Essay about What Causes Depression According to Scientists

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

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.)

According to the World Health Organization, depression is an illness that affects more than 300 million people (World Health Organization, 2018). Depression is the manifestation of complex intersecting social, psychological factors and can significantly disrupt the day-to-day functions of sufferers (WHO, 2018). As a mood disorder, depression causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest (Mayo Clinic, 2018). Common symptoms of the disorder included feelings of sadness, hopelessness, irritability, loss of interest, sleep disturbances, anxiety and a myriad of other troublesome symptoms (Mayo Clinic, 2018). Depression, unlike a host of other morbidities, has a unique manifestation in all those it affects and may not

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

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.

In regards to genes, depression could be explained in terms of genetic predispositions. Research in the area of twin and adoption studies has shown that there is a genetic link to depression. As a result it is being advocated some individuals may have genes that predispose them to depression and other mood disorders.

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,

Depression is an illness that is usually confused with the everyday problems of life. For this reason, people usually leave it unattended; they spend much time thinking that is nothing to worry about until it is complicated and more difficult to treat. In fact, many times, people think that depression is just sadness, fatigue or boredom that a person has already experienced with past situations, only with greater intensity. But it is not, depression is a real interruption with the overall functioning of a person. If it is not properly treated, in many cases it can raise the disturbance of symptoms at high levels, increasing the risk of having problems with their physical and mental health. Depression is a disease that can take many forms and

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

Some types of depression run in families, and those who get ill have a different genetic makeup in comparison to those who do not get ill. Severe depression may occur to those who inherit it, but then there are those who fall into depression without having a family history of the illness. This is

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

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.

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

are happy when they achieve something or saddened when they fail a test or lose