How does culture play a role in Depression?
Is a diagnosis reliable?
How is depression treated?
These are just a few of the interesting and important questions that we will be exploring in this book as we explore what abnormal psychology is and what causes depression and how it can be treated.
So, join me as together we explore the fascinating world of abnormal psychology in this book with an intriguing conversational tone that clearly breakdown and critically evaluates concepts and theories so everyone can enjoy the wonders of psychology… and not have a headache at the end!
hello, these book has a reasonable interest on amazon and it's selling very well on the german market on amazon therefore i would like to ideally translate this into german to increase the number of these sales as well as trnsalte into other languages to replicate this result in other markets as well.
Chapter 2: Biological explanations
Now, we’re starting to get to what I call proper psychology and my favourite parts of psychology because to this and the next two chapters are some of the most interesting pieces of psychology.
As we start to explore the why and the reasons behind why Major Depressive Disorder develops.
Firstly, we are starting with a biological basis for MDD.
There are two theories for why MDD develops within the biological world. The first is called the serotonin hypothesis.
This theory states that MDD is caused by an imbalance of serotonin in the brain. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter associated with many functions in the body and it’s sometimes referred to as the happiness chemical. As it’s associated with happiness as well as well-being.[1]
There are two pieces of evidence supporting this hypothesis:
Supported by: certain drugs known to decrease serotonin are known to have depressive side effects.
Drugs that increase serotonin levels can relieve depression symptoms. Like: Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs)
However, a major criticism and a problem that I personally have with this theory is that once you take an SSRI the level of serotonin in your blood increases within an hour. However, depressive symptoms don’t decrease until a month later.
Therefore, it begs the question: is it actually the increase in serotonin that cures your depression? Or does that increase start another bodily process and that process takes a month to finish and that process cures your depression?
I know that it sounds strange or not thought out but if the serotonin hypothesis is true, then surely your depression could be cured within an hour of you taking the SSRI as within that hour the serotonin imbalance is gone or reduced?
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Italian
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Translation in progress.
Translated by Alessia Pinna
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