Question Details

COMM 150 Week 3 Assignment 2
Researching Depression

Purpose
To assess your ability to:
•	Describe the influences on emotional experiences and expressions.
•	Analyze a new external environment for perceptions and emotions.

Overview
The university recognizes that you are not a psychological clinician, nor will you be one once you successfully complete this assignment. Clinical depression is just one type of disorder that can severely impact communication. The most important outcome of this assignment should be a better understanding about how you should and should not communicate with those suffering from depression.
Note: Your points of advice regarding depression should not come from your own experiences or common sense, but from credible sources such as mental health professionals and academic research.

Action Items
1.	Research the causes, symptoms, and treatments for depression.
Note: Depression is similar to, and different from, sadness. This is especially important for interpersonal communication because the behaviors that would help a sad person would not necessarily help a depressed person, and vice versa.
2.	Research the constructive and destructive ways of communicating with those suffering from depression.
Note: Research sources should include a combination of books, journal articles, Internet searches, and/or discussions with mental health professionals. Using a variety of sources is important because you are likely to find disagreement among sources on some of these issues.
3.	Prepare a 2-3 page paper that answers the following questions:
•	What is depression, and how is it related to sadness?
•	What are the causes of depression?
•	What are the common symptoms of depression?
•	What therapies exist to treat depression?
•	What are the most constructive and destructive ways of communicating with a depressed person?

Submission Instructions
Submit this assignment using the Submit tool.
In addition, bring a copy of your assignment to class.

Grading Rubric
•	Content - relevance, accuracy, depth: 30 points
•	Effectiveness - writing style, appropriateness to purpose and audience, tone, flow/readability, clarity, organization, progression: 20 points
•	Note that points will be deducted for failing to meet the requirements of error-free mechanics and format criteria.