Depression in the UK: Prevalence, Demographics, and Treatment Approaches

Introduction

Depression is referred to mood disorder in which the individuals develops feeling of dejection and despondency, difficulty to concentrate, disturbance in sleeping hours, helplessness and others (Drysdale et al. 2017). The common causes which lead to depression among individuals include any form of abuse, loss of any close individual, major life events, side-effects of medications, genetic, serious illness and others (Ross, 2017).

The UK statistics revealed that 3.3 out of 100 people in the country are suffering from depression (mind.org.uk, 2017). This indicates that the prevalence of depression in the UK is at peak as the majority of people in the population are found to be suffering from the illness. In the UK, nearly 24% of women and 13% of men in England are found to have been clinically diagnosed with depression during their lifetime (mhfaengland.org, 2019). This indicates that women in the UK are more likely to be suffering from depression compared to men. The statistics received in 2017 in the UK informed that 0.3% of children within 5-10 years of age, 2.7% of individuals within 11-16 years of age and 4.8% of people within 17-19 years of age are suffering from depression (mhfaengland.org, 2019). This informs that significant numbers of people suffering from depression are found to be in the adolescent stage.

The most frequent services provided for the treatment of depression in the UK is medication management. In this process, individuals suffering from depression are provided anti-depressants. However, it is seen that the individuals as a result of using anti-depressants suffer from side-effects of the medications such as increased appetite, nausea, fatigue, blurred vision and others which results to hinder the health and well-being of the patients (Chung et al. 2017). Thus, it is seen that nurses suggest the patients access therapeutic intervention such as Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Group Therapy, Psychoanalytic Therapy and others (Hetrick et al. 2016). This is because the behaviour therapies are effective to resolve the emotional and neurotic symptoms raised due to depression by training the individuals to control their reactions and feelings. Moreover, the therapeutic intervention is found to provide long-term impact in resolving depression as well as have no side-effects which are usually faced by patients while taking anti-depressant medications (Mohr et al. 2019).

Critically discussing the evidence for nursing intervention

Evidence 1:

The study by Hallgren et al. (2016) has the key focus to compare the effectiveness of exercise and internet-based cognitive therapy in the treatment of depressive symptoms. The response rate seen among the participants who accessed the CBT and exercise on 12-month follow-up was 84%. In the study to determine the magnitude of change in the severity of depression, the Hedges' g effect sizes are calculated. The findings regarding the use of internet-based CBT compared to usual care for the patients with depression revealed that the CBT was more effective than later. This is evident as the Hedges' g effect sizes at 3-month follow-up for the patients revealed 0.66 and for 12-month follow-up revealed 0.46 for the patients who use CBT instead of usual care for depression.

Evidence 2:

The study by Mohamadian et al. (2018) is a randomised controlled trial study where the key aim is to determine the impact of cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) for patients with depression. In the study, 76 patients are randomly chosen out of which 38 participants are considered for the control group. The rest patients in the experimental group are provided CBT to manage their mental issues. The results revealed that the mean score of the experimental group with depression was much lower compared to the control group. This indicates that CBT is effective to prevent as well as alleviate symptoms regarding depression among the patients.

Evidence 3:

The study by Kayrouz et al. (2018) is developed to determine the acceptability and efficacy of cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) for people experiencing depression, stress and post-traumatic stress disorder in Arab. The study is a meta-analysis where CBT impact is determined in the Arab population. The findings of the study informed that remission rate of 31% was seen among the patients which means that 1 in 3 patients did not express any symptoms regarding depression and stress after treatment. This indicates CBT was effective to lower stress and depression among individuals in the Arab.

Role of cultural factors in care delivery

The cultural factors are seen to play a major role in care delivery to patient suffering from any mental illness such as depression as the cultural perspectives and norms in the society creates stigma regarding the disorder develop hindrance in proper care delivery. For instance, in some cultures such as in Asian countries, depression is not regarded as disease and it is thought to be suffering caused as a result of rift in social networks which if mended can ensure improved health to the individual (Lehti et al. 2009). In this condition, the care delivery of CBT to the patients for depression is hindered as the nurses and health professionals are unable to identify and reach people suffering from depression to offer them required care services. This is because people in the culture do not consider depression to be an illness that requires effective intervention of health professionals making the patient suffer from the condition due to their inappropriate cultural influence regarding mental illness (Lehti et al. 2009). In various cultures, it is seen that presence of mental illness in the family and accessing mental health services is regarded as disrespectful for them in society. This leads the family members hide their members suffering from mental illness like depression from the public leading to create delay and hindrance in care delivery to the patient (Lehti et al. 2009). This is because health professionals are unable to reach the determined patients to offer them the required help to ensure their well-being.

Role of families or carers

The family members are seen to have essential role in supporting any nature of care for the people suffering from depression. The family members have the role to encourage the patient suffering from depression to stick to the treatment schedule planned for them regarding CBT. This means the family members are to ensure the patient with depression in the family take proper medication as prescribed in proper dosages on each day and appropriately meets in each session for CBT with the therapist (Kootker et al. 2019). The role of the family members in caring for the people suffering from depression is that they are to show willingness to listen to the needs of the person without showing any form of judgements. This is because it would make the depressed individual feel valued and supported by the family members which acts as a powerful healing attribute in depression to controlling the mood of the people (Cheng et al. 2019).

The family members in supporting CBT care for the depressed individuals in the family have the role to offer assistance to the individuals so that their confusion regarding participation in the therapy can be resolved (Borji et al. 2017). The family members also have the role to be knowledgeable regarding the symptoms of depression so that they can determine relapse of symptoms of depression in the family members allowing them to take effective intervention such as CBT at the earliest. This is because the early intervention of CBT in mental health issues leads family members to ensure effective therapeutic intervention for the patients to control the deterioration of their health (Xiu et al. 2019). The carers have the role to maintain a low-stress environment for the patients with depression while providing CBT so that the mental issues of the individuals remain in control (Cheng et al. 2019). The people suffering from depression are often found to be harsh on themselves which leads them to find faults with the activities they execute. In this condition, the carers while delivering care to the patients in the CBT has the role to ensure positive reinforcement for them are provided so that the person develops positive thinking and considering valuing their everyday actions to remain a better mood and mental state (Kwon et al. 2017).

NICE guidelines and CCGs

The NICE guidelines regarding care for people with depression informs that the families or carers when working with such individuals are to develop an open, non-judgemental and engaging relationship, explore different treatment options suitable for the patient, have awareness regarding the stigma related to depression and ensure discussion regarding their care are made to value and respect the patient’s opinions (NICE, 2019). This is an effective approach as it would lead the family members and carers to show value towards the opinion of the service users as well as develop proper therapeutic relation with them. The guidelines also mentioned that principles of care assessment are to be followed and coordination of care for the person is to be made (NICE, 2019). This is required to assist the carers to deliver effective care support to the patient.

The local Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) in the UK mentions that depression is an increasing mental health issue among the population and the talk therapies are most effective for the people to resolve the issues (camdenccg.nhs.uk, 2020). This is because talk therapies help to lower entrenchment of psychological problems and lower emotional stress as it leads people to share their emotions and avail guidance regarding the way they can control their mental condition to ensure proper mood to avoid being depressed. The local CCGs in the UK also mentions that people with depression are to be effectively cared by the families and provided access to nursing and medical care at the earliest to control the disease symptoms from being worsened (camdenccg.nhs.uk, 2020).

The NHS in the UK is seen to arrange integrated care services (ICS) for treatment of patients with depression. This is done to provide safe support, effective care and avoid crisis in care support for the service users (england.nhs.uk, 2019). The integrated care services are beneficial as it helps to extend healthcare to wider patients and carers forming a large and successful healthcare system. Moreover, the ICS helps in improving care quality, enhances access of the patients to care services and arranges care services to be provided under low cost making it able to be used by people in need from different social classes without facing monetary constraints (england.nhs.uk, 2019).

Conclusion

The above discussion informs that depression is a prevalent mental health issue among individuals in the UK. The Cognitive Behaviour Therapy is seen to be effective to resolve depression among the individuals as analysed from the evidence. The role of the family in care for depressed patients is to ensure the individuals attends the therapeutic sessions of the therapy, as well as the family members, have to provide positive psychological support to the patients. The NICE guidelines mention that coordinated and collaborative care is to be provided by family members to depressed patients.

References

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