Free Custom «Psychological Disorder and Treatment» Essay Paper

Biological causes of depression are associated with an occurrence of significantly low levels of neurotransmitters, which include dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine (Adrian, 2001). In addition, evidence from research shows that hormonal imbalance also poses a threat that can easily lead to the occurrence of depression; however, this aspect shows gender preference towards females.

Neurological Causes of Depression

Neurological aspects of depression are associated with the manner in which nervous impulses are transmitted in a normal human. The interference with the transmission of these impulses can easily lead to the occurrence of certain stress factors that can act an element of depression (Adrian, 2001).

Functionality Aspect of Depression

The critique for establishing the relative functionality determinants of depression as a psychological disorder primarily depend on the interaction between biological and environmental elements. This interaction primarily comes from the fact that all individuals vary significantly in terms of there response to a situation that can lead to the development of depression. In a study conducted among 2706 adolescents it was established that the causes of depression include relationship, personal growth, and system maintenance as domains of family environment, all of which correlate significantly with emotionality, psychological irritation, and lack puff positive experience as depression aspects (Lau & Kwok, 2000). This serves to show the manner in which environmental perspectives play a greater role towards depression than biological perspectives.

Biological Treatment of Depression

This elementally involves the prescription of antidepressants with an aim of significantly increasing the reduced neurotransmitters to their normal levels. This will lead to a visible functional improvement and a decrease in the signs of depression. According to Kashdan and McKnight (2009), “Understanding which treatments produce changes in both may lead to greater discoveries in treatment development and evaluation” (p.255). This is due to the different roles played by the neurotransmitters.

Environmental Treatment of Depression

The treatment of neurological aspects of depression would naturally entail focusing on symptoms of depression in order to identify the right therapeutic measures. These would entail putting the affected victim under observation in order to understand the individual perception to their environment and focus on the critical areas by prescribing drugs that can realign the transmission of impulses. It is also important to consider premorbid functioning since patients having poor social functioning before the depression may show no functional improvement from the treatment (Kashdan & McKnight, 2009). This therefore serves to show the fact that environmental treatment can indeed be a more feasible strategy towards the treatment of depression. This would primarily involve the adoption of an environmental model through systematic selection of treatment and prescriptive therapy by taking consideration of the events surrounding the individual. According to Brennan and Hammen (2001), “These are events to which the individual contributed, and therefore they represent a measure of the extent to which the person's behaviors or characteristics either precipitated difficulties with another person, failed to resolve such problems before they became a significant negative event, or both” (p.289) This model entails the application of both theoretical and clinical perspectives.