Clinical Depression

A strong history of various types of ‘mental illness’ is evident on both sides of my family. A lot of people think that if someone has a mental illness, then he or she is automatically a loose cannon and needs to be kept locked away in a padded room. Completely wrong. Of course, the category of mental illness encompasses many different degrees of conditions and disorders, but there is definitely a broad range which needs to be taken into consideration. However, a good number of these illnesses have shown up throughout my family tree at some point. Schizophrenia, anxiety disorders, addiction, and mild O.C.D. are a few examples, however depression has been the most prominent.

There is no single adult in either my immediate or extended family that is not currently taking a prescribed medication for some sort of illness I described above. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRI’s, have become very familiar to my relatives and have created a much better, easier existence not only for each individual, but for the entire family as a whole.

For many, it is obviously a commonplace occurrence to feel down on occasion and not always in a constant state of pure bliss. With regards to Carl Elliott, the question then arises as to when a person can formally be diagnosed with depression and be classified as depressed. How can we really measure such a phenomenon, what the difference is between sadness and depression, and why has it become so prevalent in our society? The increasing stresses of the economy, the awareness of available treatment, or just the fact that many people in today’s society are taking on way more than they can handle may contribute somewhat as to why our country has been deemed the “Prozac Nation.”

Personally, I have to side mostly with Pinker’s strong belief in genetics and biological determinism. These behaviors have been passed along through generations, and are correlated with one another. Addiction may result in depression, anxiety stems from OCD, etc. There is hard scientific evidence that backs up that these types of behaviors are hereditary. However, Lewontin’s view on the influence of the environment makes sense as well. Someone who has experienced a traumatic event has more of a reason to fall into depression than someone who has had no real trauma. A death, loss of a job, or sickness are situations we cannot ultimately control, and so it is more understandable that depression could be associated with these events. It’s the fact that someone who has the gene for depression may be less resilient to coping with these situations, or may just have a chemical imbalance in the brain causing their downcast behavior without any real, apparent cause. Thankfully, whether a person’s depression is due to biology, an environmental trigger, or a combination, it can now be regulated in most cases and these people are able to function just fine in normal society.