Major Depressive Disorder And Cognitive Behavioral Therapy With Mindfulness

Approximately 151 million people are currently combating major depressive disorder (MDD) worldwide (Haddad & Gunn, 2011). Major depressive disorder (MDD) affects around one in six men, and one in four women during any given moment of their lives, and in any twelve-month period, nearly five percent of individuals in their surrounding communities are depressed (Haddad & Gunn, 2011). Depressive episodes may appear at any age; however, MDD is most prevalent in adults who are eighteen-years-old to sixty-four-years-old, with a median age of onset being the twenties (Hillhouse & Porter, 2015). The treatment of MDD often consists of evidence-based treatments (EBTs) that include selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), and cognitive-behavioral

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a method of correcting invalid thought patterns to a more positive view of the person and their place in their world. Some people do not believe that Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a real treatment for depression, claiming it is a form of positive thinking ("The Daily Mail," 2009). On the opposite end of the spectrum, others argue that Cognitive Behavioral Therapy should be used in all therapies for depression as it allows the patient to take an active role in their treatment. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the benefit of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy as a viable treatment of depression, either as a stand-alone therapy or in

According to the National Institute of Mental Health study, 18.8 million Americans suffer from depression in any given year (National Institutes of Health, 2004). Those who suffer from major depressions experience five or more symptoms of depression, lasting longer than two weeks, and cause the individual functional impairment in their daily lives (National Institutes of Health, 2004). Major depression can be characterized by persistent feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and emptiness. Many who suffer from depression also lose interest in activities he or she once enjoyed (Barlow & Durand, 2012). Some physical symptoms include fatigue, headaches, body pain, and digestive issues

Cognitive behavioural therapy, an empirically validated treatment for Major Depressive Disorder (Robinson, Berman, & Neimeyer, 1990) has featured in over 78 research studies, and is the treatment of choice when treating depression by many clinicians. A meta analaysis completed by Dobson (1989), reviewed 28 studies featuring cognitive therapy and depression, and found that cognitive therapy was a more effective treatment modality than behaviour therapy, wait list control, medication, and other therapies. A further meta-analysis conducted by Gloaguen et al., (1998) found that Cognitive behavioural therapy was equal to behaviour therapy, and more effective than drug treatments when treating Major Depressive Disorder.

Major depressive disorder affects nearly 15 million of American adults in a given year. (Kessler, Chiu, Demler & Walters, 2005). With the impact it has on the society as well as the well-being of the individual, it must be in the interest of the healthcare to be able to provide patients with the most effective treatment method. Extensive research has been conducted on the efficacy of antidepressant medication and cognitive therapy, the two main treatment methods used for depression today. The discussion has, however, been characterized by conflicting claims, resulting in a debate over what should be used rather than us having definite conclusion of how patients are best helped.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a widely utilized intervention within the field of social work practice. According to Hepworth (2011), it is considered to be the cornerstone of cognitive behavioral approaches (p.408-09). CBT focuses on the premise that thoughts trigger an emotional response, which in turn triggers a behavior. It states that all behaviors are internally derived from our thoughts instead of being externally triggered. CBT is short term in duration and can provide rapid emotional progress since it is solution focused, often using concrete homework assignments to be able to assist clients in refocusing their current paradigm into something more constructive and positive in nature. Within CBT, the success (or failure) of client work is based upon accurate assessment and clear goal setting. It is the social worker’s role to hold the client accountable, encourage, listen and educate the client on the impact of their behaviors. In contrast

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a common mental health diagnosis that affects roughly 3 million people in the United States alone (National Institute). It is an illness that does not discriminate against socioeconomic class, race, gender, etc. and has a biological and environmental affect. The biological component of depression involves familial history and how genetics plays an important role in depression and can increase one’s risk of developing some form of depression during their lifetime. The environmental factors of depression are situational such as financial troubles, relationship problems, loss of a

Major Depression: Major depressive disorder (MDD) affects millions worldwide and is the most common psychiatric disorder (Singh & Gotlib, 2014). Symptoms of MDD can include: loss of appetite, lack/loss of energy or pleasure, fatigue, disturbed sleep patterns, and suicidal ideation. Depression is considered a disabling disease as all aspects of the individual’s life are affected by the illness (Milanovic, Erjavec, Poljicanin, Vrabec, & Brecic, 2015). The underlying cause or mechanism of depression has many theories that stretch from biological (chemical imbalances) to psychosocial (socio-economics) (Roy & Campbell, 2013).

Psychotherapy may alleviate the stress and fear of disclosing their experiences to another person, feel they have someone who will listen, gain insight into the thoughts that bring about and exacerbate their depression, and develop a number of mechanisms to help them cope with the symptoms to prevent a recurrence. Psychotherapists may come from any number of occupations including social workers, guidance counselors, therapists, nurses, etc. Each profession brings a different approach to the field, and accordingly, psychotherapy is not unified. Accordingly, there are many types of methods available to be used in this field. Providing the individual with not only many different pathways, but the medium in which to grow and learn makes psychotherapy an appealing and effective choice for depressed individuals (Olshan, 82). Logically, if someone can uncover the root of a persisting issue they can then focus on working through the issue at a base level and find more success. Many individuals have reported success from receiving psychotherapy, and with medication more than 44% of patients report success.

Depression is one of the most common mental disorder in the United States. More so, it is well recognized to be one of the most threatening mental health condition among older adults. Consequently, it leads to decline of the overall physical, mental and social state of an elderly person. According to World Health Organization (WHO, 2010), major depression carries the heaviest burden of disability among mental and behavioral disorders. In 2015, an estimated 16.1 million adults aged 18 or older in the United States had at least one major depressive episode in the past year. This number reflects that an estimated one in 15 adults (6.7%) gets affected in any given year and one in six people (16.6%) will experience depression at some time in their

Persistent depressive disorder and major depressive disorder are unipolar mood disorders. They are associated with high socio-economic burden, according to estimations cost the US over $200 billion each year (Greenberg et al, 2005 & 2010), and have high suicide rates (Harris and Barraclough, 1998). The prevalence of persistent depressive disorder and major depressive disorder are estimated at 3.6 % and 6.7 % (Waraich et al., 2014). The use of medication and psychotherapy is effective for some patients, yet about 20% of patients do not benefit from any treatment and, for patients that do respond to treatment and intervention, there is a high relapse rate. (Gaynes, 2009). Few pharmaceutical companies are investing in research into

Major Depressive Disorder or MDD is a very common clinical condition that affects millions of people every year. According to the Agency for Health Care Policy & Research, “ depression is under diagnosed & untreated by most medical doctors, despite the fact that it can almost always be treated successfully.

Today one of the most common issues in mental health is Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). Each year 6.7% of the population is diagnosed with MDD ( Whitbourne and Whitbourne, 2014). Also, this multidimensional disorder has both non-recovery patients as well as recurrent patients. There are many problems that arouse for MDD like reduced mood, low self-esteem and loss of interest of pleasure in normally and everyday activities; it may impair the performance, life and employment of the individual. It is not easy to live with the burden imposed by this mental disease and because of this the assessment of MDD patients is very important to optimize the treatments outcomes. This recurrent depression creates cognitive decline on patients and creates different cognitive symptoms affecting many areas.

Major depression, also known as unipolar depression, is one of the most common mental illnesses. Over nine million adults each year suffer from depression. Many people don’t understand what depression really is, including myself until I did a lot of research over this subject. Major depression is more than a temporary state of being sad. It is a persistent state that can significantly impair an individual’s thoughts, behavior, daily activities, and physical health. According to The Stanford School of Medicine, they said that “major depressive disorder impacts all racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups and can occur at any age.” (Depression Research Clinic) Depression is a common, but serious illness that can occur in people of all ages; teenagers, adults, and older adults. Depression is a condition that reportedly affects one in every ten Americans at some point in their lives. The incidence of depression is actually higher in some states than others. Certain ethnicities also report higher depression rates than others. According to Healthline, “the number of patients diagnosed with depression increases by approximately 20% each year.” (Healthline) In the United States, Oklahoma, Arizona, Tennessee, West Virginia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama have the highest reported rates of depression. These states also show high rates of other negative health outcomes such as obesity, heart disease,

An important therapeutic approach was developed in the same period called, short-term therapy, when Beck (1979) published Cognitive Therapy of Depression and presented empirical evidence that structured brief psychotherapies that were effective in the treatment of depression. The concept of brief psychotherapy will have a long term impact on the treatment of depression in social work practice for years to come as it will give birth to various theoretical models such as, rational-emotive behavioral therapy, problem solving therapy, stress inoculation training, schema-focused therapy, dialectal behavior therapy, and bibliotherrapy (Weaver, Himle, Steketee, & Muroff, 2014).