters. Pondering and mulling over issues especially negative issues causes depression. This element is usually common among women. It occurs especially after loss of a loved one either through death or breaking up of a love relationship.

Child hood sexual abuse
There is strong evidence which shows that girls who have been abused sexually at an early age end up being more prone to depression. A study carried out by Nicholas Murdoch et al., (2008, 960) in elderly life sentence prisoners showed that imprisonment was the main cause of depression and not the environment. Those imprisoned for sexual crimes and violent robbery were more prone to depression than minor offenders.

Evidence supports that women suffer more from depression than men. Research findings shows that women are twice more likely to suffer from depression compared to men. Unequal distribution of resources is one of the factors for gender differences in depression. A research carried out by Liam et al proved this. This is because women are less paid, and less educated factors which are associated with depression. Other factors that make women more prone include physical violence, rape, and victimization

Treatment
A study conducted by Okan et al., (2003, 780) at the Baskent University, Ankara, Turkey proposed some cures for depression. The study divided the cures into 7 components. Here below is a comparison of various treatments that may help to reduce the risk of depression.

The first component consists of issues related to hobby. The second involves sensation seeking while the third includes avoidance items. The fourth component is on professional assistance. The fifth is religious practices help. The sixth is Esteem while the seventh is Spiritual practices.

Component 1
Regarding this component, Okan et al suggests that one should engage in hobbies. He suggests that most people are too busy to have enough time for hobbies. Also most people do not know even what their hobbies are. All they have are written down hobbies on their curriculum vitae.He therefore proposes that finding some time to engage in your favorite activities will reduce the risks of depression.

Artistic works
This basically involves creative activities that one can engage in. They are usually creations that involve mind work e.g. literary compositions, calligraphy, carvings, performance art, conceptual art, or musical art. Due to the amount of brain work involved in these activities, there is a great likely hood that this will keep the mind off negative thinking. Having new goals in life and setting reachable targets is another way of treating depression. Aspiring to improve ones life into a positive direction and having a positive attitude towards life reduces depression. Also by taking part in sports and joining social activities one gets to meet new people with new ideas and with the same or greater problems. Through sharing, the negative thoughts in ones mind are easily washed away. Writing down the problems and believing that you can tackle them reduces depression. Other elements in component one include, listening to music, taking new responsibilities, and giving up the blame game. One should especially avoid blaming other people for the problems befalling himher.

Component 2
Regarding this component Okan suggests that the activities that one ought to engage in are going shopping, joining parties, spending more time with friends, going on vacation, chatting with friends, changing  the physical appearance and engaging  in exciting activities.

Component 3
Concerning this, one should do among other things like emigrate to another country, change school, job or home, move to another city leave old friends and have sex.This basically means that change of environment or the activities that one usually engages in reduces depression.

Component 4
 One should consult a psychiatrist or a psychologist, join therapy, meet with people with similar problems or get hospitalized.

Component 5
This involves thanking God and seeking religious help. Going to church, praying and engaging in religious matters is one way of treating depression.

Component 6
The person should try to forget negative experiences, think about past achievements and avoid thinking negatively.

Component 7,
Onkan et al suggests that one should cry, meditate do yoga or use herbs. Meditation and reflecting on your life will treat depression.

Conclusion
Depression effects can lead to suicide. One should avoid stressing himherself so much to the point of suffering a depression. We cannot entirely avoid it because life is hard enough and there are a lot of things we cannot control. But whenever we are stressed up, there are various ways as mentioned above for treatment. Hence we should seek treatment whenever the symptoms of depression occur.