Change Proposal on Major Depressive Disorder

Benchmark - Capstone Project Change Proposal
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Benchmark - Capstone Project Change Proposal
* Background
Major depressive disorder is one of the most serious health complications affecting millions worldwide. In the U.S, it continues to be a leading cause of both physical and social distress. According to Bains and Abdijadid (2022), major depressive disorder is the third leading cause of the global disease burden according to WHO. It continues to be an issue due to the relatively fewer efforts towards combatting it on a more serious note. In most cases, it always goes unnoticed, and even if doctors diagnose it, they lag in offering the most needed treatment regime. As society continues advancing in a frenzy, cases of MDD will only increase since the pressure to fit in and survive will be too much on people.
MDD is quite debilitating, with the general manifestations of constant anxiety, mood swings, lack of appetite, and poor eating or sleeping patterns. An individual who was initially happy and jovial suddenly loses interest in the same activities he used to enjoy. Bains and Abdijadid (2022) assert that the occurrence of major depressive disorder is multifaceted, incorporating the biological, environmental, genetic, and psychosocial elements that define a person's existence. These are the aspects that determine an individual's well-being. The individual will therefore have difficulty handling even the most basic routines, such as self-grooming, keeping time, and general personal relations with others. Over the past few years, there has been a significant increase in MDD among young adults and adults. This might be down to societal changes and how things are done, relationship and job pressures, life's frustrations, and substance abuse.
Also known as clinical depression, MDD is quite different from other mental illnesses because it is chronic and might permanently impact a person if not treated. There is also the issue raised by high rates of recurrence of the illness, which tends to point towards either misdiagnosis or unsatisfactory treatment regimens for the same. There is a need for a more thorough clinical approach to tackling the disease backed up by enough evidence. Additionally, there is a need to properly understand the illness for there to be interventions and new ways of combatting it.
There are clinical ways of dealing with MDD, such as the prescription f antidepressants. However, there is a need to incorporate additional interventions such as physical exercise and wellness training. This is because some patients, such as the older ones, might have other health issues that would clash with these medications. As a result, this portion of the population might have adverse side effects, hence raising a case for alternative and supplementary ways of tackling MDD. This is especially so when such patients are on medications that affect neurotransmitters in one way or the other. This task focuses on exacting this change in the clinical setup to incorporate exercise and wellness as an integral element in treating and managing MDD.
* Clinical problem statement
As noted earlier, major depressive disorder is a leading contributor to the global disease burden (Bains & Abdijadid, 2022). This means that there will be more and more pressure placed upon the healthcare infrastructure of every country as it grapples with ways of dealing with the illness. Increased funding means a diversion of funds from other sectors of the economy to tackle this. Drug abuse will increase as these patients try to find a way of living through their pains, which will then mean an increase in illicit trade and a general weakening of the population. Industries will face shortages of skilled manpower as some will be nursing the illness and hence be deemed unable to work.
For those who can, there will be risks of poor performance and even injuries or fatalities in instances where their workplaces are dangerous, resulting in endless lawsuits and serious implications, such as defamation, for the organizations. Eventually, the economies will not be able to generate enough to fund their various sectors adequately. The world is just working on a ticking time bomb with a mentally ill population. It will just be a matter of time before the effects reach every facet of life. Clinically, more MDD patients are concerned about the overstretched and often understaffed medical facilities.
In the case of America, the issue has been repetitive over the years and even getting worse. This means the earlier and current practices in treating and managing major depressive disorder still fall short of what is expected. Perhaps a change in these clinical practices would be the best way forward. Development and implementation of non-pharmacological interventions to help manage major depressive disorder would be helpful in gaining some traction as far as tackling the illness goes. Additionally, engaging in physical activity would positively impact patients' moods, thoughts, and ways of thinking without any harmful side effects. It would be necessary for nurses and other medical professionals to work together at a hospital to create a customized physical exercise program that addresses the patients' mental health concerns.
With an aging population in much of Europe, Asia, and the U.S., MDD poses a serious risk, given that fatalities might easily occur. They are at a higher risk because of their relatively low economic ability, social isolation, and reduced mobility, which impinges on their ability to take good care of themselves (Vu et al., 2019). The duty is to protect and prolong life in whichever way that is clinically possible, including embracing changes and new approaches to doing the same. Therefore, finding ways of tackling the illness will help prevent a dangerous and vicious cycle that might be triggered by the failure to do so. MDD patients need a clinical approach that will be sustainable and practical in nature.
This proposed change in clinical approach is vital since it will serve two purposes. First, it will help to provide an alternative assault method on the illness, which would be really important in forming a multipronged approach towards combatting the same. Secondly, through the introduction of self-management procedures where patients can easily affect specific treatment approaches by themselves, it will help significantly in the reduction of costs involved in the treatment of MDD. At a time when the healthcare costs in the U.S. are at an all-time high, this would come as a welcome move, given that it is aimed at tackling an illness prevalent amongst the population.
* Purpose of the change proposal
The change proposal aims to evaluate and determine the suitability and effectiveness of physical activities in managing major depressive disorder across the entire population. Physical exercise has been scientifically and medically proven to be an essential player in an individual's mood regulation and hence general well-being (Grieken et al., 2018). It is also an efficient self-management procedure, where the patient can easily put a schedule that would suit them at whichever time is convenient to them as well. As initially noted, this change proposal will have multiple benefits for the patient from a health and financial point of view.
Physical exercises keep the mind busy and the body engaged, something that plays a crucial role in eliminating negative thoughts that are significant symptoms of MDD. Higher instances of sedentary life often result in lesser brain activity and hence lesser secretion of beneficial hormones, thereby increasing risks of the development of the major depressive disorder. According to research done by Muri and his team (2018) on the role played by physical exercise in combatting depression; it was found that exercise has got significant impacts on the prevention of aging of the immune and nervous systems, improvement of the body's homeostatic processes, and dampening of inflammatory processes in the body.
In the increasingly busy lifestyle as a result of the current trends in society, people have become used to drugs. For example, they take pills when they do not have an appetite or suffer from insomnia. They go for painkillers when they have a slight headache or migraine. The same is the case when they have anxiety issues and such. They tend to forget that these are the symptoms of the early onset of MDD and that physical exercise can significantly reduce these symptoms and help return the individual to an initial state of good health (Murri et al., 2018).
It is quite similar to when an individual abuses drugs such as heroin and cocaine; they become addicted to them and cannot do anything or even operate normally without them. Similarly, being so used to drugs for the treatment of MDD also leaves the body completely dependent on them to the extent that the lack of these drugs makes the manifestations of MDD even more pronounced since the body cannot combat them on its own even in the slightest of ways. It is time to recondition and reprogram the body into fighting for itself. The body will gradually be trained to be self-sustaining and self-regulating when it comes to fighting certain diseases, as its immune system will gradually be strengthened through physical exercises.
The change proposal would therefore be crucial in helping to oversee a paradigm shift from a more drug-oriented treatment approach to a more exercise-oriented management approach to MDD. The body works based on what is fed to it and what conditions it. Essentially, it is high time that ...