Among all of the disorders I can think of, depression is one of the first that comes to mind. I have often heard it classified as a “chemical imbalance”. This has always struck me as a very simple explanation for what seems to be a very complex illness. It turns out that this claim may very well be a myth. Many drugs claim to be the cure to depressive thoughts, yet chemicals are not necessarily the only participant with regard to the existence of depression in a person. According to Psychology Today, “Psychiatrists and researchers of depression have yet to isolate specifically the relationship between all the different neural connections and firings of our brains and depression. In fact, the notion of serotonin being the chief biological basis or the underlying root for the illness is, “a reductionistic oversimplification of a very complex biological state” (Greenberg, 2010, p. 197).” Some sources even claim that low serotonin levels do not cause depression.
Serotonin is defined as a chemical present in the brain which regulates mood, sleep, appetite, and memory. While medications which affect the level of serotonin in the brain are common in the treatment of depression, factors which include genetics, life events, and hormones. When someone has depression, they have a greater amount of stress hormones which include cortisol and non adrenaline hormones. Both hormones are essentially released as a result of stress. It is also easy to understand that traumatic life events may cause depression. For example, people that are grieving will have high levels of the hormone ACTH. ACTH plays a part in the production of cortisone. When one is excessively stressed, often one who is suffering from grief and/or depression, cortisone levels are abnormally high.
Depression may also be inherited from relatives. According to doctors at Stanford University, “in most cases of depression, around 50% of the cause is genetic, and around 50% is unrelated to genes (psychological or physical factors).” This suggests that genetics is a significant factor with regard to depression.
I think that simply referring to depression as a chemical imbalance is excessively vague. As every emotion we endure involves some sort of chemical release, it is also questionable that it is referred to as simply a chemical imbalance. I also think that the depiction of depression is skewed specifically through commercials. Depression has many forms and causes.
Sources:
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-first-impression/201302/5-myths-about-depression
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/depression/basics/causes/con-20032977
http://www.clinical-depression.co.uk/depression-faq/is-depression-caused-by-chemical-imbalance/
http://psychcentral.com/lib/your-health-and-grief/000621
http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2014/09/13/low-serotonin-levels-dont-cause-depression/
http://depressiongenetics.stanford.edu/mddandgenes.html
I agree, many people try to oversimplify mental disorders like depression. The process is, indeed, very complicated. Our understanding of depression is severely limited by our knowledge of the brain. I was particularly intrigued when you mentioned genetics. In some recent studies on rats have shed some light on that front. Rats who were given chemicals that mimic depression gave birth to rats who had serious social deficiencies such as “decreased sexual, aggressive, and intracranial self-stimulation activities.” Perhaps our mother’s chemical make-up can directly impact our own.
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