Summary Of Lifting The Curtain On Depression

The trend of neurobiology and physiology predicting and causing behavioris not a new fact. So many illnesses and diseases are now attributed to biological mechanisms. A recent article in Newsweek comments on how those in the field of psychology and neuroscience are beginning to stress the fact that certain brain mechanisms account for mental illnesses and particular behaviors. Doctors seem to blame their patients peculiarities on a biologically based mental illness, rather then seeing them as individual responses to lifes circumstances (Begley 1998). It then becomes more common to prescribe drugs to alleviate the symptoms rather than understanding the behavior. Two recent developments have

Russo SJ, Nestler EJ. The brain reward circuitry in mood disorders. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2013;14(9):609-625.

Over the years, it has been evident that many scholars, researchers, and mental health professionals in the psychology field are heavily relying on college/university students when studying mental health conditions.  More specifically, a prominent mental condition that has dramatically risen over the years in its prevalence is what most people encounter at least once in their lifetime but the extreme aspects of this disorder causes excruciating emotional pain and is highly debilitating. This disorder is depression. Depression is a disorder on a spectrum and the more extreme the illness is, the higher level of damaging effects it has,

The article claims that many psychological disorders, especially depression, can be caused by inflammation in the brain.

More severe cases would have been medicated. Therefore the result cannot be used to generalise for people who suffer from severe depression and can only be used to explain the effectiveness on mild to moderate depression. This doesn’t limit the usefulness of the paper as it still shows how antidepressant affect people however only those who suffer from mild to moderate symptoms not covering the full spectrum of different ranges of symptoms a patient could

Events such as the death of a loved one, financial instability, or general emotional distress all statistically increase one’s likelihood of developing depression, and both of the theories that I have discussed fail to account for the influence that these current events may have on an individual’s mental health. The psychoanalytical approach focuses only on early childhood, while the biological approach does not take any life events at all into account. Psychoanalysis assumes that depression is rooted in early childhood with little evidence to support this assumption. The biological approach, while still erasing the effect that life events can have on depression, provides much more valid scientific evidence to strengthen its theories. Because of this, I believe the biological approach to be a more sound

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Eduardo Bunn, Undergraduate student of Psychology, Texas A & M International University, TX.

Psychology is an ever evolving field of study that is truly just in its infancy. Although tremendous strides have been made in our understanding of behavior, cognitions, emotions and brain functions, it has only been in the last 130 years that psychology has been studied as a science (Goodwin, 2015, p. 4). It is important for mental health professionals to understand the history and evolution of psychology because it is difficult, if not impossible, to fully grasp the subject without understanding its history. Goodwin (2015) explains that knowing the history of psychology helps us critically think about current issues and puts us in a better position to evaluate new claims of

The main idea of the article “Neurobiology of Depression,” is that although depression research has been slow, three promising hypotheses have been made regarding depression and antidepressant action. Nestler, Barrot, DiLeone, Eisch, Gold, and Monteggia (2002) support their main idea by incorporating various forms of evidence such as statistics and study data. By the use of statistics, such as the statistic that “severe forms of depression affect 2%–5% of the U.S. population,” the authors support their claim that depression is a serious illness that is common in the United States (Nestler et al., 2002, p. 13). Essentially, utilizing statistics within their article makes their topic more convincing to the reader. Likewise, the use of study data

A new study by Eiko Fried from the University van Amsterdam suggests that depression is not consistent amongst those who suffer from it. Research has found that the symptoms of depression, as measured by various scales, rarely overlap. These conclusions indicate that not all treatments for depression are effective and a more personalized approach will be required when dealing with this disorder. However, these results may cause problems with how this illness is studied. Eiko states

Depression is a key public health problem and a foremost forecaster of functional disability and mortality. The yearly economic outcomes of depression have been estimated at 83 billion dollars in the United States and 118 billion euro in Europe. Optimal depression treatment improves results for the majority patients (Uptodate).

Depression rates rush during adolescence, specifically among females. In the present study, depressed juvenile females displayed increased neural reactivity to negative outcomes at two altered processing phases, with reactivity in the late stage precisely connected with the indicator of thought. The recent studies show that depressed adolescents are described by sensitivity to harmful consequences and reduced reaction to rewards. In the study, healthy and depressed female adolescents (the ages 13-18 years) completed a gambling task during the 128-channel event related potentials (ERPs) recording. The analyses focused on ERPs that were linked to initial processing of

History has had a huge impact on the how major depressive disorder has been developed into the diagnosis that is today. In the past, mood disorders such as major depressive disorder was thought of as organic and responsive by the DSM-I (Richards, 2011). In the DSM-II, described mood disorders to be psychotic and neurotic (Richards, 2011). Depression was considered to be a disease within the brain (Richards, 2011). Mood disorders such as depression were believed to be cured once the source of it was removed (Richards, 2011). The DSM-III diagnosed individuals with a mood disorder such as depression regardless of meeting a specific criteria (Richards, 2011). It was the goal of the mental health professional to reduce the symptoms of the disorder (Richards, 2011). It was not until the 1980’s that professional were researching the long-term effects of depression and patient’s outcomes in regards to treatment (Richards, 2011).

Depression is the most common of all psychological disorders, affecting 100 million people worldwide. The depression ranges from mild feelings of uneasiness, sadness, and apathy to intense suicidal despair. (Kasschau) If left untreated, it could lead the

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed toTherese Hoff Macan, Department of Psychology, University of