Depression decreases one’s quality of life. A person with depression can no longer enjoy life as it was before depression. Depression can affect just about anyone at least once in their life. However, women are more vulnerable to it than men are. Children and elderly are vulnerable too.
There is a lot of controversy over the cause of depression. Depending on your health and situation, your cause of depression may be different than somebody else's. The general theories for the cause of depression are broken down into biological, genetic, environmental, and physiological. Biological theories rest on the studies that involve a dysfunction of neurotransmitters in the brain such as serotonin and norepinephrine. The genetic belief holds that there are certain genes that make people more vulnerable to depression than other people. The environmental theory suggests that people's environment influences depression. For instance, stress is associated with depression because of its multifaceted negative effects it has on the mind and body. Big stressors play a big role for depression. Losing your job or house can make us feel depressed. But little things can mount up causing as much stress such as losing your job or develop a new illness.
Psychological theories hold that neurological factors are associated to depression. Studies have tested people who have depression on numerous neurological factors such as intelligence, memory ability, memory recall and more in order to identify or rule out basis for depression. Some studies have shown there to be an association with depression. For instance, people with depression can have poorer memory recall ability than people who do not have depression. The ability to problem solve has also been shown to be poorer among those who have depression (Nezu, 1987).
Another psychological theory rests on cognitive theories from Albert Ellis and Aaron Beck. Beck (1967), for instance, proposed that thinking errors occur when negative thoughts become automatic dysfunctional thoughts about three particular elements, including “one’s self, his experiences, and his future” (p. 21). Beck called these three elements the Triad theory.
Beck (1964) believed that people experience automatic dysfunctional thinking when their thoughts are processed into a meaningful cognitive structure referred to as a schema. Schemas can contain a person’s attitudes, beliefs, and assumptions about their experiences.
Furthermore, Beck (1976) proposed that people who have depression can identify reality, but that inferences are distorted. An inference is the information used to make a conclusion about something. For instance, say it is spring and you look outside to determine whether you need to wear a light jacket when going outside. You notice that the sky is clear and the sun is out. With that information, you make the conclusion that you will not need a jacket.
Beck and Rush (1978) proposed five cognitive errors attribute to distorted inferences:
(a) Arbitrary inference, not enough supporting information was identified before drawing a conclusion (e.g., not finding out what the temperature was outside before leaving the house lead to making a wrong decision.)
(b) Selective abstraction, which is taking detail out of context and failing to recognize important features.
(c) Overgeneralization, which takes place when one event influences a decision (e.g., yesterday may have been warm and sunny, so you believe today will be the same.)
(d) Magnification and minimization information. How a person makes a conclusion will be influenced by whether or not information was over emphasized or minimized.
(e) Personalization. This is when an individual relates external events to him or her self when there is no origin that suggests a connection.
Types of Depression
Depression comes in different forms. There is Major depression, dysthymia (chronic or long-lasting), and bipolar disorder. Symptoms vary to some degree depending on the form. People can experience with depression Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, drug abuse such as alcoholism or anxiety.
Treatment for Depression
Depending on your type of depression, severity of symptoms, and you personality and background will influence your doctor’s recommendation of treatment for you. Some types of therapy include short-term psychotherapies, talk therapy, family therapy, feminist therapy, and cognitive therapy. Learning how to cope with stress is usually a focus for therapy.
Another treatment choice includes a combination of therapies such as humanistic, (searching for identity or purpose in life and reaching your full potential), combined with Adlerian and cognitive therapy. Be sure to ask your therapist what treatment he or she recommends for you and explain the therapy process and goals. Without asking these questions, therapy may be counterproductive much like the blind leading the blind.
"When Your Mind Is Clear, the Sun Shines All the Time" reteaches how the brain thinks about events by first teaching various cognitive skills. A variety of cognitive skills are important to learn so that a person with depression can learn to effectively challange thoughts, master positive thinking, and learn how cope with stress. No other book will teach you such a variety of basics.
