The Makeup of Depression

Depression is a problem that is becoming all too common today. People from all different walks of life and backgrounds experience it everyday, many dealing with it secretly. Estimates say that as many as 19 million adults in the United States are living with major depression. This really interests me as I have done research in labs scientifically and in philosophy/theory classes that explores the areas of human depression and dissatisfaction with life. It really interests me as to why the levels of depression seem to be so high in a country where for most people all basic necessities are met. According to some studies, the countries with the highest depression rates are also some of the most well off countries.

            Depression is a disorder of representation and regulation of one’s mood and emotion. A particular study of depression explored the circuitry underlying this representation and regulation. This study was done through the lens of affective neuroscience, which is a branch of biobehavioral science that explores the underlying neural bases of these moods and emotions. This circuitry is where different kinds of abnormalities are expressed during depression. Thus, it is very important to have a solid understanding of this circuitry under normal conditions and then see how it differs under depression in order to pinpoint points and possible causes of depression.

            The PFC plays a critical role in the representation of goals, thus irregularities in PFC function would result in a compromised goal-instantiation; which would be seen in patients with depression. The ACC, however, is involved in conflict monitoring; particularly when an individual is confronted challenges that involve conflict among multiple response options. When normal levels of ACC activation are present, the signal from ACC would initiate a call to other regions of the brain, particularly the PFC, to resolve the conflict and initiate the proper goal-directed behavior. However, when abnormally low levels of ACC activation are present in a person, the conflict between dispositional mood state and the expectations of context would not be effectively monitored and consequently, further processing would not be initiated.

            The study determined that depression refers to a group of diverse disorders. This proves that it is possible that depression-spectrum disorders can be a result of abnormalities in many different parts of the circuitry. Going back to the original point of interest in why depression is so wide spread, it may be interesting to examine the most common combinations of disorders that result in depression-spectrum disorders. This may illuminate us to some deeper issues in our society, to which major depression is merely a outward symptom.