Bio-Psychological Factors Contributing to Depression: Nursing Interventions and Ethical Implications

Running Head: MENTAL HEALTH NURSING 0
Mental health Nursing
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MENTAL HEALTH NURSING 1
Depression
Depression is the common and major mood disorder which causes serious health
problems that may affect the brain’s normal process of thinking, feeling and doing daily life
activities like eating, sleeping and working. It affected more than 300 million people
worldwide and nearly 800000 people commit suicide every year (World Health Organisation,
2018). Particularly in America depression affects around 15 percent to 19 % people ages
more than 65 (Lippincott Nursing Center, 2018). Depression is also associated with other
psychological disorders such as stress and anxiety. There are various types of depressions
such as persistent depressive disorder, postpartum depression, psychotic depression,
psychotic depression, bipolar, and seasonal affective disorder (National Institute of Mental
Health, 2018). The symptoms associated with depression include feeling sad, loss of interest,
change in appetite, loss of energy, feeling worthless, difficulty in breathing, thoughts of
suicide (CAMH, 2018). Depression is affecting one adult among 15 young people in a year.
And one in 6 people experience this disorder once in their life and can affect anyone any time
(American Psychiatric Association, 2018). In the given case scenario the patient is suffering
from a severe and long-term depression which affecting the eating and sleeping habits of the
diseased person. In this essay, the bio-psychological factors that contribute to developing
mood disorder will be discussed. The appropriate nursing interventions beneficial in this case
and the ethical implications related to this case study will be mentioned in this essay.
The bio-psychosocial factor associated with depression includes biological,
psychological and social factors. The biological factors that may contribute to developing
depression may be genetic, biochemical, physical. Various studies have been conducted on
the genetic factors that may take part in developing depression. The predisposition to cause
depression can be inherited and it is likely to be an effect of many genes rather than one gene
(Jeon, Amidfar & Yong, 2017). It has been studied that the risk of developing depression is

MENTAL HEALTH NURSING 2
nearly 40 percent if a single parent is affected with this disorder, and the remaining 60 % is
due to the individuals own environment (Legg, 2016). The patient in the given case study has
a family history of depression which may be the factor in developing depression in Amy, as
she also has the same symptoms as her mother. The person with this disorder may also have
an imbalanced activity of neurotransmitters which are the chemical that used by brain cells to
communicate with each other. The imbalance occurs in these neurotransmitters prevents the
normal functioning of the brain and develop symptoms like sleeplessness, low thinking
ability and loss of appetite (Dobson, & Dozois, 2011). Gender and age are also the risk
factors of this mood disorder. Although depression may develop at any age, the elderly
people are more likely to be depressed. Women’s experience this disease more than males;
this may be due to the hormonal factors during pregnancy, pre-menopause, and menopause
(Albert, 2015). According to a study conducted by Sowoslo and Orth (2013), depression and
low self-esteem are strongly related, they further stated that decreased self-esteem contributes
to depression and can be a predictor of the mood disorders such anxiety and stress.
The psychological factors may contribute in Amy's case are low self-esteem,
pessimist behavior, sensitivity to rejection or loss and overwhelmed with stress. She was
admitted to four different hospitals for the same health issues and not treated well. Because of
this, the patient felt worthlessness, hopelessness, and helplessness. After she diagnosed with
diabetes and hypertension, she started to feel depressed and suffers for ten years with this
psychological disorder. A study conducted on forty hypertensive patients by Rubio-Guerra,
Rodriguez, Vargas-Ayala, Huerta-Ramirez, Serna, and Lozano-Nuevo (2013) revealed that
the depression is the common feature in diseased people experiencing uncontrolled
hypertension. Various studies show the effects of social factors in developing the mood
disorder. According to Legg (2016), prolonged social isolation is the common source of
depression, feeling of loneliness and the feeling of exclusion may be contributing to the