Reductionist Theory Of Reductionism

INTRODUCTION:

Depression was described as the ‘common cold’ of psychiatry by Seligman (1973) due to the frequency of its diagnosis. In 2016’s mental health survey, in England, disclosed that 1 in 8 people experience and show the symptoms of depression. It is a predominant mental health issue worldly. Till date, the accurate causes of it are not very well apprehended. Although it is hypothesized that numerous factors together can lead up to depression which consist of anger, negative thoughts, low self- esteem, imbalance of neurotransmitters, stress, disturbed sleep cycle, disability, desolation and many other elements, it can also be traced down to the genes and family history. What leads to depression and the treatments can be analysed by

Reductionists conceive that mental processes can be rationalised within the framework of science which involves chemistry, physiology etc. An example of reductionist view is, Skinner believing that the basis of how we behave is due to the relation between stimuli and our responses to them. Here, complex behaviour is being reduced to a simple relationship between the stimulus and response Reductionists claims that mental illnesses should be treated like a disease and hence is treatable by the intake of drugs. Reductionists view psychological problems as an imbalance of chemicals in the brain. (Coppen, 1967) is credited with developing the serotonin hypothesis of depression. (Joseph Schildkraut, 1965) stated that put forth the hypothesis that depression was associated with low levels of norepinephrine. Reserpine played an important role in the development of neurotransmitter imbalance theories as he depleted serotonin levels in animals and witnessed effects of their behaviour as the animals reacted to it by having depression – like symptoms such as being lethargic. Researchers have also suggested that depression is caused due to the depletion of serotonin or dopamine levels in the central nervous system, there are theories linked to what causes depression, revolving around monoamine neurotransmitters, the circadian rhythm, inflammation as well as neuroplasticity. There are four neurotransmitters which are known as monoamines, they are epinephrine, serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine. There are drugs which increase serotonin synaptic levels but they can also enhance the levels of dopamine and norepinephrine, this discovery led to the monoamine theory of depression which postulates that insufficiency of particular neurotransmitters assists the modulation of behaviour and feelings. Depression can also be characterized by decreased activity in the brain regions