Question:
What is or are the cause(s) of depression? Is it simply learned
helplessness? Is it neurochemical? Is it a reaction to high levels of
anxiety? Or,is it related to environmental causes and or genetic
influences? What do you think?
Answer:
it's all that and much more.
Very general you could say it's caused at the moment the balance between
feeling ok and feeling sad is structuraly broken, one isn't able to enjoy,
laugh, relativate etc. anymore. DSM gives more specific insight. Genetics aside, it is caused by disharmony between the conscious
attitude and the unconscious attitude. My guess is that its predominantly learned helplessness.
Specifically,the idea that nothing you do makes any difference. For
example,if youre yelled at whether youre doing something "good" or
"bad". Further,I think that this long term habitation to learned
helplessness causes a neurochemical change in the brain. Finally,its
probably a combination of environmental factors(learned helplessness)
with a neuro chemical change in the brain with a possible genetic
predisposition in some people. I believe that it is "learned helplessness" somewhere along the line they
got the idea that they couldn't contribute or had nothing to offer. We all
have heard the phrase "it takes a village to raise a child," and our
community system is breaking down. we are less involved it the day to day
lives of our neighbors. If we feel no love for our communities and have no
way to fight the beuracracy then we are alone and helpless, perfect targets
for advertising. Anyway that's why I believe "depression" is the most
diagnosed mental illness, but what does everyone else think? "Learned helplessness" sounds so politically correct, but so
psychologically wrong. With all the puffing up of girls and young
women by the modern education system, why do women experience
depression in far greater numbers than in the pre-modern-feminism
days? Moreover, why do (despite being put-down by the modern education
system) men experience less depression? Depression is not a disease it is a symptom and the cause is a response to
some emotional trauma. It could stem from a parent that didn't respond to
the child when it needed attention. The subconscious mind then believes that
it has no value and depression begins. Child abuse could be at the base of
depression. REMEMBER Chemical imbalance is not the problem it is the result
of some emotional response to an event. The event could be real or imagined
but brain chemistry, in most cases, is a response not a cause. This is why
antidepressants don't cure they mask.
