The Development of Depression

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The European Commission Green Paper on mental health (European Commission, 2005) suggested that factors such as biological, individual, family, social, economic and environmental all contribute to determine the mental condition of a person. Similarly, Kinderman, Schwannauer, Pontin & Tai (2013) stated that it is never just one factor that has happened that leads to a mental illness being discovered in an individual. Therefore, this essay will look at factors including genetics, experiences, social support, social status and living conditions and how they could affect someone becoming depressed. Depression causes depressed moods and loss of pleasure in most activities. A person’s thoughts, emotions, body and behaviour are all affected. It is like chronic sadness, a person never truly feels happy about themselves and these symptoms are present most of the time. There are many types, including minor, dysthymic, sub-syndromal and major. Depression is the fourth leading cause of disability and disease and affects 121 million people worldwide (Bromet et al, 2011). One factor that has dominated over recent years is the biological approach, suggesting that it is a person’s genes that lead to depressed symptoms. One theory that has contributed to this is the monoamine hypothesis. This suggests there are three main monoamine neurotransmitters including dopamine, serotonin and norephrenine which cause depression. Specifically, low levels of serotonin. Serotonin helps regulate mood and balances areas of the brain associated with thinking and emotions. Serotonin pathways connect to different brain regions and are located in the brainstem area “the Raphe nuclei”. They affect areas in the brain including the neocortex and the limbic system (e... ... middle of paper ... ...rsonal experiences, social support, social status and living conditions all have an influence on the onset of depression. This ultimately supports the European Commission Green Paper on mental health (European Commission, 2005: p.4) who stated that “the mental condition of people is determined by a multiplicity of factors...” Furthermore, it has been shown that for each factor there are a number of explanatory models that describe how an individual could potentially become depressed, all of which have their own strengths and weaknesses. Although these factors contribute to the development of depression, research suggested that there is no single explanation for depression. Additionally, research implied that future research should bring all these models together to provide one explanation of depression as they have all been shown to interact with one another anyway.

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