DepCauses

 Causes of Depression


media type="youtube" key="IeZCmqePLzM" height="253" width="304" Video Clip: Dr. Matthew describes how neurotransmitter affects depression. (0:31) http://overcoming-depression.org/files/2007/04/depression-progression.jpg

=  Causes of mood disorders     =


 Biological, psychological, and social factors __**all play a role**__ to varying degrees in causing depression. depression results when a preexisting vulnerability, or diathesis, is activated by stressful life events.The preexisting vulnerability can be either genetic, implying an interaction between nature and nurture, or the result of past experience such as learned views of the world formed in childhood. The heritability (the degree to which individual differences in occurrence are associated with genetic differences) of depression is to be approximately 40% for women and 30% for men. =    Biological Causes: imbalance in neurotransmitter    =   Most mood disorders result from an imbalance in some of the **__neurotransmitter systems__** of the brain.  Neurotransmitters are protein substances that neurons use to communicate with each other.  There are many kinds of neurotransmitters: acetylcholine, glutamate, norepinephrine, serotonin, and dopamine. Norepinephrine, serotonin, and dopamine are in the minority. Only a small fraction of the brain's neurons use these neuro-transmitters to signal other cells. However, since these three neurotransmitters are very powrful, they can modulate the activity of the entire brain. Mood disorders have been linked primarily to a dysfunction in the norepinephrine and serotonin. In other cases, __**hormones**__ such as steroid or thyroid play a role in developing mood disorders. **__Genetics__** also plays a key role in the development of mood disorders, especially bipolar disorder.

=Psychological Causes: emotional and physical state= <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="color: rgb(0,0,0);"> Various aspects of __**personality**__ and its development appear to affect the occurrence of depression. Although depression is strongly related with adverse events, a person's style of dealing with the daily events may be correlated with their flexibility. It is **__not perfectly clear__** which factors cause depression and what the effects are. However, depressed people who are able to correct their thinking patterns often show improved mood and self-esteem. <span style="color: rgb(0,0,0);"> Low self-esteem and self-defeating or distorted thinking are related to depression. Also, Depressed people often criticize themselves for negative events. They feel responsible for negative events but did not take credit for positive outcomes.

To summarize, the **psychological causes** for depression are: http://imgnews.naver.com/image/042/2008/10/07/llljs78200810051445540.jpgdeveloping

- negative belief about oneself - obsession on experience of failure - observing the failure of social models - lack of social persuasion on success - inactive physical and emotional states - tension and stress    <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="color: rgb(0,0,0);"> =Social Causes: stress and social support=

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<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;"> **__Poverty and social isolation__** are associated with increased risk of psychiatric problems in general. For example, **child abuse** <span style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;"> is also associated with increased risk of depressive disorders later in life. Disturbances in family functioning,    <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;"> such as parental depression, severe martial conflict or divorce, death of a parent, or other disturbances in parenting are additional risk factors. ===== In adulthood, **stressful life events** are strongly associated with the onset of major depressive epidsodes. A first episode is more likely to be preceded by stressful life events than are recurrent ones. The relationship between stressful life events and social support has been a subject of debate. The lack of social support may enhance the possibility that stress will lead to depression, or the absence of social support may form a strain that leads to depression directly. There is evidence that neighborhood social disorder, for example, due to crime or illicit drugs, is a risk factor, and that a high neighborhood socioeconomic status, with better amenities, is a protective factor. Adverse conditions at work, particularly demanding jobs with little scope for decision-making, are associated with depression, although diversity and confounding factors make it difficult to confirm that the relationship is casual.

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=<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Final Analysis: Depression results from a combination of causes! = As shown above, depression or mood disorder stem from a hundreds of causes: biological, psychological, social, etc. Since there are several possibilities of any cause behind the mood disorder, it is unclear which cause is directly associated to depression. Also, the cause depends on person; for example, some people might have mood disorder because they inherited it. Other people would suffer from the disorder due to the stressful life or psychological problems. <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;"> Home Back: Overview: What is Depression <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;"> Next: Effects and Symptoms of Depression