Depression
3:44 pm
Hello!
I will be discussing major depression and explaining
briefly some causal theories. Depression is unfortunately much more common than
we think and is increasing becoming a larger problem in the world, so I wanted
to start off with this.
The DSM-IV-TR (the widely
used diagnostic manual for mental disorders) defines an individual to have
major depressive disorder if they present at least 5 of the following symptoms
for at least 2 weeks (but not a result of a general medical condition):
-
Depressed mood
-
Loss of
interest/pleasure
-
Significant
weight loss/gain
-
Increase in or
loss of appetite
-
Fatigue/loss of
energy
-
Difficulty
concentrating
-
Significant
distress
-
Feelings of
worthlessness or guilt
-
Physical agitation
Major depression is a mood
disorder; the sufferer will generally feel low in all things related to them. They
will not only feel negatively about themselves, but also have a pessimistic
view on life and the future. They may be slow in their activities or speech,
and spend a lot of time alone - social withdrawal is common. This social
withdrawal can fuel their depression. They may spend a lot of time in bed as they don't want to face the world (including their loved ones). People who are depressed feel helpless
and out of control of the situation, and in extreme cases can experience
suicidal thoughts. Depressed people go through the ‘vicious circle’ which
prevents them from coming out of their depression – I will explain this in
detail in another post.
Depression in women is
twice as likely compared to men. This may be because women are generally
susceptible to being more emotionally unstable, and can think more negatively
of themselves. Unfortunately in society, to some extent women have less ‘power’
than men which may lead them to develop depression. This varies across
cultures, of course.
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Causes?
-
Biological
explanation – serotonin
Serotonin
is a neurotransmitter (chemical in the brain) which when present in low levels,
is associated with depression. It may be that there is not enough serotonin, or
it may be that there is low activity
of serotonin. Serotonin is thought to regulate other neurotransmitter systems,
and low levels may affect the way these systems act. Depression arises when low
levels of serotonin promote low levels of noradrenaline.
-
Cognitive
explanation (1) – learned helplessness (Seligman)
Depression
is caused by an individual thinking they have no control over the
reinforcements (rewards and punishments) in their lives, and that they are
responsible for any helpless state they find themselves in, therefore, feel
helpless in situations that can be changed.
-
Cognitive
explanation (2) – the cognitive triad (Beck)
Depression
is due to patterns of negative thinking. The cognitive triad consists of three
components: depressed people have a negative view of themselves (e.g. ‘I am a bad person’), they have a negative view of
the future (e.g. ‘things will not
improve’) and they have a negative view of the world (e.g. ‘my life is terrible’).
Depressed
people are prone to distort and misinterpret information from the world and make
overly negative self-defeating thoughts. Common misinterpretations include:
selective thinking- where an individual ignores the positive aspects and
concentrates on the negative points (e.g. to see a glass as half empty, rather
than half full), overgeneralisation- making exceeding conclusions based on a
single incident (e.g. ‘she didn’t answer my phone, therefore she must hate
me’), personalising- blaming oneself for all negative events (e.g. ‘the car
broke down, and it’s my fault’).
Depressed
people are likely to have developed a negative self-schema. Our self-schema
contains all information about ourselves (beliefs, feelings etc), and if this
is negative, then so will our view of ourselves be when in new situations.
-
Psychodynamic
explanation - Freud
Sigmund
Freud proposed the idea that after the loss of a loved one in childhood, a
person is unable to overcome their mourning period, leading them to
‘melancholia’. They blame themselves for the loss as they cannot blame the
loved one. Depression, therefore, can be seen as ‘delayed mourning’. Emotions
and anger which are not expressed at the time (in childhood) become repressed
and become an unconscious negative emotion which is released in adulthood as
depression.
-
Sociological
explanation
In
life, not everyone is as lucky as some people. Some of these factors may affect
a person so much that they can become depressed. These can include poverty, low
status in society, social isolation, environmental stress (e.g. at work,
housing problems). Certain life events can also a large negative impact on us
(e.g. bereavement, going through a bad marriage).
Okay that’s it for now! I
hope you found this first post easy to read and not too technical! Hopefully,
this would have helped you understand depression better and understand those
who experience it too. If you think you or anyone you know is going through
this, please seek help! Depression can be cured and the dark clouds WILL go
away one day! Depression is treatable!
Keep smiling,
Ayesha xxx
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7 comments
I love how you added the little dog, it makes such a difficult subject a little lighter. I hope your posts let people understand mental illnesses a little beter (: And take away some of the prejudices people have ):
ReplyDeletexxx Anna
A Tale of Two Shoes
Thanks for the positive response Anna! :)
DeleteI had no idea depression in women is twice as likely compared to men! Such an informative post. You always cover such important topics, I don't know much about a lot of them so I find them really interesting!
ReplyDeleteTara x
What a useful post dear!
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nice info doll...
ReplyDeletexox
borka
It is terrible and so hard to get around.
ReplyDelete/Avy
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♥
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Thank you for reading and commenting! Feel free to leave your blog link so I can check it out, but please no follow-for-follow requests! ♥