Mental Depression Research Paper

Humans are easily affected by events in their in life in which can cause them to feel sadness or happiness. These experiences of daily fluctuations are common and happen to everyone. In some people, however, these fluctuations become excessive in terms of intensity and duration, and then it starts to interfere significantly with their daily lives. In these cases, we are facing a mental depression frame. Depression is a serious mental disorder and it is the most prevalent mental disorder in the United States (1). It is estimated that about 3-5% of the world population suffers from depression (2). This colossal growth in recent decades is due to many factors, some of them are in the busy life that our population has today and also some researchers …show more content…
Neurotransmitters are chemicals responsible for sending information to other cells in the body, and are produced by neurons, nervous system cells, which function is to conduct nerve impulses in the body. The three neurotransmitters related to depression are norepinephrine, serotonin and dopamine (3). Norepinephrine is synthesized from dopamine, and it is related to areas which regulate attention, sleep, learning and emotions in our body (4). It is responsible for giving us the feeling of well-being and tranquility, for example, it is the feeling that you have when practicing aerobic exercise or eating your favorite dish. Serotonin is produced from tryptophan, 5-hydroxytryptamine (5HT) which it is one of the eight essential amino acids (3). While serotonin regulates emotional states, irregular production of serotonin can lead to depression and anxiety states. Serotonin also controls appetite, sleep, libido and pain (4). Dopamine is a chemical compound derived from the amino acid tyrosine, and it is related to the desire to accomplish something, the reward effect and pleasure (3). It is also involved in the motor