Biological Causes Of Clinical Depression

You are sort of a walking ghost going through the motions of life.” A depression survivor states, “It’s a total loss of who you are.” The causes of depression vary. Personal experiences like the loss of a family member can trigger this disorder. Genetics also plays a significant role in whether an individual has depression or not. The National Institutes of Health states, “It may also be a reaction to a disturbing event, such as the death of a friend or relative, a breakup with a boyfriend or girlfriend, or failure at school. Risk factors include stressful life events, particularly loss of a parent to death or divorce; child abuse; unstable care giving, poor social skills; chronic illness; and family history of depression.” These occurrences affect an individual’s mood and personality. Symptoms of depression include feeling hopeless or no emotion at all, having trouble making simple decisions, and recurring thoughts of suicide. “Depression has been linked to problems or imbalances in the brain with regard to the neurotransmitters serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine. The neurotransmitter serotonin is involved in regulating many important physiological (body-oriented) functions, including sleep, aggression, eating, sexual

Everyone will have a sad moment in their life, whether it is a death, a friend betraying he or she, or not getting accepted to the college of his or her choice. Depression can be described with many different words, but it will come down to sadness. People who live with depression will see lack of joy, energy, and happiness. They will not enjoy life, or living. They see it as pointless and useless. Many people will have a depressing moment at some point in their lifetime. The people who develop depression do not have to be poor or unsuccessful. They can be making millions a year and still be depressed, showing that money and success does not guarantee happiness. To be able to fully understand what depression is, one will need to know the

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a common mental health diagnosis that affects roughly 3 million people in the United States alone (National Institute). It is an illness that does not discriminate against socioeconomic class, race, gender, etc. and has a biological and environmental affect. The biological component of depression involves familial history and how genetics plays an important role in depression and can increase one’s risk of developing some form of depression during their lifetime. The environmental factors of depression are situational such as financial troubles, relationship problems, loss of a

It does have genetic influence, however it doesn’t have to be a depression gene occurs. The close relatives of someone with depression are more likely than other people to suffer not only from depression but also from anxiety disorders, attention-deficit disorder, alcohol or marijuana abuse, obsessive-compulsive disorder, bulimia, migraine headaches, irritable bowel syndrome, and other conditions. Several genes have been found to increase the risk of depression.

Depression and other mood disorders tend to proliferate as a result of multiple, complex, biological, psychological and social factors, including war and other violent conflicts, natural disasters, poverty and limited access to resources. An amalgamation of genetic and environmental factors unite to unchain depression (Sullivan et al., 2000; Wong and Licinio, 2001; Lesch, 2004; Hamet and Tremblay, 2005; Ebmeier et al., 2006). Several vulnerability genes of large or little effect, in relations with each other and in combination with environmental factors, generate susceptibility to the disorder. Individual’s "personal threshold or vulnerability to depression is a considerable determinant of depression. Some people are more likely to become more

The exact causes of major depressive disorder are extremely complex and cannot be attributed to a single genetic, social, environmental or developmental theory. It is a multifactorial and heterogeneous disorder involving several factors which are simultaneously linked to the development or precipitation of the disorder. The symptoms which are linked to the disorder reflect changes in the monoamine neurotransmitters of the brain, more specifically noradrenaline, serotonin and dopamine. Variations in the genes which are responsible for encoding serotonin transporter proteins account for early childhood experiences being translated into an increased risk of major depressive disorder through stress sensitivity in adulthood.

Depression is a recurring condition; it often presents itself with deep feelings of melancholy and loss of attentiveness in many things which inhibits people with depression from experiencing pleasure (Carr, 2012). Clinical features of depression include a negative cognitive style which maintains attention on negative aspects, ‘’somatic symptoms, psychomotor retardation…and a deterioration in relationships’’ (Carr, 2012, page 203). There are many explanations for depression and treatments ranging from CBT to antidepressants, have been developed with the help of these. Biological factors suggest that depression is 40% heritable; a genetic vulnerability to depression consists of genes which affects the capability of serotonin (Carr, 2012). Psychoanalytic

The biologic basis of Clinical Depression originates in the brain. Your brain is made up of a complex network of nerve cells, called neurons and of brain chemicals, called neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters transmit messages from one neuron to another.

Almost everyone suffers from depression one point in time in their life, most people believe that depression is a state of being sad, but in reality, it's actually a disease that takes over the ability to feel different sorts of emotion, rather if its good or not. People who suffer from severe depression have a hard time coping to everyday life such as, the ability to function correctly at work or with their family members and close friends. It cause so much emotional sadness and pain to the individual who is suffering from the condition, and also to the ones who loves them the most. Study shows that depression can be pass down person to person by there genetic genes or some sort of outside interference such as stressful life events, medical problems or

Depression is often referred to as the “common cold” of psychiatric illnesses since it can affect anyone and has no guaranteed cure. One estimation is that approximately 20% of Americans will experience at least one depressive episode in their lifetime, and that approximately 20% of those patients will remain depressed for at least five years (Hirschfeld, 2012). Many factors have been thought to play a causal role in the development of depression, the most obvious of which are those which relate to the environmental or genetic characteristics of the individual. For instance, traumatic childhood experiences and genetic vulnerabilities have been shown to increase the risk of developing depression in adulthood (Saveanu and Nemeroff, 2012; Ménard,

These siblings were of European ancestry and the study was carried out at King’s College by multiple researchers. The results of the study showed that a region of the DNA showed linkage to recurrent depression. Researcher were able to determine that a region on chromosome 3 was linked to depression. In 2003 researchers discovered that people with a distinct variant in serotonin- transporter gene, 5-HTT, were more likely to become depressed when faced with stress. The 5-HTT gene comes in two versions. A less efficient gene known as the “short” gene and the more efficient gene known as the “long” gene. Every person inherits two copies of the gene, one from each pare.t (paraphrase). The research consisted of tracking more than eight hundred young adults for a period of over five years. Results showed that the young adults with at least one less efficient gene, the ‘short gene” were 33% depressed after exposed to stressful life evens. On the other hand, only 17% of the young adults with the two efficient genes, the “long” gene, experienced symptoms and grew depressed such as those with the “short”

Depression is the starting problem of many health problems. This mental health problem is affecting millions of people. An individual may slowly carve a path to become depress if they fall under the risk factors. The risk factors of depression can vary from person to person. Most common risk factors are genetics, traumatic events, history of depression, and the use of drugs.

has been assumed to be the result of a combination of factors, including: genetic, biochemical, and social factors. Various studies have confirmed that genetic factors play a role in most forms of depression. Studies have shown that if one parent

It is very much understood that there are also many non-genetic factors that cause depression, including certain illnesses, maybe the loss of a close relationship or even just being in stressful environmental conditions (Johnson 1). But for the most part, people born in recent decades have been found to have an increased risk for depression as compared to those born much longer ago (Regan 1).

Today steps can be taken to provide help to someone suffering from depression. When suffering from depression having a support system is very important along with being aware of the various coping mechanisms that can help treat depression. Depression can be treated with psychotherapy, antidepressant