'Describe and Evaluate Biological Explanations of Depression\r'

'Describe and evaluate biological explanations of depressive disorder in that respect atomic number 18 many opposite explanations for natural opinion, including biological. Links require been bring amongst biochemical, transmissibles and hormonal instabilitys with gloomy people. In the biochemical explanation, a link has been put in between neurotransmitter instabilitys and feeling. Serotonin is associated with pleasure and mood. Mann et al found impaired transmission of serotonin in people with little gear. However Julian disagrees with this statement and says downcast gear whitethorn be due to neuron damage kind of than a neurotransmitter reduction.The trouble with this approach is that it implies correlation coefficient and non causation, on that point whitethorn be a link b arely something else could be causing both slump and number matchless serotonin. thither is the chicken and egg b separate †does humiliated serotonin perform low gear or d oes depression consume low serotonin? In an new(prenominal)(a)(prenominal) areas of psychological science low serotonin has been linked with change magnitude aggression and eating disorders, as closely as anxiety. Some genius that has low serotonin does non necessarily move around get down. There is also the problem where people are depressed save invite ordinary serotonin levels.This shows that depression is non amply down to biochemical imbalances exclusively other things as wholesome. It is a very simple and reductionist model and should only be included as a photo and not the whole answer to depression. some other explanation is a transmitt up to(p) problem. done many family studies Gershon states at that place is a clean up inherit able component to depression, especially in bipolar disorder. Weisseman et al supports this by aphorism that for if a babe has a name with depression, the risk of the barbarian having depression is change magnitude by three times compared to the public population.This is a strong finding solely as the children share the aforementioned(prenominal) milieu as their invokes, in that respect is a adventure that the child has learnt the behaviour finished the companionable learning theory of imitating and observing and not by genetics. Kendler et al studied everyplace 15000 twins in Sweden and found that if one twin has depression, there is a 38% chance that the other twin go away have it too. This has strong methodology and is support by many twin studies who have found similar results. On the other hand the twins share the corresponding surround and so environmental influences whitethorn still be possible.The results were nowhere adept 100% showing that depression is not fully down to genes, the people may have a genetic photograph but it takes something to trigger, perhaps. It is also un displace as to how exactly genes play a exercise in depression, without knowing the exact genes invol ved. some other way to access the significance of genes is through adoption studies. Wender found that a child is seven times more presumable to have depression if the biological parents were depressed and the adoption parents were not.They found little conclusion of depression being learnt. However Wender got his training about biological relatives just from hospital records and so there could be error of misdiagnosis or short-term depression only. The companionship of whether a psyche has a genetic pic to depression can be useful as the person is able to take preventative measures (change in lifestyle, aliment to bring positivity to avoid depression), but it could be fatalistic as they consider they are more belike to survive depressed †leading to depression.Diathesis-stress model says that depression can be better mum as an interaction between genes and environmental factors. Carroll found that high levels of the ductless gland hydrocortisone are found in those execrable from depression and techniques known to suppress hydrocortisone secretion have been found to be successful in depressive patients. However hydrocortisone is released when stressed and so the high levels could be due to the high levels of stress the person has when they are depressed.As depression is twice as common in women as men, it could be due to the differences in sex endocrines. Post-natal depression could be due to the high levels of oestrogen and progesterone that are released during pregnancy and thusly rapidly decrease once the louse up is born which may account for an imbalance of hormones. Cooper disagrees with this statement as there was very little difference in the number of women hapless from depression later onwards childhood and a control sort of non-pregnant women at the same age.If imbalance of hormones was the cause then(prenominal) most mothers should get this display case of illness but it is only a small number that get it. menopa usal depression is where oestrogen levels drop and hormone replacement therapy appears to be affective in treating many (but not all) women who suffer from this fiber of depression. However this could be due to the prohibit thoughts of getting older kind of than the hormonal imbalance. by the biological approach there are many possibilities. I approximate it is a mixture of biological vulnerabilities and nerve-wracking environments.\r\nDescribe and Evaluate Biological Explanations of effect\r\nDescribe and evaluate biological explanations of depression There are many divers(prenominal) explanations for depression, including biological. Links have been found between biochemical, genetics and hormonal imbalances with depressed people. In the biochemical explanation, a link has been found between neurotransmitter imbalances and depression. Serotonin is associated with pleasure and mood. Mann et al found impaired transmission of serotonin in people with depression. However Julia n disagrees with this statement and says depression may be due to neuron damage rather than a neurotransmitter reduction.The problem with this approach is that it implies correlation and not causation, there may be a link but something else could be causing both depression and low serotonin. There is the chicken and egg problem †does low serotonin cause depression or does depression cause low serotonin? In other areas of psychology low serotonin has been linked with increase aggression and eating disorders, as well as anxiety. Someone that has low serotonin does not necessarily become depressed. There is also the problem where people are depressed but have sane serotonin levels.This shows that depression is not fully down to biochemical imbalances but other things as well. It is a very simple and reductionist model and should only be included as a vulnerability and not the whole answer to depression. some other explanation is a genetic problem. Through many family studies Ge rshon states there is a clear inheritable component to depression, especially in bipolar disorder. Weisseman et al supports this by state that for if a child has a parent with depression, the risk of the child having depression is change magnitude by three times compared to the worldwide population.This is a strong finding but as the children share the same environment as their parents, there is a possibility that the child has learnt the behaviour through the tender learning theory of imitating and observing and not through genetics. Kendler et al studied oer 15000 twins in Sweden and found that if one twin has depression, there is a 38% chance that the other twin leave alone have it too. This has strong methodology and is support by many twin studies who have found similar results. On the other hand the twins share the same environment and so environmental influences may still be possible.The results were nowhere airless 100% showing that depression is not fully down to gene s, the people may have a genetic vulnerability but it takes something to trigger, perhaps. It is also unclear as to how exactly genes play a purpose in depression, without knowing the exact genes involved. another(prenominal) way to access the significance of genes is through adoption studies. Wender found that a child is seven times more likely to have depression if the biological parents were depressed and the adoption parents were not.They found little picture of depression being learnt. However Wender got his info about biological relatives just from hospital records and so there could be error of misdiagnosis or short-term depression only. The cognition of whether a person has a genetic vulnerability to depression can be useful as the person is able to take preventative measures (change in lifestyle, viands to bring positivity to avoid depression), but it could be fatalistic as they record they are more likely to become depressed †leading to depression.Diathesis-stres s model says that depression can be better tacit as an interaction between genes and environmental factors. Carroll found that high levels of the hormone cortisol are found in those suffering from depression and techniques known to suppress cortisol secretion have been found to be successful in depressive patients. However cortisol is released when stressed and so the high levels could be due to the high levels of stress the person has when they are depressed.As depression is twice as common in women as men, it could be due to the differences in sex hormones. Post-natal depression could be due to the high levels of oestrogen and progesterone that are released during pregnancy and then rapidly decrease once the thwart is born which may account for an imbalance of hormones. Cooper disagrees with this statement as there was very little difference in the number of women suffering from depression after childhood and a control collection of non-pregnant women at the same age.If imbalanc e of hormones was the cause then most mothers should get this oddball of illness but it is only a small number that get it. menopausal depression is where oestrogen levels drop and hormone replacement therapy appears to be affective in treating many (but not all) women who suffer from this reference of depression. However this could be due to the nix thoughts of getting older rather than the hormonal imbalance. Through the biological approach there are many possibilities. I remember it is a mixture of biological vulnerabilities and stressful environments.\r\n'