Sunday, November 8, 2020

Is Depression Learned or Inherited?

 

Depression is an important topic of discussion, especially considering the fact that there has been an increase in cases of depression in recent years. In an article authored by Columbia University, they highlighted one of the more upsetting statistics by stating, “. . . the rise (in cases of depression) was most rapid among those ages 12 to 17, increasing from 8.7 percent in 2005 to 12.7 percent in 2015”. In order to treat depression, it is important to understand what causes depression in the first place. Is depression a learned disorder caused by negative experiences and/or influences with other people and/or the world around them, or is there some biological machinery that is the root of this disorder? As it turns out, it is a little bit of both. The article written in 2015 by Caitlyn Flynn details some of the genetic and environmental factors which cause depression. Two points she made in this article that clearly display both genetic and environmental factors for depression were Genetics Have A Lot To Do With Who Gets Depressed”, which discussed how people are more likely to be depressed if depression runs in their lineage, and also “Depression Can Be “Learned” From Family Members”, which discussed how if children grow up with parents who exhibit depressive behaviors, that could lead this children to develop depressive behaviors. I find this not only very important, but also very interesting. The idea that depression can have multiple causes is fascinating, and I believe that depression not only having an environmental (psychological) factor, but a genetic (biological) factor as well is an important piece of information that people in this day and age should know. This also means that if all the resources are dumped into studying either the biological or psychological component of depression only, the full picture will not be created.






5 comments:

  1. I've also read about how depression, as well as stress, can be inherited from parents. Mental illnesses are definitely something we should look into studying more and knowing there is such an understudied genetic component really limits our ability to gain a full understanding of them. As these rates in depression increase, we need to learn how it works better so we can keep the rate from exponentially increasing to an unreasonably high level in the coming generations.

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  2. I think this is very interesting. When talking to most adults, they wonder why children are now having so many mental problems as opposed to when they were growing up. I think awareness is part of the issue. Many self diagnose that when they are sad about something they call it depression, but I do not think this is always the case. Of course I think awareness is important when it comes to mental illness, but I think that some children are learning that when things are not going right in their life that they should be depressed therefore they are. very interesting read.
    -Avery

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  3. This is a very important fact that needs to be shared more often, especially with the older generations. Not only the fact that depression is real and is a chemical imbalance in our brains, but that there are multiple driving factors that cause it. This really speaks to the psychological debate of nature vs. nurture, and I have always believed that it had to be a mixture, everyone does not share the same experiences. Someone can have a great home-life but can still struggle with depression because they are genetically predisposed to it, and many do not account for that. This is a very enlightening post.

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  4. I definitely believe nature and nurture both affect so many things in the body. It would not surprise me if both also affect mental illnesses as well. I also believe sigma about mental illness, specifically depression has changed a lot within recent years. Now people are they open about having depression and either being on antidepressants or going to therapy. 50 years ago this was not the case. I think this may contribute to more cases now because people are more open to talk about it and feel less judged. Overall I believe nature and nurture both impact depression making everyone's depressive symptoms different.

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  5. This post was very interesting. Depression is a big topic that is talked about a lot. It is important to known that depression can be both inherited and learned. I definitely agree that depression is both a genetic issue and an environmental issue. I'm glad I learned that children can pick up depressive behaviors from their parents to keep this in mind in the future.

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