The study used various data collection methods to gather data from existing archive sources. First, document and records review was used as the primary data collection method to facilitate the entire study. A significant part of the data came from existing written records and reports regarding depression and other mental health aspects and their prevalence during the 1990s. The method provided a wide range of information that enhanced conclusions for the study. Furthermore, secondary information was required by evaluating information from different sources from the 1990s on the predominance of depressed symptoms. Moreover, the research utilized official documents on the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders to access the data for the proposed study from a legal point of view. Since the study was focused on past events involving psychological health, primarily depression, past facts will be an essential aspect of the research. Healthcare publications supplied a wealth of information on this subject, allowing researchers to see how the phenomena have evolved through time.
The graphical representation of bar graphs of the prevalence of depression in the 1990s has on the vertical axis the prevalence of depression (in percentage). On the horizontal axis are the year brackets from 1990 to 2016. The bar graph shows that depression has been a severe menace over the years, considering the higher prevalence of bar graph representation. Between the years 1990-1995, the prevalence of depression was at 36%. Similarly, during 1996-2000, the prevalence of depression in the study was 36%. The prevalence of depression in the consecutive year bracket, 2001-2005, was recorded at 26%. Consequently, a drop in the prevalence rate, 24%, was witnessed in the bracket year 2006-2010. A rise of 3% is observed in the 2011-2016 year bracket to make a prevalence of 27%. With the fluctuating rates of depression between the different year brackets, further research is needed to assess the factors that bring about such higher prevalence.
Between 1990 and 2010, the incidence of mental health problems and depression diagnoses in patients declined modestly. This decline could be attributable to more excellent detection of the disorder and growing public awareness and understanding of obtaining care in the modern 21st century. The medicinal innovations were few in the 1990s compared to the 21st century, where technological advances have been made in the medical field concerning diagnosing and treating depressive symptoms. Furthermore, since age is a cause or a consequence of depression and depressed side effects, depression is anticipated to fluctuate with time. However, there is no significant difference between the depressive symptoms of patients who had suffered depression in the 1990s and the current situation. Some of the factors that cause depression, such as the intake of alcohol and other drugs, are higher in the current situation. There is no significant change in depressive symptoms among people. Therefore, it is prudent that knowledge about mental illnesses in medical settings be raised to enhance collaboration amongst healthcare providers and patients.
Reference
Wang, J., Wu, X., Lai, W., Long, E., Zhang, X., Li, W., Zhu, Y., Chen, C., Zhong, X., Liu, Z. & Wang, D. (2017). Prevalence of depression and depressive symptoms among outpatients: A systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ Open, 7(8). Web.