Nurses work with depressed patients almost daily Research Paper

Nurses work with depressed patients almost daily - Research Paper Example Depression has been broadly classified into the following groups; depression with catatonic and melancholic features, psychotic features, atypical depression, bipolar depression, dysthymia, recurrent and single episode and seasonal affective disorder. When patients present to the department and depression is suspected, a differential diagnosis should be made from neurological disorders, other psychiatric disturbances, endocrine pathologies, substance abuse related pathologies and inflammatory and infectious diseases. Depression is a key psychological condition that often accompanies the majority of all illnesses. A study that was carried out by Katon et al., discovered that depression was one of the most prevalent disorders in primary care with a prevalence of approximately 10% (Katon et al., 2010). However, some patients were found to be more susceptible to depression. These include patients suffering from chronic illnesses as they often lack optimism in the improvement of their hea lth. In addition, they also neglect the treatment regimes that have been prescribed for them by the doctors. Due to these factors, depression has been found to have an adverse effect on the current condition of the patient and his or her prognosis. This disease is also widely under diagnosed in patients and it has also been found to be inadequately treated. Precisely, research found that only 50% of patients suffering from depression in primary care are correctly diagnosed (Thoits, 2013). In addition, from these patients only 40% were properly treated and were able to fully recover within a 6 month period. In summation, patients suffering from depression possess a low mood which often leads to negligence and poor adherence to the prescribed treatment regime. Chronic illnesses are often incurable and therapeutic intervention is mainly to alleviate symptoms and improve the patient’s quality of life. Therefore, patients suffering from chronic diseases often possess the misconcep tion that their condition is incurable therefore, they are already approaching death and treatment is not going to largely benefit them or prolong their lifespan. Environmental factors such as family relationships also play a role in the development of depression in primary care patients. New York is one of the most diversely populated cities and has individuals from different parts of the world. It was determined by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene that approximately 430Â  000 individuals living in New York suffer from depression (Brown et al., 2013). Similar to the study mentioned above, only 50% of all individuals suffering from depression in New York are correctly diagnosed and three out of five of these individuals are not given the right treatment (Brown et al., 2013). Numerous medical practitioners have recommended that all patients should be screened for depression as this is pertinent illness that has a cure. The New York City Health and Nutrition Examination Survey has discovered that depression in New York has a larger effect on a certain demography. For example, in New York, women were found to have a greater predisposition to depression than men. They were found to be twice as much likely to suffer from the condition. In addition, age was also a determining factor in the rates of depression as the condition was more dominant among the younger population between the ages of 20 and 30 years old. The ratio between