Essay about What Causes Depression According to Scientists

Genetics plays a key role in depression. There is a higher percentage, if a relative also has depression. There is a 30 percent chance if a relative had it (Comer, pg. 188). In Jennifer’s case, her mother had many symptoms and could have had s depressive disorder. Biochemical factors focus on neurotransmitters and their activity level.

Biopsychologists believe genetics plays a factor in depression for if one has depression it is more likely that a close relative may and will suffer from depression as well. In fact about 20 percent of those relatives suffer from depression as well (Comer, R. J. 2010). Sometimes the cause for depression is simply a chemical imbalance. Low activity of norepinephrine and serotonin has been linked to unipolar depression. As well as certain interactions between neurotransmitters and the endocrine system itself has been linked to depression.

Depression is a disorder that can be caused by many factors. Stress, medication, other medical illnesses, and personality traits can all contribute to depression, but the most common cause, however, is heredity (yahoo.com 1). These are all theorized guesses as to what causes clinical depression. The actual cause has not yet been resolved (yahoo.com 1). It is considered that usually more than one factor causes the disorder (yahoo.com 2).

Research with adopted twins have also shown children who have depressive symptoms have the same as their biological parents therefore showing that depression can be inherited (Wender 1968.)

Even though sadness and grief are mandatory aspects of life, when sadness takes over the quality of someone’s daily life, they become depressed. Depression can be a debilitating disorder and can effect anyone at any time. Because of the broad spectrum of events that can cause depression, there are several different forms such as persistent depressive disorder, seasonal affective disorder, disruptive mood dysregulation disorder, premenstrual dysphoric disorder, major depressive disorder, manic depression, and bipolar disorder. With the prevalence of depression growing rapidly in today’s society, like many others, I know several people who have faced depression and even though they all have the same disorder, their experiences and outcomes

Sadness is experienced everyone occasionally. However, because Depression interferes with daily life and can cause physical pain it lasts longer, Upwards of 66% of individuals with depression don't understand that they have a disease which is treatable and so, unfortunately, don't look for professional help.

Freud suggested/believed that children who are fixed in the oral stage of the psychosexual stages are mostly the children who develop depression; people who are often stuck in the oral stage can have not seen the necessity to move forward to the other stages due to being overly loved in the first few years of childhood.

If anything about depression remained clear throughout history, it was that no one specific cause could be isolated and pinpointed. Burton and Hippocrates both suggested a combination of social, economic, and physiological influences that could combine to cause the development of mental illness; modern understanding indicates genetics, brain biology and chemistry, trauma, stress, and substance abuse can be, and often are, causes of depression. It is understood now that genetics in particular is an important factor, as a person with a family history of depression is two to three times more likely to be depressed themselves. It is important to note, however, that there are currently no known genes that specifically lead to the development of depression—rather, a person most likely inherits a combination of genes from parents who have had depression, and this combination will strongly predispose them

Myths about depression lead society to believe certain things about depression that are not true, which could lead to people with depression not knowing they have the condition or feel a negative way about themselves because of that. One myth about depression is that depression is just sadness and there is no difference between the two. Actually, sadness is only temporary and never lasts, while depression is a chronic condition that can’t go away on its own. Sadness eventually goes away on its own while depression lasts. Also, in depression, people can experience other feelings like emptiness, being tense, and anxious. I selected this myth because I think it is important to know the difference between sadness and depression. Many people with

Genetic variants have a small effect on overall risks of developing diseases and disorders but a need for environmental factors as well is required to develop disorders such as depression. From the biological approach, an issue arises with the claims that genes have the ability to cause depression due to the fact that studies have shown no single gene has the power alone to cause someone to develop depression which shows it is necessary for a sociocultural factors to be involved. A study was done to determine the extent of the relationship between twins and the genetic inheritance of depression. Nurnberger and Gershon (1982) conducted a study to reveal the relationship between genes and depression (Miller 47). The study included a review of the results of seven twins who suffered from depression. The concordance rates for depression were higher in monozygotic twins, 65% average, than dizygotic twins, 14% average. Although the concordance rates were higher in monozygotic twins, the concordance rate is still very low in comparison to 100%. Therefore, the study cannot definitely state anything that says genetic inheritance is 100% responsible for the concordance rates without taking into considerations environmental and psychological factors. The sociocultural level of analysis takes a

Many people throughout their lives go through periods of sadness due to various different things such as grief at the loss of a loved one or a stressful event occurring, and this process is natural, even a part of human nature, in order to experience all aspects of life and get support from those around us (Horwitz & Wakefield, 2007). However, this “organic sadness,” as it were, is quite different from what we call depression as a mental illness; as to say that one has a mood disorder, a number of symptoms must occur at once and impair functioning of the individual (Ingrim, n.d). To put into perspective the prevalence of this disorder, over 98 million people are affected globally, with middle and low income countries more highly afflicted,

Affecting 300 million people, depression is amongst the leading causes of disability in the world according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).4

Genetic research has shown support that biological elements may play a strong role in depression. Genes have a lot to do with Depression. While studying twins, scientists have found that there is a powerful genetic influence in depression. Identical twins are three times more possible to have depression than fraternal twins raised in the same environment. This is because fraternal twins only have around fifty percent of the same genes in common. Additionally, identical twins are five times more likely to have bipolar disorder. This suggests that depression and bipolar disorder can be inherited. Even if twins are adopted they still have the vulnerability to become depressed. Abnormal activity in the brain may also be influenced by the genes.

Depression has numerous causes and effects which affect not only the person but the people around them. Depression doesn’t have a specific cause; in most cases it’s different for everyone. It is a common, treatable mental illness that can be experienced at any time in life. It is often described with feeling sad, unhappy, miserable, or “down in the dumps”. Most people have these feelings on occasion. There are several types of depression. These different types of depression describe slight, but often important, diagnostic differences. True clinical depression interferes with mood disorder in everyday life for weeks, months, or even years. Most people think depression affects only one

Depression comes in many different forms and is called many different things: seasonal affective disorder (SAD), persistent depressive disorder, postpartum depression, chronic depression, clinical depression, and major depressive disorder, just to name a few (Facts and Statistics, 2016). Depression is one of the most common mental disorders (Major Depression Among Adults, 2016). According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), in 2015 6.7% of all adults in the United States had a depressive episode (2016). According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 350 million people, or 5% of the world’s population, suffer from