Clinical Depression

This study investigated the extent to which hardiness, sensation seeking, optimism and social support predicts stress tolerance among private secondary school teachers in Lagos State, Nigeria. Using an ex post-facto design, 272 teachers (123 males; 149 females) were selected from 8 privates secondary schools in Lagos State. Their ages ranged from 21 to 58 years with a mean age of 37.57 years (SD=11.29). The study instruments contain short hardiness scale, sensation seeking scale, optimism scale, social support scale and stress tolerance scale. Six hypotheses were generated and tested using Pearson Product Moment Correlation and Hierarchical Multiple Regression Analysis. The result showed that hardiness significantly predicted stress tolerance among private secondary school teachers (β=-0.24; t=-5.90; p<0.01). Sensation seeking significantly predicted stress tolerance among private secondary school teachers (β=0.18; t=3.88; p<0.01). Also, optimism significantly predicted stress tolerance among private secondary school teachers (β=-0.18; t=-3.72; p<0.01). Similarly social support had a positive relationship with stress tolerance among private secondary school teachers (r=(270) =.562; p<0.01). However, educational qualification significantly predicted stress tolerance among private secondary school teachers (β=0.27; t=-3.85; p<0.01). Finally, the multiple regression analysis also indicated that hardiness, sensation seeking, optimism, and social support jointly predicts stress tolerance among private secondary school teachers [F(1,268)=27.25; p<0.01]. Thus, it is recommended that management should employ more qualified teachers and provide conductive work environment for their employees.

Background: Although combined pharmacotherapy and teaching illness management are the standard in the treatment of depressed inpatients, few studies have been reported of the effects of these programs. The purpose of this study was to determine the applicability and preliminary effectiveness of a brief, group-based cognitivebehavioural illness management program for depression, and to explore whether patient socio demographic and clinical characteristics predicted differential treatment response.
Methods: 97 inpatients with a major depression participated in a 6-week treatment program providing psycho education and skills to cope with the illness. Psychopathology, global functioning, knowledge about depression, selfesteem covering areas of problem solving, assertiveness and social competence were assessed as dependent variables.
Results: Overall, patients improved over the treatment period on most dimensions of psychopathology, knowledge about depression, and self-esteem. There was little evidence of differential treatment response as a function of either socio demographic or clinical variables. However, level of education was related to changes in psychopathology from pre- to post-treatment with higher educated patients benefiting most. Patients who were rapidly discharged from the hospital benefited more than inpatients in symptoms and problem solving skills. At twoand six year follow-ups, characteristics such as age and duration of illness were the only significant predictors for relapses.
Limitations: The absence of a control group limits the conclusions that can be drawn from this study.
Conclusion: These results suggest that this illness management program may be a useful approach to treating patients with severe depression, and that it warrants further investigation in a controlled study.

Depression is a mental disorder that makes an individual responsive to negative stimuli as higher cognitive functions of the brain of the individual like perception, attention, memory related functions, planning, decision making etc. are seriously challenged by the causes like excessive stresses in life, serious illness, loss of self-esteem, certain medications etc. Erroneous information processing in the brain of depressive individuals attaches them to the feelings of loss, sadness and hopelessness. In extremely stressful situation the cognitive functions of the depressive individuals may impaired to such an extent that they may have the feeling of entrapment for which they may take the way of suicidal acts for escape. A number of brain regions that are involved in higher cognitive functions are altered in depression patients, suicidal individuals and in complete suicides. Along with the morphological changes, monoaminergic neurotransmission system is also severely deteriorated in these brain regions indicating their possible involvements in regulating cognitive activities. Monoaminergic dysfunctions may give rise to serious cognitive impairments and deterioration of associated mental functions required for maintaining normal internal homeostasis. Loss of cognitive functions makes an individual incapable to interact properly to various aspects of normal life functions making them depressive and severe depression may be the forerunner of suicidal acts.

The principal purpose of this Study is to assert that either or both of the Prokineticins fail to be degraded in the case of the Affective Disorders. Although genetic defects in PROKR2 (the Gene responsible for synthesizing Prokineticin 2 Receptor protein) are usually associated with Kallmann Syndrome, this study intends to indicate that the Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) rs6053303 was homozygous in 4 out of 7 Affective Disorder Genomes. Concerning Kallmann Syndrome, Dode C et al. have noted that this Disorder is caused by insufficient prokineticinsignalling through PROKR2. By comparison, Hannon proposes that the Affective Disorders may be caused by PROKR2’s failure to degrade either or both of the Prokineticins.

Other Researchers have found that exogenous mRNA can be internalized by cells and translated into functioning protein. PROKR2 mRNA has been sequenced (NCBI, ‘Nucleotide’, NM_144773.2); arguably this could be used to restore function to the Prokineticin 2 Receptor and thereby control both of the Affective Disorders (Endogenous Depression and Bipolar Disorder).