Biological Causes Of Depression

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Depression is a disorder that affects a person’s mood and is most commonly defined as a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest. Depressions can affect how you behave, think, and most importantly how you feel. Depression can also lead to numerous physical and emotional problems if left untreated or unrecognized. Many believe that depression is something most people can just “get over”, but that isn’t the case. Over the years many psychologists and researchers argue over the exact cause of depression. Many believe that depression stems from two perspectives; biological or a cognitive-behavioral perspective. The biological perspective is a belief that depression would be an inherited disorder or a medical condition that lead …show more content…
Cutrona, Gail Wallace, and Kristin A. Wesner explain the relationship that poor housing, lack of resources, and unsafe conditions has with depression. They believe that these adverse conditions have a direct effect on developing depression. When most people think of depression the first thoughts that come to mind are relationship problems, personal life stressors, and work related stressors but rarely think about the effects that a childhood neighborhood could have on depression. However neighborhood plays a critical role when it comes to stress and the development of depression through the influence of their surroundings, personal characteristic of those residing in the neighborhood, and threats to public health. When it comes to surrounding there are two specific characteristics that need to be considered. These characteristics are structural and functional (Carolyn E. Cutrona, 2006). The structural characteristics of neighborhoods are the status of the individuals whom are occupying the neighborhood; meaning job status, education, and ethnic background. Functional characteristic pertain to how the individuals within that neighborhood act. Examples of this would be violent people within the neighborhood, and the amount of unlawful behavior that occurs within the neighborhood. If someone is residing in a neighborhood that is considered to be …show more content…
I do not think there is a one specific explanation for depression, and in reality it is probably a combination of everything. However, the main theme with each of these article revolves around how someone feels about themselves whether it be because of a hormonal imbalance, poor upbringing, trauma, or negative responses from people. Depression is the feeling of hopelessness and a lack of interest in the things you love. With that being said, it is very possible that there are over a million different causes for someone to become depressed. When I was reading the article “Low self-esteem Prospectively Predicts Depression in Adolescence and Young Adulthood”, I couldn’t help but think about how much this article related to my clients at work. I hear all of the time how low self-esteem felt during childhood still prevents them from being happy as adults, and that all it takes is a childhood of feeling inadequate to cause a major depressive disorder as an adult, and how hard it is to overcome at any
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