2.   Affective: guilt and sadness, lack of enjoyment or pleasure in familiar activities or company.  Behavioural: passivity  Cognitive: negative thoughts, faulty attribution of blame, low self esteem, irrational hopelessness, difficulty concentrating, indecisiveness  Somatic: lack of energy, insomnia or hypersomnia, weight loss/gain, diminished libido. Symptoms of a Major Depressive Disorder

3.   When someone experiences two weeks of depressed mood or loss of interest or pleasure.  Diagnosis requires at least 4 additional symptoms (such as insomnia, suicidal thoughts, passivity, or difficulty concentrating). Diagnosis of Depression

4.   Depression affects 15% of people at some time in their life (Charney and Weismann 1988).  Depression tends to be a recurrent disorder with about 80% experiencing a subsequent episode.  Depression is 2-3 times more common in women than in men.  It occurs frequently among members of lower socio- economic groups.  Levav (1997) found the prevalence rate to be above average in Jewish males suggesting that some groups are more prone to depression. Facts about Depression

5.   Prozac: blocks the reuptake of serotonin thereby leaving more serotonin in the synaptic gap/cleft.  Serotonin is known to affect mood, emotions, aggression, sleep and anxiety. Serotonin & Depression

6.   Another neurotransmitter called noradrenaline is found to be correlated with depression.  Janowsky et al. (1972)  Participants were given a drug called physostigmine (which lowers noradrenaline but increases acetylcholine).  They experienced feelings of self-hate and suicidal wishes within minutes. Noradrenaline & Depression

7.   Rampello et al. (2000) found depressed patients to have an imbalance of noradrenaline, serotonin, dopamine (pleasure), acetylcholine (memory).  Skeptics say that pinning depression to just neurotransmitters is too simple and reductionist (reducing complex behavior to a single factor). Cocktail of Neurotransmitters?

8.   Cortisol: a hormone that helps us cope with stress.  Cortisol hypothesis: Too much or too little cortisol levels may predispose an individual to depression.  Cushing’s syndrome: a disease which results in excessive production of cortisol.  There is a high prevalence of depression among people with Cushing’s syndrome. Stress & Depression

9.   Overproduction of cortisol may decrease the density of serotonin receptors and damage noradrenaline receptors.  However, people develop depression without being stressed and people who have experienced terrible stress do not always develop depression.

10.   Fernald and Gunnar (2008)  Surveyed 639 Mexican mothers and their children. Children of depressed mothers living in extreme poverty produced less cortisol.  This indicates a “worn out” stress system that leaves children susceptible to depression. Does poverty cause depression?