Depression as a Physiological Disorder

Depression as a Physiological Disorder

When researching the above statement, I have taken into account what I

consider to be some of the main physiological and biological arguments

regarding depression as a physical illness, as well as several

psychodynamic and behavioural theories in order to attempt to compare

the two and result in understanding how true the above statement is.

When looking at the physiological view, it can be useful to look at

the biological explanation that depression is caused by a disturbance

of hormones and brain chemistry. The Endocrine system can seriously

affect the behaviours of a person. This system produces hormones that

have an effect on many behaviours such as sleep, menstruation and

growth. Many conditions that are similar to depression or where

depression is one of the main symptoms have been linked to hormonal

changes and fluctuations. For example, when looking at Postpartum

Depression (PPD) we know that both pregnancy and birth cause massive

hormonal changes. 20% of women are reported feeling moderately

depressed during this time; few of these then became chronically

depressed. In support of this, it has been discovered that the stress

hormone ‘Cortisol’ is very low after giving birth, which could make

coping more difficult, leading to depression. It cannot be denied

however that many of the women who suffer seriously from PPD have

already had episodes of clinical depression in their life, which could

mean that they are more prone to suffering depression at this point.

It could also be that psychological factors are important – many women

may have been seen to have unrealistic views of motherhood ...

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...applies to one applies to the other. The

negative aspects of the physiological theories are also present

however, many hormonal changes may not be necessary because of the

depression suffered, but could be an effect of the illness. In

conclusion, it would appear that depression is a physiological illness

to a degree, whether caused by outside factors such as loss or trauma

or by genetics, some hormone levels do seem to fluctuate causing the

mood in a person to change and therefore depression is often treated

with medication.

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Gross (R) et al (2004) ‘Psychology a new Introduction’ Kent@

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