Expository Essay About Teenage Depression

According to the Canadian Mental Health Association (2014), 20% of Canadians will personally experience a mental illness in their lifetime. One of the most common mental illnesses is depression. Depression is characterized by feelings of sadness, loss of interest in pleasurable activities, and withdrawal from friends and family (Public Health Agency of Canada, 2013). Traditionally, people with depression are treated with talk-based therapy and/ or medication. In the past decade, another form of therapy has gained recognition and acceptance throughout the medical community: Dance and

Movement Therapy (DMS). This paper Will explore the effectiveness of DMS, and how it can be a viable therapeutic option for adolescents and seniors alike. DMS is effective in decreasing the severity Of Symptoms Of depression. DMS assists individuals in dealing with feelings, especially those that are hard to accept or express, through the use of movement (Pioneer et al. , 2012). Talking about emotions can be a daunting task for an individual with depression; it may be easier to express these emotions through dance and movement.

Studies have shown that participating in DMS can affect the reduction of serotonin and dopamine, two chemicals that support emotional well-being (Young-Jag et al. , 2005). This is significant because those with depression frequently rely on medications to modulate the production of these brain chemicals. If serotonin and dopamine can be controlled using DMS, there will be a lesser need for reliance on antidepressant medication. DMS is useful both to encourage participants to explore their feelings, and to promote the response of neurotransmitters that affect mood.

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Expository Essay On Mental Health

Adolescents with depression have to deal with the great fluctuation in hormones that company puberty, and the debilitating symptoms of depression. A study by Young-Jag et al. Examined adolescent girls, with a median age of 16, who showed mild to moderate signs of depression (2005). The group was asked to attend 45-minute DMS sessions, three times a week, for 12 weeks. The sessions addressed “themes of body awareness in the room and group, expression of movement and symbolic quality of movement, feelings, images and differentiation and integration of feelings” (Young-Jag et al. 2005). Participants were encouraged to be aware of their space and their relationship to themselves and others. They were asked to create movement that symbolically explained the feelings that they were having inside. At the end of the 12 weeks, the group experienced significant improvements in a number of areas, including “depression, anxiety, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation, and psychotic” (Young-Jag et al. , 2005). Teenagers and adolescents can be difficult to treat for depression because they do not wish to be seen as “different” from their peers.

They may be more willing to participate in a fun therapeutic activity, such as dance, than participate in traditional talk-based therapy. In fact, the study by Young-Jag et al. Found that there was a high level of adherence to the DMS program by the participants (2005). Those who tried it stayed with it, and reaped the benefits of an improvement in their depressive symptoms. Depressive symptoms can also be improved through DMS in seniors. According to a study of seniors in nursing homes by Vandal et al. Participation in DMS can significantly improve scores on the Geriatric Depressive Scale (GAS) (2014). “Intervention Exercise Dance for Seniors” sessions were implemented for one hour, once a week, for three months. At the end of the three months, those who articulated showed significant improvements in mood according to the GAS, whereas those who did not participate showed a trend of further worsening symptoms (Vandal et al. , 2014). Depressive symptoms, including feelings of loss, guilt, and loneliness, are prevalent in seniors in nursing homes.

By participating in DMS, seniors are able to interact with others, express emotions, and get physical activity in an enjoyable way. Those who participated in the intervention also reported more discontinuations and fewer antidepressant prescriptions than those in the control group (Vandal et al. , 2014). Treating depression by using DMS may save money on antidepressant costs as well as reduce the side effects associated with these medications. The study concluded that DMS is both suitable and beneficial to seniors in a nursing home setting.

Dance is no longer just an activity one goes to watch at the theatre; it has become an alternative therapeutic treatment for a variety of mental illnesses. Dance and Movement Therapy encompasses biological, psychological, and sociological aspects and is beneficial across the lifespan. Biologically, DMS can alter the levels of serotonin and dopamine, improving mood from within. Psychologically, DMS allows individuals with depression to express themselves in a different manner than talk-based therapy.

Sociologically, DMS encourages people with mental illness to get together, explore mutual experiences, and create something meaningful based on these experiences. These factors remain constant throughout the lifespan; studies have shown that DMS is a useful therapy regardless of whether the individual is sixteen or sixty. As time goes on, the need for alternatives therapies for depression will continue, and Dance and Movement Therapy will continue to rise in popularity. References Canadian Mental Health Association. (2014). Fast facts about mental illness.