Nature vs Nurture - Depression

Major depression is a commonly diagnosed psychological disorder affecting individuals’ ability to feel happiness and peace of mind. Those who suffer experience negative emotions, lack of motivation, changes in behaviour and dysfunctional cognitive symptoms. Depression is classified by the Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders Fifth Edition (DSM-5) as five of more of the listed symptoms present persistently over the same two weeks. One of these symptoms must be depressed mood or loss of interest in previously pleasurable activities. Depression causes disruption to typical daily life such as inability to maintain friendships and jobs. Other symptoms outlined by the DSM-5 include; insomnia, fatigue and recurrent thoughts of death. There is much debate over what exactly causes depression. Biological explanations question hereditary and neurotransmitter factors. While psychological theories include the cognitive ideas of Beck’s negative triad and hopelessness theory. This essay will focus on the ways in which psychological and biological explanations contrast and how their theories can overlap to better understand depression.

Nature or Nurture. Nature may be all of the genes and hereditary factors with which influence them to become who they are such as physical appearances and personality characteristics. Nurturing impacts people’s lives as well as how they are raised and all the environmental factors. In combination, these qualities can be the true identity of oneself. Many people may argue that nurture appears to a play huge factor in the two, but others may think otherwise. Not having both as a characteristic can have a negative effect on a person physically and mentally. The debate of nature versus nurture appears to be the oldest argument known to man, and it still remains to be unanswered. In the old-age argument nature versus nurture, nature may play a huge role in determining a person’s true identity.

Research shows that mental health can be a mix of nurture and nature. As individual’s environment and experience may dictate how they react physically and mentally to a situation for example, if a child has observed their parents being concerned about weight they are more likely to be concerned about weight in later life however, this can be linked to the nature

The behaviourist approach believes that people, as well as animals, are controlled by their surrounding environment which has a direct impact upon their behaviour and whether they would suffer from mental illness (McLeod, S. 2007). Whereas the biological approach views genes, chromosomes and the nervous system as contributing factors to mental health and the way people behave, this theory believes that people have inherited traits of mental illness which may have adapted through evolution. These perspectives argue whether nature (biological) or nurture (behaviourist) have an influence over life and life decisions which has caused numerous ongoing debates (McLeod, S. 2007).

The adversities that I researched and that showed up most often are: Parental drinking, economic hardship, parental mental illness, violence in the family, parent’s marital problems, death of mother or father, or the absence of a loved one. These earlier childhood adversities can be predictors for what may arise in later years. These situations cause anxiety in children and for this reason children should not be exposed to these adversities. Anxiety tends to be a precursor for depression. (Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 33.1. pg. 13)(Feb. 2005).

What is it that truly shapes people today? Where do our behaviors, beliefs, characteristics, and attitudes come from? The great psychological debate of nature versus nurture has been brought upon many ways of being for many years. One of the most contradicting arguments is whether or not depression is caused by genetics or if it is completely based on our environment, how we grow up, and what we are exposed to as a child. Is it really in our blood, or is it from social media and the people around us? The growth and development of children has been a topic of confusion and debate for a long time, especially with the major issue of depression defeating many young people nowadays.

Nature v. Nurture is the long lasting debate about whether people inherit their personality traits from their parents or if they are developed through their environment. Neither position has been proven because it is hard to find solid, irrefutable, scientific evidence to support either one. Nature v. Nurture can deal with many aspects of a person’s personality, such as intelligence and how a person was able to be as smart as they are. Intelligence is something that can be inherited, just as people inherited their physical characteristics. However, some feel that children are raised to be intelligent, and that kids cannot inherit something that is not visible or tangible. Maternal twins are a good study of Nature v. Nurture, because

Nature vs Nurture is something that has been researched for many years especially when it comes to finding the reason for someone committing a crime. When talking about nature, I am talking about how you are born. The genes that you are born with that make you who you are. When referring to nurture I am talking about how someone is raised. Such as the environment you live in and what is taught to you. As humans we cannot control our nature it is simply what you are born with. When you are born you have all your genes that will decide what you look like, how tall or short you will be, so why do we not believe that our behavioral tendencies, and personality attributes come from our genes too. Psychological theories such as the biological approach, and psychoanalysis have helped to show us how are genetics predetermine our behavior. Researchers have found multiple facts that support each side and for years no one has been able to decide which one influences us over the other one. I believe that our nature has a greater impact on us then our nurture especially when it comes to criminal actions.

The two presented domains of knowledge about human personality introduce key concepts when trying to understand the factors related to depression and its consequences. On one side we have the biological domain which, from my point of view, it offers a rather deterministic perspective by explaining that all human behaviour relies on a biologically certified explanations. With three distinguished approaches within the biological domain: genetics, psychophysiology and evolution researchers have discovered hereditary aspects such as shared personality traits or proneness to certain attitudes, emotions or disorders which have been particularly assessed in Liona’s case. Meanwhile the cognitive perspective focuses more on explaining human behaviour

In society, not one person is alike. By saying this, many people believe that they strongly take after their parents. Meaning they think Nature is a big part in their life and why they are who they are. The genes in each cell in us humans determine the different traits that we have, more dominantly on the physical connections like eye color, hair color, ear size, height, and other traits. However, it is still not known whether the more abstract attributes like personality, intelligence, sexual orientation, likes and dislikes are gene-coded in our DNA. The nurture theory has experiments showing a child’s behavior with the environment as to adult behavior. In the Nature Vs Nurture debate, everyone has their own thoughts and ideas on each

Aim: To calculate meta-analytic estimates of heritability in liability and shared an individual – specific environmental effects from the pooled twin data.

Poor children have greater psychological distress than well off children (16). They are more likely to suffer from mood disorders, psychoses, suicide, personality disorders, and alcohol and substance abuse. Mood disorders such as depression are very common for children coming from poor backgrounds. “Depression is a common and serious medical illness that negatively affects how you feel, the way you think and how you act (17).” Some of the environmental factors that can cause depression are exposure to violence, neglect, and abuse.

As studied in the science of psychology, the human being’s mental state is a mixture of our genetic makeup and the environment that shapes up. When a person is born, they come into the world with existing traits and characteristics that they inherit from their parents. Then, over time, they grow into an environment that shapes who they become, personality, for example, is already existing but through imitation and conditioning it is molded into a different version of itself. The mind, for instance, is a product of both factors in the way that our genes are the mold, our environment is the potter, and our mind is the pottery. This article revises just that; the effects that external influences play in our mental and physical health.

Investigations clearly show that both nature and nurture play significant roles in the origin of psychopathology. Many studies based on adoption, twins and family have confidently recognized the roles of both genes and environment in mental disorders. Having a close relative with a mental health disorder is typically the most predictable risk factor for increasing that disorder to you, but the relationship is not inevitable. Even identical twins with identical genes sometimes do not develop the same psychiatric disorder. It remains difficult, to determine if genes for disorder are characterize by certain ecological conditions or psychopathology. The reason for this difficulty lies in the complex nature of mental disorders. Many disorders such

Over the years, people have argued and discussed about what could be possible causes of depression. Some experts believe that a person’s genes could be a determinative of whether he or she is inclined or genetically predisposed, to depression. Experts point it to the fact that depressive genes could run in families. Other specialists lessen the role of the person’s genetic, arguing that depression is generally caused by stress, trauma, or physical or mental illness.