Depression

The effects of the emotion which can kill us

Ali Zouid
Social Sciences
Gabriel Rudolf
31-10-15

Abstract
Psychological factors are important in the aetiology and maintenance of mood
disorders and supplement our knowledge of biological factors. Psychoanalytic theory argues
that depression is a response to loss and the loss of a loved one such as a parent.
There is evidence consistent with the suggestion of the cognitive model of depression
that certain negative cognitions can produce and maintain the state of depression. There is
also supporting evidence that a depressed mood affects the relative accessibility of positive
and negative cognitions. Thus, negative cognitions appear to produce depression, and,
conversely, depression increases the probability of just those cognitions which will cause
further depression. This reciprocal relationship between depression and cognition may form
the basis of a vicious cycle which will perpetuate and intensify depression.

Table of contents
1. Introduction and background..3
1.1 Purpose, question formulation and limitation.........3
1.2 Method, material & source criticism...3
2. Result ......4
2.1 Depression and the different perspectives.......4
2.2 Cognitive therapy.6
3. Discussion/conclusion..7
3.1 List of reference....9

1. Introduction and background

1.1 Purpose, question formulation and limitation
My examination paper will be limited by answering the following two questions:
What causes depression?
Are the treatment possibilities durable?
The purpose of my thesis is to elucidate on depression from a psychological aspect and to
take a closer look on the different types of treatments for depression.

1.2 Method, material & source criticism

My qualitative scientific project will be compiled of books such as Psykologi- om
varfr vi tnker,knner och handlar som vi gr, written by Maare Tamm and also digital
encyclopedias such as nimh.nih.gov. The method which is being used is desk research which
its positive effects are, by far, more than the negative ones. One positive consequence is that
the information which the individual is searching for is easily obtained. But the negative
effect is nevertheless that the information isnt allways authentic which causes problems for
the person concerning source criticism.
Maare Tamm is a philosophical doctor in psychology and has worked as a university
lecturer at Lule technical university which makes her book reliable.1 The digital website is
also authentic because its a governmental one, it means that only hired experts writes there.2

2. Result

1 https://www.studentlitteratur.se/#person/73272/Maare+Tamm
2 http://www.nimh.nih.gov/about/index.shtml

Before the question formulations gets answered, it is important to get an insight of

what depression means.

What is depression?
Nowadays when somebody claims that he is depressed it doesn't usually means an
outright depression. One can feel fatigued, sad and get dejected and still not depressed. There
are plenty of different opinions regarding the reasons behind depression. However, the unity
is greater when it comes to which symptoms decode depression. The mood of a depression
afflicted individual can change from hardy to irritable, sad, anxious or hopeless. Such a
person often finds that he doesn't care any longer for his activities, his personal appearance,
the people around him etc. He continues living his life because he has to, but it wouldn't
matter for him if his fate lead to an untimely death.
The attitude shifts in this disease can include excessive negativity where everything will look
overwhelming. One will be convinced that there is no point to try accomplishing anything
because a negative result is ineluctable. A depressed person's self-criticism increases, regrets
are reviewed, the failures in his life are recounted and the self-esteem gets plummeted. These
symptoms aren't overly negative for the patient,they are rather realistic according to their
view of the facts. 3 4

2.1 Depression and the different perspectives

Each and every perspective has its own explanation regarding the causes of
depression. The different explanations which shall be mentioned are: psychodynamic and
biological ones.
Psychodynamic explanation
There are many different psychodynamic views of depression, though the most
established is the psychoanalytic account. This perspective argues that depression is a
response to the loss of the loved ones, like the parents. Introjection, the first stage of this loss,
allows the individuals to, amongst other things, direct all of the feelings they would have for
the loved one onto themselves. These feelings include guilt if they experience any positive

3 Martin Levander, Psykologi, sida: 125.

4 Maare Tamm, Psykologi- om varfr vi tnker,knner och handlar som vi gr, sida: 194.

emotions in the wake of the loss. Individuals begin to experience self-hatred, which rapidly
develops into low self-esteem. This adds to feelings of depression and hopelessness.
One problem with this psychoanalytic interpretation is that not everyone who experiences
depression has lost a loved person. That made Freud (a neurologist, known as the father of
psychoanalysis5) realise if other kinds of losses in a person's life ( e.g. losing a job) are
equivalent to losing a loved one. Then, these losses cause individuals to regress to the oral
stage of development and perhaps trigger memories of poor parental support during
childhood. Furthermore, parental loss is no longer seen as a necessary condition for the
development of depression. Also, poor parenting is seen as a more significant risk factor.
Support for this view comes from studies that shows a relationship between risk for
depression in adulthood and having experienced affectionless control, which is a particular
kind of parenting style. This type of parenting is characterized by high levels of
overprotection combined with lack of care.
One empirical support for this view is for example, the existence of a link between depression
and parental loss. Those women whose parents abandoned them during their childhood are
more likely to get depressed than women whose parents treated them well. However, other
theories such as the behavioural ones are consistent with these evidence. It's good to mention
that not every individual goes on to develop depression.6

Biological theories
Depression has been shown to be reliably associated with abnormalities in the levels of
certain brain neurotransmitters. Depression is associated on a regular basis with low levels of
both serotonin7 and norepinephrine8. A few factors led to this finding about the importance of
both these neurotransmitters levels.
One factor is the development of drugs which importantly relieved the symptoms of
depression in the 1950s. One of the main drugs was MAO (such as tranylcypromine). These
drugs increase levels of serotonin and norepinephrine in the brain. These findings led to
different theories, inter alia that chemical changes are construed as the main cause of
5 http://www.psykologiguiden.se/www/pages/?Lookup=Sigmund%20Freud
6 Lars Karlsson, Psykologins grunder, sida: 123-124
7 For a closer look, see this link: http://global.britannica.com/science/serotonin
8Check this website for more information: http://global.britannica.com/science/norepinephrine

depression. Thus, chemistry comes first and then the emotions. Yet there is a question that has
to be answered when interpreting that way: Why does chemical changes that give depressive
symptoms occur? One answer is that it depends on genetic factors. However, it hasn't been
explained how these genetic mechanisms look like and that is a major shortage.
One of the latest neurochemical theories of mood disorders suggest that low levels of
serotonin interact interact with levels of norepinephrine in rather complex ways, such that
combinations of low levels of both serotonin and norepinephrine produce depression.9

2.2 Cognitive therapy

Cognitive theory for depression argues that depression is maintained by a systematic
set of dysfunctional negative beliefs that form a negative schedual through which depressed
people view themselves, their future and so on. From this theory, one of the most successful
therapeutic approaches has been developed for depression which is cognitive therapy. Here
follows an example of how it might look like;
John believes that other people look down on him because he can not cope with
difficult tasks. When the boss suggests that John will be on a training course , he
immediately feels ashamed ( his boss thinks that his knowledge isn't enough) and
also scared (he will not cope with the course). Therefore, John declined the boss
suggestion.10

First, a cognitive therapist tries to help depressed individuals identify their negative thoughts.
Secondly, to challenge these beliefs as dysfunctional and irrational and thirdly to replace
these negative beliefs with more rational or adaptive beliefs.
The pattern would look like this for John :
1. Cognitively basic assumption: I am incompetent
2. The basic assumption leads to new thoughts in a specific
situation: The boss thinks that my current experience isn't enough and that I
will fail the course.
3. These cognitions gets followed by feelings: I feel ashamed and
afraid
The cognitive therapist will attempt to identify these overgeneralized beliefs and challenge
them as irrational by using examples from the clients own experience, if possible. Then he
moves on to the negative thoughts to finally make it possible to see the negative core beliefs.
9 Martin Levander, Psykologi, sida: 125-126
10 Martin Levander, Psykologi, sida:132

The patient, in this case John, can then begin to test his own negative core beliefs against
reality. He can try to do something that he has not done before ( because he does not think he
can handle it ) , for example, learn a little about the computer. If he manages it, he has then
disproved a negative thought. Step by step, the therapist and John will try to disprove each
and every negative core belief.11

3. Discussion/conclusion
The answer for the first question regarding the causes of depression is that several
factors contribute to becoming depressed. According to psychodynamic explanation, one
might for example become depressed as an adult if he experienced terrible events in
childhood, such as losing his parents.
Nevertheless,there are a number of difficulties with the psychoanalytic view. First,
much of the empirical evidence that is consistent with this view is also consistent with other
theories of depression. Therefore the evidence does not help to differentiate between the
theoretical approaches. Secondly, some individuals who experience parental loss or poor
parenting may not go on to develop depression. Psychoanalytic approaches do not clearly
explain why this is the case.
According to biological theories, the chemical changes are considered the reason for
becoming depressed. However, the biological theory which was mentioned has a major
shortage which is that genetic explanation often leads to an unnecessarily large use of
psychotropic drugs. That argument is not heavily theoretical because just because you do not
like the implications of a theory does not mean that the theory is weakened. The argument ,
however, can motivate the researchers in this field to search for other answers.
The most important conclusion is that there exists different methods to cure depression, for
example cognitive therapy. In order to be cured, the patient has to do things which he is afraid
of. But what if the patient does not dare to take this big step? Then, the cognitive therapy will
be totally meaningless, because the patient has to do things hes afraid of in order to get
positive results.
It wasnt expected that so many differences would exist between the different
perspectives on what may be the reason for depression. The perspectives which Ive
mentioned looks to the causes of depression from its own point of view and there were not
many similarities between them. This makes me wonder about who the depressed individuals
11 Martin Levander, Psykologi, sida: 132-133

should turn to in order to get the perfect treatment? I personally believe that it plays a major
and fatal role because each and every perspective gives treatments, but from different starting
points.

3.1 List of references

Books
Martin Levander (2012), Psykologi, Stockholm: Natur culture

Student literature

Internet
Norepinephrine
http://global.britannica.com/science/serotonin
Taken: 25-09-15
Serotonin
http://global.britannica.com/science/norepinephrine

Taken: 25-09-15
About
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/about/index.shtml
Taken: 18-09-15
What is depression?
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/depression/index.shtml
Taken: 18-09-15
Studier i Neurologi
http://www.psykologiguiden.se/www/pages/?Lookup=Sigmund%20Freud
Taken: 16-10-15
Maare Tamm
https://www.studentlitteratur.se/#person/73272/Maare+Tamm
Taken: 05-09-15

Bedmningsmatris Examination Paper

3. Kllkritik

Eleven kan vlja och med viss

skerhet anvnda strategier fr att
ska relevant information,
strukturera den och vrdera olika
kllors tillfrlitlighet.

Eleven kan vlja och med viss

skerhet anvnda strategier fr att
ska relevant information, strukturera
den och vrdera olika kllors
tillfrlitlighet.

Eleven kan vlja och med

skerhet anvnda strategier fr att
ska relevant information,
strukturera den och vrdera olika
kllors tillfrlitlighet.

4.
Kllhantering

Eleven vljer texter och talat sprk

frn olika medier och kan p ett
relevant stt anvnda det valda
materialet i sin egen produktion och
interaktion.

Eleven vljer texter och talat sprk

frn olika medier och anvnder p ett
relevant och effektivt stt det valda
materialet i sin egen produktion och
interaktion.

Eleven vljer texter och talat sprk

frn olika medier och anvnder p
ett relevant, effektivt och kritiskt
stt det valda materialet i sin egen
produktion och interaktion.

7. Skriva

I skriftliga framstllningar i olika

genrer kan eleven formulera sig
varierat, tydligt och strukturerat.

I skriftliga framstllningar i olika

genrer kan eleven formulera sig
varierat, nyanserat, tydligt och
strukturerat.

I skriftliga framstllningar i olika

genrer kan eleven formulera sig
med god precision, varierat,
nyanserat, tydligt och
vlstrukturerat.

8. Anpassning

Eleven kan formulera sig med flyt

och viss anpassning till syfte,
mottagare och situation.

Eleven kan formulera sig med flyt och

anpassning till syfte, mottagare och
situation.

Eleven kan formulera sig med flyt

och god anpassning till syfte,
mottagare och situation.

9. Bearbetning

Eleven bearbetar, och gr

vlgrundade frbttringar av, egna
framstllningar

Eleven bearbetar, och gr

vlgrundade och nyanserade
frbttringar av, egna framstllningar

Eleven bearbetar, och gr

vlgrundade och nyanserade
frbttringar av, egna
framstllningar

verlag hller underskningen mycket god kvalit, du grundar dig p bra kllor som du
granskat relativt vl, du hade dock kunnat diskutera de olika kriterierna mer kring kllorna.
Sprkligt har du ett mycket bra och formellt ordfrrd men sammandragna ord, en del
strukturella problem och grammatikfel drar ned helheltsintrycket ngot.