A biological level of analysis suggests that genetics and biochemistry are a part of the cause of major depressive disorder. Joseph Schildkraut’s catecholamine hypothesis (1965) supports the notion that major depressive disorder is associated with low levels of noradrenaline. The catecholamine hypothesis was later developed into “the serotonin hypothesis” and was based on the idea that serotonin is the neurotransmitter responsible for causing major depressive disorder.
Researchers have tried to find out how biochemical changes in the body could induce major depressive disorder. Evidence that drugs which decrease noradrenaline levels tend to produce depression-like symptoms have been found. This is demonstrated in an experiment done by Janowsky …show more content…
(2000) and Delgado and Moreno (2000) have found that patients with major depressive disorder have an imbalance of several neurotransmitters, including noradrenaline and serotonin, and have found that abnormal levels of noradrenaline and serotonin in patients suffering from major depression, respectively.
The serotonin hypothesis is one of many theories of major depressive disorder that suggest that the cause of the disorder is due to chemical imbalance. However, it has not been possible to identify the exact factors involved in the chemical imbalance. Much of the research has been contradictory and has changed focus from the neurotransmitters themselves to more on the process of neurotransmission.
A cognitive level of analysis suggests that cognitive distortion and biases in information processing are a part of the cause of major depressive disorder. Beck (1976) suggested that the cognitive distortions and biases in information processing are based on schema processing were stored schemas about the self interfere with information …show more content…
Beck observed that depressive patients showed a negative cognitive set of characteristics including, dichotomous thinking (black-and-white thinking), selective recall of negative consequences, overgeneralizations on negative events, and non-logical inference about the self. According to Beck, the negative schemas are activated by stressful events. When a stressful situation arises, the depressed person tends to overreact. This has to do with the way a person addresses situations. If a person has negative expectations about the future, and a tendency to explain these in terms of internal, stable, and global factors, the depression may be maintained in a vicious circle, Beck suggests. There has been research that has confirmed a possible connection between negative cognitions and major depressive disorder. Most people who suffer from major depressive disorder exhibit irrational beliefs and cognitive biases such as extreme
Researchers have tried to find out how biochemical changes in the body could induce major depressive disorder. Evidence that drugs which decrease noradrenaline levels tend to produce depression-like symptoms have been found. This is demonstrated in an experiment done by Janowsky …show more content…
(2000) and Delgado and Moreno (2000) have found that patients with major depressive disorder have an imbalance of several neurotransmitters, including noradrenaline and serotonin, and have found that abnormal levels of noradrenaline and serotonin in patients suffering from major depression, respectively.
The serotonin hypothesis is one of many theories of major depressive disorder that suggest that the cause of the disorder is due to chemical imbalance. However, it has not been possible to identify the exact factors involved in the chemical imbalance. Much of the research has been contradictory and has changed focus from the neurotransmitters themselves to more on the process of neurotransmission.
A cognitive level of analysis suggests that cognitive distortion and biases in information processing are a part of the cause of major depressive disorder. Beck (1976) suggested that the cognitive distortions and biases in information processing are based on schema processing were stored schemas about the self interfere with information …show more content…
Beck observed that depressive patients showed a negative cognitive set of characteristics including, dichotomous thinking (black-and-white thinking), selective recall of negative consequences, overgeneralizations on negative events, and non-logical inference about the self. According to Beck, the negative schemas are activated by stressful events. When a stressful situation arises, the depressed person tends to overreact. This has to do with the way a person addresses situations. If a person has negative expectations about the future, and a tendency to explain these in terms of internal, stable, and global factors, the depression may be maintained in a vicious circle, Beck suggests. There has been research that has confirmed a possible connection between negative cognitions and major depressive disorder. Most people who suffer from major depressive disorder exhibit irrational beliefs and cognitive biases such as extreme