The Beast

Tracy Thompson is a woman who suffers from a debilitating mood disorder known as depression. Clinical depression is defined as a state intense sadness that has advanced to the point of being disruptive to an individuals daily functioning. The onset of depression could be any number of things such as the loss of a loved one or a bad experience. The likelihood of being diagnosed with depression depends on several factors including genetics. Tracy Thompson displays some of the typical symptoms of depression which include distorted thinking, low self-esteem, loss of pleasure in one loved activities (sex), disturbed sleep patterns, and fatigue. Tracy also suffers from intermittent body aches, loss of appetite, and forgetfulness. Her distorted thoughts cause her to feel like her career is going nowhere and that she will never get a promotion. They cause her to feel useless and her low self-esteem makes her feel second rate. These thoughts affect how she performs her job and how she interacts with others. Tracy first noticed that something was wrong in grade school when, for long periods of time, she would count the hours until she could be back in her bed again. She would often turn on the shower in the restroom to drown out the sound of her crying. During her adolescence she used the term "depression" to describe the ordinary sadness associated with being a teenager. Tracy was apprehensive about disclosing her depression because, like most people with depression, she wanted desperately to be normal. She did not want people to look at her and attribute the things she did to her "disorder". There are literally hundreds of ways of treating depression; it all depends on what the patient reacts to. One of the most common ways is to treat it with an antidepressant medication such as Prozac or Zoloft. In some cases of severe depression doctors will prescribe tranquilizers like Seroquel or antipsychotic like Risperdol. Some of the other methods of clinical treatment include: dietary supplements, augmenter drugs, and psychotherapy. In addition to clinical treatments there are also "at home" supplemental treatments which include exercise and meditation. Exercise stimulates production of certain chemicals in the brain like dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine which generally lead to mood improvement. Treatments such as medication and psychotherapy have proven themselves to be very effective in the battle against depression. Exercise has