Aetiologies of depression
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- Created by: marniefes
- Created on: 28-01-16 13:47
Physiological explanations-Brain chemistry
- Low levels of the neurotransmitters serotonin and noradrenaline cause negative thinking.
- SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) raise serotonin levelsby blocking reuptake and have been found to lift the mood of someone with depression
- Low levels of noradrenaline in the urine of those with depression
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Physiological explanations-Hormones
- High levels of stress hormone cortisol also linked to D
- Research into Cushings syndrome (caused by high levels of cortisol) show that it is linked to low levels of serotonin and depression
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Physiological explanations-Brain Structure
- Brain scans that people with depression often have an overactive amygdala, the emotional centre of the brain
- This could explan the over-emotional state of people with depression
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Physiological explanations-Genes
- Many people with depression have a faulty 5-HTT gene-the serotonin transporter gene
- 17% of the general population will have depresison at some point in their life
- DZ twins have a concordance rate of 20%
- MZ twins have a concordance rate of 40-50%
- If entirely genetic, this would be 100%
- Biological parents of children with depression 8 times more likely to get depressed than adoptive parents
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Support for physiological explanations
- McGuffin-Twin Study
- 177 pairs of same sex MZ and DZ twins where one twin had been diagnosed with depression
- 46% concordance rate for MZ twins, 20% concordance rate for DZ twins
- TST strong genetic aetiology
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Methodology of physiological explanations
- The twin, adoption adn brain research it is based on is objective, scientific and thus reliable
- Effect of IV (MZ or DZ twin) on DV (risk of developing depression) enables controlled comparisons to be made
- Evaluation: MZ twins are often treated more similarly than DZ twins
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Weakness of physiological explanations
- Deterministic
- Individuals have no control over hormones, genes or neurotransmitters
- TST pessimistic
- Evaluation: SSRIs like prozac can raise serotonin levels
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Psychological explanations-Distorted thinking
- A cognitive idea is that depression is caused by nagative and distorted thinking
- Beck found depressed people tend to have negative schemas
- He developed the negative triad: pessimistic view of themselves, the world and the future
- Beck believed this was caused by criticism from parents/teachers in early childhood
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Psychological explanations-Learned helplessness
- Developed from Seligman's research with dogs
- People who try but fail to control unpleasant life events like abuse learn to feel helpless
- They do not learn coping strategies to cope with stressful life events like unemployment
- This can lead to depression
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Support for psychological explanations
- Langer and Rodin-enabling old people to make decisions had a positive effect on mental and physical health
- Increased happiness, decreased helplessness and therefore depression
- TST aetiology is closely related to learned helplessness
- Could be used by social services to improve nursing homes
- Shah and Waller found that people suffering from depression are more likely to describe their parents as affectionless than non-depressed people
- TST criticism from parents can cause depression
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Methodology of psychological explanations
- Based on unstructured interviews
- Provide depth and insight and thus high on validity
- However not consistent or reliable
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Weakness of psychological explanations
- Reductionist
- Only emphasises negative thinking and learning
- Neglects genetics and brain chemicals
- TST oversimplified view of depression
- Diathesis-stress model: born with a genetic tendency but it takes lack of control over life to trigger it
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Applications
- Depression is based on both nature and nurture explanations
- Research is vital as it can lead to effective treatments
- E.g. research into serotonin led to development of SSRIs, reseach into negative thinking led to CBT
- The combination of these treatments has improved the lives of many with depression
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