Depression is defined as how people feel about themselves, they may lose interest in work, hobbies and doing things they normally enjoy. They may lack energy, have difficulty with sleep. Some people may find it hard to concentrate or are irritable, depression makes life more difficult to manage from day to day. Many people with major depressive disorder have commented that a particularly stressful event such as the death of loved one, abusive relationship, divorce or marital problems such as an affair, social isolation or serious trauma such as abuse, neglect or rape caused their first or second depressive episode. The aim of this is to investigate how the treatment of depression has changed over time. According to an idea known as the ‘kindling …show more content…
Currently depression can be caused by both mental and physical causes at the same time. Factors that contribute to the development of depression. Biopsychosocial model as developed by cardiologist Dr. George Engel, this model suggests that social, biological and psychological factors are all linked together and are important in promoting health or causing disease, unlike previously thought the mind and body are connected and rely on each other, illness or being healthy isn’t just a matter of someone’s physical state, but is also influenced by a persons mental state and social status. People can also become depressed or experience depression as a a result of social factors which might include: experiencing traumatic situations, lack of social support or bullying. Stressful social events can lead to genes being turned off and on causing changes in brain functioning, environmental and social causes of depression can also be far subtler than actual trauma. Since no one factor can be determined that ‘causes’ depression, not one treatment can be used to fix the problem and something that might wok for one person isn’t necessarily going to work for another person. Depression is a result of an imbalance of brain chemicals. Antidepressants can be prescribed to help level out the levels of chemicals in the brain, such as dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine. In recent searches suggest that people that suffer from depression have a low level of norepinephrine, they experience mood changes as a response of the low levels. Low levels of dopamine explain why people don’t seem to enjoy the same activities as they used to as they don’t receive the same level of joy that they used to. Genetics has also been linked to have run in families. Certain parts of the brain work slower with people who suffer from depression. Todays imaging techniques include high levels of modern day technology and can