Teen Depression : Genetics Or Situational Cause Word Count

This topic came from the thought that depression is something that all of us have experienced at some point in our lives. It focuses on adolescents because during this period we are young and vulnerable and may not know how to cope with situations or circumstances that may lead us into depression. Factors such as going through puberty and issues at home with parents can all cause depression. This paper will talk about what is depression, how families can affect depression in the child, and how depression can lead to long term effects.

It appears that psychological, social, and biological factors will all play a role into the various degrees that cause depression. Many theorists believe that the depression

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.

In my personal opinion nature and nurture both had a role in my depression and anxiety disorder. At the end of eight grade I started to get very sick. My gallbladder had stopped functioning properly. I went back and forth to different doctors and the hospital. They would tell me that it is all in my head. We finally found a doctor that believed me, and he ran test on me. It wasn’t in my head, it was really happening to me.

Depression often runs in families, which suggest that individuals may inherit genes that make them vulnerable to developing depression (Kam,2009). Depressive and manic-depressive illnesses occur more frequently in particular families than in the population at large. Family members of a depressed person have a risk of approximately 20-25% of having the disease themselves. Offspring at high risk for the disorder often had anxiety problems as young children (Kam,2009). The sequence seems to be anxiety disorders, mostly phobias, before puberty. Then in adolescence you begin to see depression, and sometimes in late adolescence and early adulthood, especially in boys, you see substance abuse (Kam,2009)

Depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and an endless list of other mental issues transcend one’s upbringing. But how exactly do they factor into the equation? First, we have to discuss the basics of mood disorders. Essentially, all the illnesses mentioned above are classified as mood disorders. Although scientists are still conducting extensive studies on the subject to gain further information, the general understanding is that an imbalance of chemicals in the brain such as, serotonin and norepinephrine, can negatively alter one’s thoughts, emotions and perception of reality (SAVE). The symptoms can be devastating, adversely affecting all areas of a person’s life. SAVE weighs in, “Many people who suffer from depression report feeling as though they've lost the ability to imagine a happy future, or remember a happy past.” Friends of mine, suffering from destructive mood disorders, have described depression as a feeling of being “stuck,” as if they are frozen in time, watching the rest of the world move on around them. Did they inherit these issues from their family? Through extensive studies, Douglas Levinson and Walter Nichols of the Stanford Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences aimed to find an answer. They found that around 50 percent of depression cases are caused by genetic factors. Individuals with a parent or sibling that suffers from major depression are at a “2 or 3 times greater risk of developing depression compared with the average person” (Levinson) The scientists make sure to specify that one parent isn’t solely to blame for passing the genes down. Often times, it is often a genetic blend of both that causes the illness. Overall, scientists have come to a firm agreement that individuals can, in fact, have a predisposition to mental illness. Some of these individuals are blessed with a healthy upbringing,

4. Genetic depression is depression caused by an individual’s inherited genes that are passed down by another victim of depression

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Biological explanations however ignore the fact that nurture can play a significant role in the development of depression for instance some people develop depression (unipolar or bipolar) after a tragic event such as a death of a close family member. Therefore how can those individuals have genetic changes that only get triggered when something horrible happens in the person’s life time?

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

Sited from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/ “Depression, also major depression, clinical depression, or major depressive disorder, is a medical illness that causes a constant feeling of sadness and lack of interest. Depression affects how the person feels, behaves and thinks.” Now the world has yet to fully understand the different disorders and diseases that surround us today, but we learn more and more every day. One illness the world is well aware of, is Depression. Depression affects millions of people around the world, and can be very common. But one question remains...Can depression be genetically passed or inherited to us from

A number of large-scale studies indicate that depression rates have increased worldwide over the past several decades. Furthermore, younger generations are experiencing depression at an earlier age than did previous generations. Social scientists have proposed many explanations, including changes in family structure, urbanization, and reduced cultural and religious influences.

Nature versus nurture is a commonly debated topic in the scientific world. For example were all child molesters abused as children themselves or are their genes or other factors to blame for their bad decisions? Genes seem to determine much about children, such as eye color and height, but do they also determine behavior and overall health, or is the environment the children were raised in to blame? For example, when a child is misbehaving, is it the parents responsibility to take the blame for their offspring's behavior due to how they have chosen to raise their son or daughter, or is the child's genetic makeup to blame for their faults? Can a child's environment override the genes a child is born with?

The severity of depression has been supported through scientific evidence that indicates that depression has a biological basis in the brain of a depressed person along with psychological and social implications. Whilst there are many catalysts in a person’s life that can be identified as a possible root cause of depression, such as stressful life events or the death of a loved one, the issue is far more complex, as the biological triggers of depression are not as easily expressed, such as faulty mood regulation in the brain, vulnerable genetics in the DNA, and other medical problems. Many things are altered in the brain of the depressed person. Firstly, what most understand to be an imbalance in the levels of chemicals that regulate emotions, is in reality far more elaborate. The true issue surrounding the many chemicals involved inside and outside of the nerve cells that undergo numerous chemical reaction which make up the dynamic system that is responsible for mood, perceptions, and the way one experiences life you experiences life can be altered in different ways that affect how one lives. Along with the brains chemicals, the connections between nerve cells called neurons decrease and deteriorate, meaning the

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.