LEARNED HELPLESSNESS AND ENVIRONMENTAL THEORY OF DEPRESSION

*Learned helplessness is the state of mind created when an animal or human being learns to behave helplessly, even with the means to escape or avoid an unpleasant situation. The learned helplessness theory holds that clinical depression and other mental illnesses may arise from the perceived lack of control over a situation, according to psychologist Martin Seligman. Seligman and his colleagues found that human motivation to initiate responses is also undermined by a lack of control over one's surroundings.

*The Environmental theory of Depression states that depression occurs when a sad event made a negative impact in our life. This includes: death, unemployment, abuse, conflicts between families, and other personal problems that occur throughout our lives. We are not born with depression, instead any of these events change our perspective of life after having a bad experience. It is triggered by things that appear in our life without expecting them.

*These two ideas are bonded in a certain way. Learned helplessness disrupts normal development and learning, and it leads to emotional distrubances such as depression. The issues or problems that provoke an emotional damage can be caused by events that involve our environment. For example, the death of a family member will disrupt our emotions, leading humans to a dysfunctional behavior.

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Famous Quotes

"Depression is not sobbing and crying and giving vent, it is plain and simple reduction of feeling...People who keep stiff upper lips find that it's damn hard to smile." - Judith Guest


"That's the thing about depression: A human being can survive almost anything, as long as she sees the end in sight. But depression is so insidious, and it compounds daily, that it's impossible to ever see the end. The fog is like a cage without a key." -Elizabeth Wurtzel

ENVIRONMENTAL THEORY

This theory states that depression occurs when a sad event made a negative impact in our life. This include: death, unemployment, abuse, conflicts between families, and other personal problems that occur throughout our lives. We are not born with depression, instead any of these events change our perspective of life after having a bad experience. It is triggered by things that appear in our life without expecting them.

http://www.webmd.com/depression/guide/causes-depression

COGNITIVE THEORY

The Cognitive theory states that people make negative assumptions and show a constant low self-esteem. Usually people make false assumptions of what might others think of us. Also, it includes the way in which we get to the point of being helpless. We begin to think that we are useless and not necessary in the world.


http://www.psychologyinfo.com/depression/cognitive.htm#pessimism

BIOLOGICAL THEORY

This theory states that depression is caused by malfunction of chemicals in our brain. This issue starts if the hippocampus, a small part of the brain that is vital to the storage of memories, appears to be smaller in people with a history of depression than in those who've never been depressed. This will cause a smaller amount of seratonin receptors. Serotonin is a calming brain chemical known as a neurotransmitter that allows communication between nerves in the brain and the body. It’s also thought that the neurotransmitter norepinephrine may be involved in depression. In general, it states that our body gets depression by an inappropiate balance of chemicals.

http://www.psychologyinfo.com/depression/index.html