1. What Causes Depression?
From the 7 perspectives

2. Biological Perspective
You think the way you do because of the way your brain is built and because of your body's needs.  
All of your choices are based on your physical body.  
Key parts to focus on: hormones, immune system, brain, genetics .

3. Depression from Biological Perspective
people are born with a genetic disposition towards depression.
depression can be found in more than one member of some families – genetics!
Treat with drugs – change biology to help

4. Cognitive Perspective
Focuses on thinking, problem solving, memory, learning
Interested in how the brain actually works
The way one thinks leads to the way one behaves, feels, acts

5. Cognitive Perspective
People think negatively = misinterpret facts, blame themselves, negative self=talk
Constant negative thinking leads one to feel depressed about life, self, etc

6. Sociocultural Perspective
Key focus is on how one’s culture or one’s society affects a person
Race and ethnicity, religion, gender, social class, family traditions, peer groups, and age are some of the subgroups that may influence someone's behavior.
Do students from poverty-stricken areas learn differently than students in wealthy homes? Do religious beliefs play a role in a teen's decision to delay premarital sex? Do families that eat dinner together every night have more successful children than families who don't eat together?
A psychologist could use the sociocultural perspective to help answer these questions.

7. Sociocultural Perspective
Different cultures see “depression” as different things For example, in India, a wide range of distress disorders are categorized as depressive disorders, whereas in Japan, the very idea of mental illness is unacceptable and few people will admit to having it.
Obviously, without knowing the full story, someone might conclude that Indian people have very high rates of depression, or conversely, that Japanese people rarely develop this disorder.
Even within the United States, prevalence rates (the numbers of people experiencing depression) can be influenced by cultural context. For example, black women have lower rates of depression than white women. In addition, recent immigrants to the U.S. tend to have lower rates of depression than their descendants, who are presumably more "Western" in attitudes and behavior.

8. Humanistic Perspective
Humans are unique and special
Goal is to become the best we can be
Largely focuses on positivity
 morality, ethical values, and good intentions are the driving forces of behavior

9. Humanistic Perspective
-depression occurs when an individual is not able to cope with their circumstances in life – this prevents them from reaching their highest potential
- if your deepest interests and freedoms are blocked in some way, it can lead to depression
-people can choose to be depressed or choose to be happy.

10. Behaviourist Perspective
Only cares about the observable behaviors
Learning via punishment or reward
The environment around us matters a lot as it can shape our behaviour

11. Behaviourist Perspective
Negative behaviour such as depression is learned which also means that they can be unlearned
People can become depressed due to a lack of positive reinforcement for their behaviour and actions
Psychologists will treat depression with behavioural therapy
teach patients new skills to avoid depression instead of looking at factors that causes it.

12. Psychoanalytic Perspective
Our unconscious drives our behaviour
Childhood is key!!!!
Looks at how people repress their feelings – “stuff “ them down – which leads to conflicts, difficulties, frustrations, etc
Also interested in our desires = especially sex = and how we repress desires to fit into society
This can cause problems for us

13. Psychoanalytic Perspective
how the child deals with and responds to loss in childhood sets the pattern for how the child will deal with similar experiences as an adult in later life.
A person feels depressed because of rejection in childhood, desertion, lack of support