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Apathetic

Apathetic

Apathy is the lack of emotion, motivation, or enthusiasm. Apathy is a psychological term for a state of indifference — where an individual is unresponsive or "indifferent" to aspects of emotional, social, or physical life. Clinical apathy is considered to be at an elevated level, while a moderate level might be considered depression, and an extreme level could be diagnosed as a dissociative disorder. The physical aspect of apathy associated with physical deterioration, muscle loss, and lack of energy is called lethargy — which has many pathological causes as well. Apathy can be object-specific — toward a person, activity or environment. It is a common reaction to stress where it manifests as "learned helplessness" and is commonly associated with depression. It can also reflect a non-pathological lack of interest in things one does not consider important. Certain drugs are known to cause symptoms associated with or leading to apathy.

Apathy in common and religious terms

Contrary to common belief, clinical diagnosis of "apathy" does not indicate laziness — but in common use the correlation is rather direct. In religious doctrine, slothfulness is considered to be a sin which leads to further disassociation with life and prescience — in this context, to be substantially disassociated is to be "in hell" which is to say 'in a state where the spirit or soul is destroyed or otherwise in a state of destruction.' The concept of disassociation is controversial — in the practice of many Eastern religions, for example, an advanced meditative state has aspects of extreme detachment — though the religion and ritual of meditation is believed to provide proper grounding such as to properly recover from the detachment and to benefit from its experience. Hence some critics view ascetics or saints as striving for a level of "apathy", which theologians prefer to call disassociation or detachment.

Emotion

:"Emotions" redirects here. For other senses of that word, see emotions (disambiguation). Emotions are essentially impulses that move an organism to action, originating automatic reaction behavior which has been perfected through evolution as a survival need. Davidoff (1980) defines emotion as a feeling that is expressed through physiological functions such as facial expressions, faster heartbeat, and behaviors such as aggression, crying, covering face with hands, and so on. Emotion is complex, and the term has no single universally accepted definition. Emotions are mental states that arise spontaneously, rather than through conscious effort. They are often accompanied by physiological changes; a feeling: the emotions of joy, sorrow, reverence, hate, and love. It is unclear whether animals or all human beings experience emotion. Emotions are physical expressions, often involuntary, related to feelings, perceptions or beliefs about elements, objects or relations between them, in reality or in the imagination. The study of emotions is part of psychology, neuroscience, and more recently artificial intelligence. According to Sloman (1981), emotions are cognitive processes. Some authors emphasize the difference between human emotions and the affective behavior of animals. Emotion is sometimes regarded as the antithesis of reason. This is reflected in common phrases like appeal to emotion or your emotions have taken over. Emotions can be undesired to the individual feeling them; s/he may wish to control but often cannot. Thus one of the most distinctive and perhaps challenging facts about human beings is this potential for entanglement or even opposition between will, emotion, and reason. Emotion as the subject of scientific research has multiple dimensions: behavioral, physiological, subjective, and cognitive. Sloman and others explain that the need to face a changing and unpredictable world makes emotions necessary for any intelligent system (natural or artificial) with multiple motives and limited capacities and resources. Current research on the neural circuitry of emotion suggests that emotion makes up an essential part of human decision-making, including long-term planning, and that the famous distinction made by Descartes between reason and emotion is not as clear as it seems. Some state that there is no empirical support for any generalization suggesting the antithesis between reason and emotion: indeed, anger or fear can often be thought of as a systematic response to observed facts. What can be noted, however, is that the human psyche possesses many possible reactions and perspectives in response to the internal and external world - often lying on a continuum— at one extreme lies pure intellectual logic (often called "cold"); at the other extreme is pure emotionally unresponsive to logical argument ("the heat of passion"). In any case, it is clear that the relation between logic and argument on the one hand and emotion on the other, is one which merits careful study. It has been noted by many that passion, emotion, or feeling can add backing to an argument, even one based primarily on reason - particularly regarding religion or ideology, areas of human thought which frequently demand an all-or-nothing rejection or acceptance, that is, the adoption of a comprehensive worldview partly backed by empirical argument and partly by feeling and passion. Moreover, it has been suggested by several researchers that typically there is no "pure" decision or thought, that is, no thought based "purely" on intellectual logic or "purely" on emotion - most decisions and cognitions are founded on a mixture of both.

Relation to cultural and social factors

It is not clear whether emotion is a purely human phenomenon, since animals seem to exhibit conditions which resemble emotional responses such as anger, fear or sadness, and some animals also exhibit similar neural phenomena to humans in tandem with possible emotional response. It has been hypothesized that emotions typical of human beings have evolved and changed in many ways since the species first emerged. Nonetheless, as noted above, it may well be the case that human and non-human animal emotional responses lie on a constant continuum, rather than being two completely distinct categories of human and animal. Much of what is said about emotions, as well as the history of what has been said about them, is conditioned by culture and even politics. That is to say specific emotional responses, as well as a group's interpretation of their significance, may be influenced by cultural norms of propriety. For instance, certain emotions such as love, hate, and the desire for vengeance are treated very differently in differing societies. This methodological relativity is entirely different from the question of whether emotions are universal or are culturally determined. Many researchers would agree that a vast proportion of human behavior, no matter how close to the lowest biological substrates - including sexual behavior, food consumption, feelings in response to physiological changes and responses to environmental conditions - are conditioned based on social surroundings and non-human environmental factors. Thus it is not difficult to defend the position that emotion is, to a high degree, dependent on social phenomena, expectations, norms, and conditioned behavior of the group in which an individual lives. Clearly, then, the influence of politics, religion, and socio-cultural customs can be easily traced or hypothesized, or perhaps not. Among many pertinent examples: behaviors or activities considered highly cruel in some societies may in fact provoke responses of enjoyment in others; or, sexual acts considered highly desirable in some cultures would provoke shame or disgust in others. Contrary to this view, Paul Ekman has shown that at least some facial expressions and their corresponding emotions are universal across human cultures and are not culturally determined. These universal emotions include anger, disgust, fear, joy, sadness and surprise.

Theoretical traditions

According to Cornelius (1996), four main theoretical traditions have dominated research in emotions starting in the 1800's with Darwin's observations of emotion in man and animals. These traditions are not mutually exclusive and many researchers incorporate multiple perspectives in their work.
- The Darwinian perspective First articulated in the late 19th century by Charles Darwin, emotions evolved via natural expression and therefore have cross-culturally universal counterparts. Most research in this area has focused on physical displays of emotion including body language of animals and facial expressions in humans. Paul Ekman's work on basic emotions is representative of the Darwinian tradition.
- The Jamesian perspective William James in the 1800's believed that emotional experience is largely due to the experience of bodily changes. These changes might be visceral, postural, or facially expressive.
- The cognitive perspective Many researchers believe that thought and in particular cognitive appraisal of the environment is an underlying causal explanation for emotional processes.
- The social constructivist perspective Social constructivism emphasizes the importance of culture and context in understanding what occurs in society and constructing knowledge based on this understanding (Derry, 1999; McMahon, 1997). Much current research in emotion is based on the social constructivist view.
- The neurological tradition (Plutchik, 1980) This tradition draws on recent work on neurophysiology and neuroanatomy to explain the nature of emotions. LeDoux (1986) reviews relatively current knowledge on the neurophysiology of emotion.

Etymology

Etymologically, the word emotion is a composite formed from two Latin words. ex/out, outward + motio/movement, action, gesture. This classical formation refers to the immediate nature of emotion as experienced by humans and attributed in some cultures and ways of thinking to all living organisms, and by scientific community to any creature that exhibits complex response traits similar to what humans refer to as emotion.

Physical responses to emotion

The body frequently responds to Shame by warmth in the upper chest and face, Fear by a heightened heartbeat, increased "flinch" response, and increased muscle tension. Sadness by a feeling of tightness in the throat and eyes, and relaxation in the arms and legs. Desire can be accompanied by a dry throat and heavy breathing.

Computer models of emotion

A flurry of recent work in modeling emotional circuitry and recognition has come out of computer science, engineering, psychology and neuroscience (c.f. Fellous, Armony & LeDoux, 2002).
- See affective computing
- Neural network models of emotion recognition

References

- Cornelius, R. (1996). The science of emotion. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
- Damasio AR. (1994). "Descartes' Error." Penguin Putnam, New York, New York.
- Darwin, C. (1872). The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals. This was originally published in 1872. It has been reprinted many times thereafter. See, e.g., London: Julian Friedmann Publishers, 1979 (with an introduction by S.J. Rachman.)
- Davidoff, Linda. 1980, 2a. Introducción a la Psicología, McGraw-Hill. México.
- Ekman P. (1999). "Facial Expressions" in Handbook of Cognition and Emotion. Dalgleish T & Power M, Eds. John Wiley & Sons Ltd. New York, New York.
- Fellous, J.M., Armony, J.L., & LeDoux, J.E. (2002). "Emotional Circuits and Computational Neuroscience" in 'The handbook of brain theory and neural networks' Second Edition. M.A. Arbib (editor), The MIT Press. [http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/fellous02emotional.html]
- LeDoux, J.E. (1986). The neurobiology of emotion. Chap. 15 in J E. LeDoux & W. Hirst (Eds.) Mind and Brain: diologues in cognitive neuroscience. New York: Cambridge.
- Plutchik, R. (1980). A general psychoevolutionary theory of emotion. In R. Plutchik & H. Kellerman (Eds.), Emotion: Theory, research, and experience: Vol. 1. Theories of emotion (pp. 3-33). New York: Academic.
- Sloman, Aaron. 1981. Why Robots Will Have Emotions. University of Sussex. In proc.
- Wikipedia, La Enciclopedia Libre, es.Wikipedia.org/wiki/emoción, Redirigido a Emociónes, Junio 2005.

Emotion researchers

- William James
- Charles Darwin
- Ivan Pavlov
- James Papez
- Paul D. MacLean
- Sigmund Freud
- Carl Jung
- Carl Rogers
- Paul Ekman
- Antonio Damasio
- Robert Plutchik

Motivation

In psychology, motivation is the driving force (desire) behind all actions of human beings, animals, and lower organisms. Many textbooks define it as an internal state or condition that activates behavior and gives it direction, desire or want that energizes and directs goal-oriented behavior, or an influence of needs and desires on the intensity and direction of behavior. Motivation is often based on emotions, specifically, on the search for positive emotional experiences and the avoidance of negative ones, where positive and negative are defined by the individual brain state, not by social norms: a person may be driven to self-injury or violence because his or her brain is conditioned to create a positive response to these actions. Motivation is important because it is involved in the performance of all learned responses.

Types of motivation

Some would argue that the two best types of motivation are fear and desire. Motivation can be viewed as either extrinsic or intrinsic.

Physiological needs

The easiest kinds of motivation to analyse, at least superficially, are those based upon obvious physiological needs. These include hunger, thirst, and escape from pain. The analysis of the processes underlying such motivations can make use of research on animals, in ethology, comparative psychology, and physiological psychology, and the hormonal and brain processes involved in them seem to have much in common at least across all mammals and probably across all vertebrates. However, in humans, even these basic fundamental motivations are modified and mediated through social and cultural influences of various kinds: for example no analysis of hunger in humans could ignore the issues of eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and obesity, for which the parallels in other animals are unclear. Even in animals, it is clear that the earlier homeostatic "depletion-repletion" models of such motivations are no longer adequate, since many animals feed on a precautionary rather than a reactive basis, most obviously when preparing for hibernation.

Other biological motivations

At the next level are motivations that have an obvious biological basis but are not required for the immediate survival of the organism. These include the powerful motivations for sex, parenting and aggression: again, the physiological bases of these are similar in humans and other animals, but the social complexities are greater in humans (or perhaps we just understand them better in our own species). In these areas insights from behavioral ecology and sociobiology have offered new analyses of both animal and human behaviour in the last decades of the twentieth century, though the extension of sociobiological analyses to humans remains highly controversial. Perhaps similar, but perhaps at a rather different level, is the motivation for new stimulation - variously called exploration, curiosity, or arousal-seeking. A crucial issue in the analysis of such motivations is whether they have a homeostatic component, so that they build up over time if not discharged; this idea was a key component of early twentieth century analyses of sex and aggression by, for example, Freud and Konrad Lorenz, and is a feature of much popular psychology of motivation. The biological analyses of recent decades, however, imply that such motivations are situational, arising when they are (or seem to be) needed to ensure an animal's fitness, and subsiding without consequences when the occasion for them passes.

Secondary goals

These important biological needs tend to generate more powerful emotions and thus more powerful motivation than secondary goals. This is described in models like Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs. A distinction can also be made between direct and indirect motivation: In direct motivation, the action satisfies the need, in indirect motivation, the action satisfies an intermediate goal, which can in turn lead to the satisfaction of a need. In work environments, money is typically viewed as a powerful indirect motivation, whereas job satisfaction and a pleasant social environment are more direct motivations. However, this example highlights well that an indirect motivational factor (money) towards an important goal (having food, clothes etc.) may well be more powerful than the direct motivation provided by an enjoyable workplace. Motivation, as Stephen Robbins (2000) says, is included one component of performance, that is performance is ability times motivation.

Coercion

The most obvious form of motivation is coercion, where the avoidance of pain or other negative consequences has an immediate effect. When such coercion is permanent, it is considered slavery. While coercion is considered morally reprehensible in many philosophies, it is widely practiced on prisoners, students in mandatory schooling, and in the form of conscription. Critics of modern capitalism charge that without social safety networks, wage slavery is inevitable. Successful coercion sometimes can take priority over other types of motivation.

Self control

The self-control of motivation is increasingly understood as a subset of emotional intelligence; a person may be highly intelligent according to a more conservative definition (as measured by many intelligence tests), yet unmotivated to dedicate this intelligence to certain tasks. Victor Vroom's "expectancy theory" provides an account of when people will decide whether to exert self control to pursue a particular goal. Self control is often contrasted with automatic processes of stimulus-response, as in the behaviorist's paradigm of B.F. Skinner.

Controlling motivation

The control of motivation is only understood to a limited extent. There are many different approaches of motivation training, but many of these are considered pseudoscientific by critics. To understand how to control motivation it is first necessary to understand why many people lack motivation. In recent years, non-work related activities like Internet surfing have become an increasing concern for employers in industrialized nations. Some companies have used prohibitive tactics to counter this perceived threat, others try to define certain limits, and many merely take action in extreme cases. Even for home users, Internet addiction is increasingly perceived as a risk. Similar concerns accompany the use of video games, television, and Wikipedia. It is true that for many people, these activities have reached the point of psychological addiction. This can be explained with a positive feedback loop. The aforementioned activities can generate quick, positive emotional responses of different types -- the humor of sitcoms, the ersatz family of soap operas, the endorphin release from action movies and video games, or the curiosity satisfied, the loneliness mitigated and the boredom supposedly quenched by visiting "important" news websites. It is known that connections in the human brain's neural network are intensified by repeated activity, which means that it is often easier to continue to do what one is doing than to do something else. This is how a daily habit can, over time, turn into a psychological addiction that is hard to break. The key question for motivation is then: Which activities generate a positive emotional response, and which ones do not? The answers to this question are increasingly explored by neuropsychology. It is known that, for most people, activities that involve powerful audiovisual input have a stronger emotional effect. Purely text-based information, on the other hand, is usually not very motivating. This seems intuitive given the fact that reading is a trained higher cortical skill, whereas large brain areas are congenitally devoted to processing audiovisual input. For this class of information, there are simply more connections from the processing areas of the brain's cortex to the lower emotional centers of the limbic system. It therefore seems logical to assume that motivation can be created more easily through multimedia input. Since humans are social animals, it also appears natural that social connections play a crucial role in motivation. Not much is known about the way the human brain deals with social relationships, but for the sake of the argument, it can be assumed that social connections are merely very powerful, emotionally encoded memories connected to others. An idea which is connected to these memories thus triggers the emotions. It follows logically, then, that negative social relationships are likely to decrease motivation, and that intrinsic desire to act has to be substituted within these relationships with coercion. For teachers and managers alike, it then seems desirable to maintain such positive relationships in order to provide a motivating atmosphere -- however, personal reasons may stand in the way of this goal. This is why many motivation control programs try to teach managers to find outlets for their personal feelings other than their employees.

Early programming

Modern imaging has provided solid empirical support for the psychological theory that emotional programming is largely defined in childhood. Harold Chugani, Medical Director of the PET Clinic at the Children's Hospital of Michigan and professor of pediatrics, neurology and radiology at Wayne State University School of Medicine, has found that children's brains are much more capable of consuming new information (linked to emotions) than those of adults. Brain activity in cortical regions is about twice as high in children as in adults from the third to the ninth year of life. After that period, it declines constantly to the low levels of adulthood. Brain volume, on the other hand, is already at about 95% of adult levels in the ninth year of life. Image:Brain-metabolism.jpg Data by Harold Chugani on brain activity, 1996 (click image for source details). The red dots show activity in the frontal cortex, the "youngest" region in the human brain from an evolutionary perspective. It is important for analysis and creativity. The blue curve, copied from another diagram of the same source, shows the development of brain volume through childhood. As can be seen from the data, brain activity in children is much higher than in adults, making early influences critical for motivation in later life. This is crucial to the understanding of motivation as well. Different people can generate positive emotional responses from different actions. Mathematicians may be able to enjoy dealing with complex formulas, programmers feel the same way about computer code, musicians may feel "in tune with themselves" when composing or playing, and so forth. Given the above knowledge about the early programming of the human brain, and given that memories are encoded together with emotions, it must be concluded that at least part of these different emotional responses are generated during childhood. A child who grows up watching television but not reading any books may find it difficult in later life to be motivated by purely textual information; a child neglected by its parents may be unable to make motivating social connections later. A more controversial conclusion is that exposing children to too much simplistic, emotionally driven entertainment will "dull" their brains and make them incapable of acting far outside the narrow boundaries of indirect motivation to satisfy primary needs (money to survive) and quick positive emotional response (TV, games etc.). If this view is correct, it would be very difficult to fix these problems in adult life. The education systems of most countries do take little of the above discussion into account, to the disdain of many scientists who study them. Learning is frequently equated with memorizing, and negative conditioning (in some countries to the point of corporal punishment) is common. Positive experiences, on the other hand, are often deliberately prohibited. Many schools (especially in the United States) have bans against public displays of affection, such as hugging and kissing, and teenage sexuality is frequently considered highly problematic, countered with severe punishment and sexual abstinence campaigns. While these actions are taken out of the belief that they are necessary to prevent negative consequences such as teenage pregnancies, groups like the Coalition for Positive Sexuality argue that this kind of social control harms teenagers while failing to accomplish any useful goal. Whether physical experiences are counted as part of a positive environment or not, it is quite probable that such an environment is necessary for a positive learning atmosphere.

Organization

Besides the very direct approaches to motivation, beginning in early life, there are solutions which are more abstract but perhaps nevertheless more practical for self-motivation. Virtually every motivation guidebook includes at least one chapter about the proper organization of one's tasks and goals. It is usually suggested that it is critical to maintain a list of tasks, with a distinction between those which are completed and those which are not, thereby moving some of the required motivation for their completion from the tasks themselves into a "meta-task", namely the processing of the tasks in the task list, which can become a routine. The viewing of the list of completed tasks may also be considered motivating, as it can create a satisfying sense of accomplishment. Most electronic to-do lists have this basic functionality, although the distinction between completed and non-completed tasks is not always clear (completed tasks are sometimes simply deleted, instead of kept in a separate list). Other forms of information organization may also be motivational, such as the use of mindmaps to organize one's ideas, and thereby "train" the neural network that is the human brain to focus on the given task. More simpler forms of idea notation such as simple bullet-point style lists may also be sufficient, or even more useful to less visually oriented persons. One interesting aspect that has been somewhat neglected by sociology is the addictive nature of role playing games, which work with a system of experience points and "levels" to motivate the player to keep going; when he has gained enough points, he can advance to the next level, thereby getting new abilities and a higher status in the community, if any. While many electronic motivation systems have a basic concept of priorities, few explore the possibility of using actual scores as a motivational factor. However, some online communities that have nothing to do with gaming use similar systems; notably, the Everything2 collaborative writing community employs a complex voting/experience system. Perhaps such systems can also be used on a smaller scale.

Drugs

Some authors, especially in the transhumanist movement, have suggested the use of "smart drugs", also known as nootropics, as "motivation-enhancers". The effects of many of these drugs on the brain are not well understood, and their legal status often makes open experimentation difficult. It is a fact that some of history's most productive artists have also been drug users, although it is not clear whether this correlation is also of a causative nature.

In Education

Motivation can have several effects on how students learn and their behavior towards subject matter. It can: # Direct behavior toward particular goals # Lead to increased effort and energy # Increase initiation of, and persistence in, activities # Enhance cognitive processing # Determine what consequences are reinforcing # Lead to improved performance. This is a theory from Jeanne Ormrod in "Educational Psychology: Developing Learners".

Is Money a Motivator?

Yes, at lower levels of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, such as Physiological needs, money is a motivator, however it tends to have a motivating effect on staff that lasts only for a short period. At higher levels of the hierarchy, praise, respect, recognition, empowerment and a sense of belonging are far more powerful motivators than money, as both Abraham Maslow and Douglas McGregor's Theory X and theory Y have demonstrated vividly. Maslow has money at the lowest level of the hierarchy and shows other needs are better motivators to staff. McGregor places money in his Theory X category and feels it is a poor motivator. Praise and recognition are placed in the Theory Y category and are considered stronger motivators than money.

Reference

- Ormond, Jeanne Ellis. "Educational Psychology: Developing Learners" Fourth Edition. Merrill Prentice Hall, 2003. Spevak, P. A., Ph.D. & Karinch. "Empowering Underachievers" First Edition. New Horizon Press, 2000. Category:Self Category:Personal life Category:Emotion Category:Human behavior

Psychological

Psychology (ancient Greek: psyche = "soul" or "mind", logos/-ology = "study of") is an academic and applied field involving the study of mind and behavior. "Psychology" also refers to the application of such knowledge to various spheres of human activity, including problems of individuals' daily lives and the treatment of mental illness. Psychology differs from sociology, anthropology, economics, and political science in part because it involves studying the mental processes and behavior of individuals (alone or in groups) rather than the behavior of the groups or aggregates themselves. Psychology differs from biology and neuroscience in that it is primarily concerned with the interaction of mental processes and behavior and of the overall processes of a system, and not simply the biological or neural processes themselves. Although psychological questions were asked in antiquity (see Aristotle's De Memoria et Reminiscentia or "On Memory and Recollection"), psychology emerged as a separate discipline only recently. The first person to call himself a "psychologist", Wilhelm Wundt, opened the first psychological laboratory in 1879.

History

Main article: History of psychology History of psychology The late 19th century marks the start of psychology as a scientific enterprise. The year 1879 is commonly seen as the start of psychology as an independent field of study, because in that year German scientist Wilhelm Wundt founded the first laboratory dedicated exclusively to psychological research in Leipzig, Germany. Other important early contributors to the field include Hermann Ebbinghaus (a pioneer in studies on memory), the Russian Ivan Pavlov (who discovered the learning process of classical conditioning), and the Austrian Sigmund Freud. Freud's influence has been enormous, though more as cultural icon than a force in (scientific) psychology. Freud's basic theories postulated the existence in humans of various unconscious and instinctive "drives", and that the "self" existed as a perpetual battle between the desires and demands of the internal id, ego, and superego. The mid century saw a rejection of Freud's theories among many psychologists as being too unscientific, as well as a reaction against Edward Titchener's abstract approach to the mind. This led to the formulation of behaviorism by John B. Watson, which was popularized by B.F. Skinner. Behaviorism proposed epistemologically limiting psychological study to overt behavior, since that could be quantified and easily measured. Scientific knowledge of the "mind" was considered too metaphysical, hence impossible to achieve. The final decades of the 20th century have seen the rise of a new interdisciplinary approach to studying human psychology, known collectively as cognitive science. Cognitive science again considers the "mind" as a subject for investigation, using the tools of evolutionary psychology, linguistics, computer science, philosophy, and neurobiology. This new form of investigation has proposed that a wide understanding of the human mind is possible, and that such an understanding may be applied to other research domains, such as artificial intelligence.

Principles of psychology

Mind and brain

Psychology does not necessarily refer to the brain or nervous system and can be framed purely in terms of phenomenological or information processing theories of the mind. Increasingly, though, an understanding of brain function is being included in psychological theory and practice, particularly in areas such as artificial intelligence, neuropsychology, and cognitive neuroscience.

Schools of thought

Various schools of thought have argued for a particular model to be used as a guiding theory by which all, or the majority, of human behavior can be explained. The popularity of these has waxed and waned over time. Some psychologists may think of themselves as adherents to a particular school of thought and reject the others, although most consider each as an approach to understanding the mind, and not necessarily as mutually exclusive theories. See psychological schools of thought for a comprehensive list.

Scope of psychology

Psychology is an extremely broad field, encompassing many different approaches to the study of mental processes and behavior. Below are the major areas of inquiry that comprise psychology. A comprehensive list of the sub-fields and areas within psychology can be found at the list of psychological topics.

Biological basis: the brain

list of psychological topics Main articles: Behavioral neuroscience, Cognitive neuroscience, Neuropsychology, Evolutionary psychology Because all behavior is controlled by the central nervous system, it is sensible to study how the brain functions in order to understand behavior. This is the approach taken in behavioral neuroscience, cognitive neuroscience, and Neuropsychology. Neuropsychology is the branch of psychology that aims to understand how the structure and function of the brain relate to specific psychological processes. Often neuropsychologists are employed as scientists to advance scientific or medical knowledge. Neuropsychology is particularly concerned with the understanding of brain injury in an attempt to work out normal psychological function. The approach of cognitive neuroscience to studying the link between brain and behavior is to use brain imaging tools, such as fMRI, to observe which areas of the brain are active during a particular task.

Information processing: the mind

fMRI Main articles: Cognitive psychology, Cognitive science The nature of thought is another core interest in psychology. Cognitive psychology studies cognition, the mental processes underlying behavior. It uses information processing as a framework for understanding the mind. Perception, learning, problem solving, memory, attention, language and emotion are all well researched areas. Cognitive psychology is associated with a school of thought known as cognitivism, whose adherents argue for an information processing model of mental function, informed by positivism and experimental psychology. Techniques and models from cognitive psychology are widely applied and form the mainstay of psychological theories in many areas of both research and applied psychology. Cognitive science is very closely related to cognitive psychology, but differs in some of the research methods used, and has a slightly greater emphasis on explaining mental phenomena in terms of both behavior and neural processing. Both areas use computational models to simulate phenomena of interest. Because mental events cannot directly be observed, computational models provide a tool for studying the functional organization of the mind. Such models give cognitive psychologists a way to study the "software" of mental processes independent of the "hardware" it runs on, be it the brain or a computer.

Change over time: development

computational models Main articles: Developmental psychology, Educational psychology Largely focusing on the development of the human mind through the life span, developmental psychology seeks to understand how people come to perceive, understand, and act within the world and how these processes change as they age. This may focus on intellectual, cognitive, neural, social, or moral development. Researchers who study children use a number of unique research methods to make observations in natural settings or to engage them in experimental tasks. Such tasks often resemble specially designed games and activities that are both enjoyable for the child and scientifically useful, and researchers have even devised clever methods to study the mental processes of small infants. In addition to studying children, developmental psychologists also study processes throughout the life span, especially at other times of rapid change (such as adolescence and old age). Urie Bronfenbrenner's theory of development in context (The Ecology of Human Development - ISBN 0-674-22456-6) is influential in this field, as are those mentioned in "Educational psychology" immediately below, as well as many others. Developmental psychologists draw on the full range of theorists in scientific psychology to inform their research. Educational psychology largely seeks to apply much of this knowledge to understanding how learning can best take place in educational situations. Because of this, the work of child psychologists such as Lev Vygotsky, Jean Piaget and Jerome Bruner has been influential in creating teaching methods and educational practices.

Interaction with others

Main articles: Social psychology, Community psychology, Personality psychology Social psychology is the study of the nature and causes of human social behavior, with an emphasis on how people think towards each other and how they relate to each other. Social Psychology aims to understand how we make sense of social situations. For example, this could involve the influence of others on an individual's behavior (e.g., conformity or persuasion), the perception and understanding of social cues, or the formation of attitudes or stereotypes about other people. Social cognition is a common approach and involves a mostly cognitive and scientific approach to understanding social behavior. A related area is Community psychology, which examines psychological and mental health issues on the level of the community rather than only on the level of the individual. "Sense of community" has become its conceptual center (Sarason, 1986; Chavis & Pretty, 1999). Personality psychology includes theories of career development.

Study of animals in psychology

Psychology as a science is primarily concerned with humans, although the behavior and mental processes of animals is also an important part of psychological research, either as a subject in its own right (e.g., animal cognition and ethology), or somewhat more controversially, as a way of gaining an insight into human psychology by means of comparison (including comparative psychology) or via animal models of emotional and behavior systems as seen in neuroscience of psychology ( e.g., affective neuroscience and social neuroscience).

Mental health

Main articles: Clinical psychology, Health psychology Clinical psychology is the application of psychology to the understanding, treatment, and assessment of psychopathology, behavioral or mental health issues. It has traditionally been associated with counselling and psychotherapy, although modern clinical psychology may take an eclectic approach, including a number of therapeutic approaches. Typically, although working with many of the same clients as psychiatrists, clinical psychologists do not prescribe psychiatric drugs. Some clinical psychologists may focus on the clinical management of patients with brain injury. This area is known as clinical neuropsychology. In recent years and particularly in the United States, a major split has been developing between academic research psychologists in universities and some branches of clinical psychology. Many academic psychologists believe that these clinicians use therapies based on discredited theories and unsupported by empirical evidence of their effectiveness. From the other side, these clinicians believe that the academics are ignoring their experience in dealing with actual patients. The disagreement has resulted in the formation of the American Psychological Society by the research psychologists as a new body distinct from the American Psychological Association. Whereas clinical psychology focuses on mental health and neurological illness, health psychology is concerned with the psychology of a much wider range of health-related behavior including healthy eating, the doctor-patient relationship, a patient's understanding of health information, and beliefs about illness. Health psychologists may be involved in public health campaigns, examining the impact of illness or health policy on quality of life or in research into the psychological impact of health and social care.

Applied psychology

Main articles: Applied psychology, Industrial and organizational psychology, Forensic psychology, Human factors The basic premise of applied psychology is the use of psychological principles and theories to overcome practical problems in other fields, such as business management, product design, ergonomics, nutrition, and clinical medicine. Applied psychology includes the areas of industrial/organizational psychology, human factors, forensic psychology, as well as many other areas.

Industrial and organizational

Industrial and organizational psychology focuses to varying degrees on the psychology of the workforce, customer, and consumer, including issues such as the psychology of recruitment, selecting employees from an applicant pool which overall includes training, performance appraisal, job satisfaction, work behavior, stress at work and management.

Forensic psychology

Forensic psychology is the area concerned with the application of psychological methods and principles to legal questions and issues. Most typically, this involves a clinical analysis of a particular individual and an assessment of some specific psycho-legal question. Forensic psychology refers to any application of psychological principles, methods or understanding to legal questions or issues. In addition to the applied practices, it also includes academic or empirical research on topics involving the relationship of law to human mental processes and behavior.

Human factors

Human factors is the study of how cognitive and psychological processes affect our interaction with tools and objects in the environment. The goal of research in human factors is to better design objects by taking into account the limitations and biases of human mental processes and behavior.

Research methods

Psychology is conducted both scientifically and non-scientifically, but is to a large extent wholly rigorous. Mainstream psychology is based largely on positivism, using quantitative studies and the scientific method to test and disprove hypotheses, often in an experimental context. Psychology tends to be eclectic, drawing on scientific knowledge from other fields to help explain and understand behavior. However, not all psychological research methods strictly follow the empirical positivism philosophy. Qualitative research utilizes interpretive techniques and is descriptive in nature, enabling the gathering of rich clinical information unattainable by classical experimentation. Some psychologists, particularly adherents to humanistic psychology, may go as far as completely rejecting a scientific approach, viewing psychology more as an art rather than a rigid science. However, mainstream psychology has a bias towards the scientific method; the dominant school of cognitivism and other scientific approaches are thus the guiding theoretical framework used by most psychologists to understand thought and behavior. The testing of different aspects of psychological function is a significant area of contemporary psychology. Psychometric and statistical methods predominate, including various well-known standardised tests as well as those created ad hoc as the situation or experiment requires. Academic psychologists may focus purely on research and psychological theory, aiming to further psychological understanding in a particular area, while other psychologists may work in applied psychology to deploy such knowledge for immediate and practical benefit. However, these approaches are not mutually exclusive and most psychologists will be involved in both researching and applying psychology at some point during their work. Clinical psychology, among many of the various discipline of psychology, aims at developing in practicing psychologists knowledge of and experience with research and experimental methods which they will continue to build up as well as employ as they treat individual with psychological issues or use psychology to help others. Where an area of interest is considered to need specific training and specialist knowledge (especially in applied areas), psychological associations will typically set up a governing body to manage training requirements. Similarly, requirements may be laid down for university degrees in psychology, so that students acquire an adequate knowledge in a number of areas. Additionally, areas of practical psychology, where psychologists offer treatment to others, may require that psychologists be licensed by government regulatory bodies as well.

Controlled experiments

Main article: Experimental psychology The majority of psychological research is conducted in the laboratory under controlled conditons. This method of research relies completely on the scientific method to determine the basis of behavor. Common measurements of behavior include reaction time and various psychometric measurements. Experiments are conducted to test a particular hypothesis. As an example of a psychological experiment, one may want to test people's perception of different tones. Specifically, one could ask the following question: is it easier for people to discriminate one pair of tones from another depending upon their frequency? To answer this, one would want to disprove the hypothesis that all tones are equally discriminable, regardless of their frequency. (See hypothesis testing for an explanation of why one would disprove a hypothesis rather than attempt to prove one.) A task to test this hypothesis would have a participant seated in a room listening to a series of tones. If the participant would make one indication (by pressing a button, for example) if they thought the tones were two different sounds, and another indication if they thought they were the same sound. The proportion of correct responses would be the measurement used to describe whether or not all the tones were equally discriminable. The result of this particular experiment would probably indicate better discrimination of certain tones based on the human threshold of hearing.

Correlational studies

A correlational study uses statistics to determine if one variable is likely to co-occur with another variable. For example, one might be interested in whether or not a person's smoking is correlated with that individual's chance of getting lung cancer. One way to answer this would simply be to take a group of people who smoke and measure the proportion of those who get lung cancer within a certain time. In this particular case, one would probably find a high correlation. (Tobacco is already known to have a deleterious effect on the lungs). Based on this correlation alone, however, we cannot know for certain that smoking is the cause of lung cancer. It could be that those more prone to cancer are also more likely to take up smoking. A third alternative is that some other variable caused both conditons. This is a major limitation of correlational studies, exemplified by the fact that correlation does not imply causation.

Longitudinal studies

A longitudinal study is a research method which observes a particular population over time. For example, one might wish to study specific language impairment (SLI) by observing a group of individuals with the condition over a period of time. This method has the advantage of seeing how a condition can affect individuals over long time scales. However, since individual differences between members of the group are not controlled, it may be difficult to draw conclusions about the populations.

Neuropsychological methods

Neuropsychology involves the study of both healthy individuals and patients, typically who have suffered either brain injury or mental illness. Cognitive neuropsychology and cognitive neuropsychiatry study neurological or mental impairment in an attempt to infer theories of normal mind and brain function. This typically involves looking for differences in patterns of remaining ability (known as 'functional dissociations') which can give clues as to whether abilities are comprised of smaller functions, or are controlled by a single cognitive mechanism. In addition, experimental techniques are often used which also apply to studying the neuropsychology of healthy indviduals. These include behavioural experiments, brain-scanning or functional neuroimaging - used to examine the activity of the brain during task performance, and techniques such as transcranial magnetic stimulation, which can safely alter the function of small brain areas to investigate their importance in mental operations.

Computational modeling

Computational modeling is a tool often used in cognitive psychology to simulate a particular behavior using a computer. This method has several advantages. Since modern computers are extremely fast, many simulations can be run in a short time, allowing for a great deal of statistical power. Modeling also allows psychologists to visualise hypotheses about the functional organization of mental events that couldn't be directly observed in a human. Several different types of modeling are used to study behavior. Connectionism uses neural nets to simulate the brain. Another method is symbolic modeling, which represents different mental objects using variables and rules. Other types of modeling include dynamic systems and stochastic modeling.

Criticisms of psychology

Although mainstream psychology today endeavors to be a wholly scientific endeavor, the field has a history of controversy. Some criticisms of psychology have been made on ethical and philosophical grounds. Some have argued that by subjecting the human mind to experimentation and statistical study, psychologists objectify persons; because it treats human beings as things, as objects that can be examined by experiment, psychology is sometimes portrayed as dehumanizing, ignoring or downplaying what is most essential about being human. Another common criticism of psychology concerns its fuzziness as a science. Since it relies on "soft" methods such as surveys and questionnaires, some have said, psychology is not as scientific as it claims to be, although many would argue this is an outdated criticism based on misconceptions. Many believe that the mind is not amenable to quantitative scientific research, and as support for their criticism cite the vast theoretical diversity of psychology, a discipline which agrees on very little about how the mind works. Some point out that astronomy's claim to being a science is also open to argument because its theories are largely untestable, being based in part on events that cannot be directly observed (philosophically, a scientific theory must be falsifiable: testable and open to the possibility of being proven false). One approach calling itself critical psychology takes almost an opposite approach. Rather than scientific validity being the standard against which psychology research should be judged, critical psychology uses Marxism to criticize mainstream psychology, claiming among other things that it serves as a bulwark of an unjust or unsatisfying status quo when it should, instead, use its methods and knowledge base to critique and change societal norms.

References

- Aristotle, Joe Sachs (translator). (350 BCE / 2001) On Memory and Recollection (De Memoria et Reminiscentia). Santa Fe, NM : Green Lion Press. ISBN 1888009179
- Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The Ecology of Human Development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-22456-6
- Chavis, D.M., and Pretty, G. (1999). Sense of community: Advances in measurement and application. Journal of Community Psychology, 27(6), 635-642.
- Sarason, S.B. (1986). Commentary: The emergence of a conceptual center. Journal of Community Psychology, 14, 405-407.

External links

Psychology Resources

- [http://www.vanguard.edu/faculty/ddegelman/amoebaweb/ AmoebaWeb Psychology Resources]
- [http://www.apa.org/monitor/dec99/toc.html A Century of Psychology (APA)]
- [http://psychclassics.yorku.ca Classics in the History of Psychology]
- [http://allpsych.com/dictionary/ Dictionary of Psychology]
- [http://www.psychology.org/ Encyclopedia of Psychology]
- [http://reference.allrefer.com/encyclopedia/categories/psych.html Psychology Articles]
- [http://essays.org.uk/psychology/ Psychology Essays]
- [http://www.sonoma.edu/psychology/psychart.html Pictures of famous psychologists]
- [http://www.conferencealerts.com/psychology.htm Psychology Conferences]
- [http://www.perfectionnement.info/fr/agenda.php?i_pays=0&i_date=0&keywords=congr Psychology Congresses] (mostly European)
- [http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/mind_brain.htm ScienceDaily Mind and Brain news]
- [http://www.psychcentral.com PsychCentral]
- [http://www.wam.umd.edu/~stwright/psych/index.html Psychology Resources] (including some unique material on Community Psychology and also on Cumulative Risk and Resilience)
- [http://www.fireflySun.com/book/careers_in_psychology.php Psychology Career Ladders] (criticism)

Psychology Societies

- [http://www.apa.org American Psychological Association]
- [http://www.psychologicalscience.org/ American Psychological Society]
- [http://www.psychology.org.au/ Australian Psychological Society]
- [http://www.bfp-fbp.be/ Belgian Psychological Association]
- [http://www.bps.org.uk British Psychological Society]
- [http://www.apdeba.org Buenos Aires Psychoanalytic Association]
- [http://www.cpa.ca Canadian Psychological Association]
- [http://www.psykologienkustannus.fi/sps/seurasta/index.htm Finnish Psychological Society]
- [http://www.dgps.de German Psychological Association]
- [http://www.psykologisk.no Norwegian society for Master in Psychology]
- [http://www.singaporepsychologicalsociety.org/ Singapore Psychological Society] Category:Human behavior Category:Social sciences Category:Behavioural sciences Category:Academic disciplines ko:심리학 ms:Psikologi ja:心理学 simple:Psychology th:จิตวิทยา

Clinical depression

Clinical depression is a health condition of depression with mental and physical components reaching criteria generally accepted by clinicians. Although nearly any mood with some element of sadness may colloquially be termed a depression, clinical depression is more than just a temporary state of sadness. Symptoms lasting two weeks or longer in duration, and of a severity that they begin to interfere with daily living, can generally be said to constitute clinical depression. Using DSM-IV-TR terminology, someone with a major depressive disorder can, by definition, be said to be suffering from clinical depression. Clinical depression affects about 16% of the population on at least one occasion in their lives. The mean age of onset, from a number of studies, is in the late 20s. About 2 times as many females as males report or receive treatment for clinical depression, though this imbalance is shrinking over the course of recent history; this difference seems to completely disappear after the age of 50 - 55, when most females have passed the end of menopause. Clinical depression is currently the leading cause of disability in the US as well as other countries, and is expected to become the second leading cause of disability worldwide (after heart disease) by the year 2020, according to the World Health Organization.

Signs and symptoms

According to the [http://www.behavenet.com/capsules/disorders/mjrdepd.htm DSM-IV-TR criteria for diagnosing a major depressive disorder] (see also: DSM cautionary statement) one or both of the following two required elements need to be present:
- Depressed mood, or
- Loss of interest or pleasure. It is sufficient to have either of these symptoms in conjunction with four of a list of other symptoms. These include:
- Feelings of overwhelming sadness or fear, or the seeming inability to feel emotion.
- A decrease in the amount of pleasure derived from what were previously pleasurable activities.
- Changing appetite and marked weight gain or weight loss.
- Disturbed sleep patterns, such as insomnia or excessive sleep.
- Changes in activity levels, such as restlessness or a slowing of movement.
- Fatigue, both mental and physical.
- Feelings of guilt, helplessness, anxiety, and/or fear.
- A decrease in self-esteem.
- Trouble concentrating or making decisions.
- Self-harm or ruminating on self-harm.
- Ruminating on death and/or suicide. Depression in children is not as obvious as it is in adults. Here are some Symptoms that children might display:
- Loss of appetite.
- Sleep problems, such as recurrent nightmares.
- Learning or memory problems where none existed before.
- Significant behavioural changes; such as withdrawal, social isolation and aggression. In older children and adolescents, an additional indicator could be the excessive use of drugs or alcohol. Depressed adolescents are at particular risk of further destructive behaviours, such as eating disorders and self-harm. One of the most widely used instruments for measuring depression severity is the Beck Depression Inventory, a 21 question multiple choice survey. It is hard for people who have not experienced clinical depression, either personally or by regular exposure to people suffering it, to understand its emotional impact and severity, interpreting it instead as being similar to "having the blues" or "feeling down". As the list of symptoms above indicates, clinical depression is a syndrome of interlocking symptoms which goes far beyond sad or painful feelings. A variety of biological indicators, including measurement of neurotransmitter levels, have shown that there are significant changes in brain chemistry and an overall reduction in brain activity. One consequence of a lack of understanding of clinical depression is that the depressed individual will often feel extreme guilt over their inability to recover; and that guilt can be aggravated by those close to them. Because of this profound and often overwhelmingly negative outlook, the depressed individual is unlikely to recover on their own without some sort of treatment. Untreated depression is typically characterized by progressively worsening episodes separated by plateaus of temporary stability or remission. If left untreated it will generally resolve within six months to two years although occasionally depression becomes chronic and lasts for many years or indefinitely. In many cases (but not all) treatment can shorten the period of distress to a matter of weeks. While depressed, the person may damage themselves socially (e.g. break up relationships), occupationally (e.g. lose his job), financially, and physically. Treatment of depression can significantly reduce the incidence of this damage, including reducing the likelihood of suicide which is otherwise a common outcome. For all of these reasons, treatment of clinical depression is seen by many as very useful and at times life-saving. Some people can experience anhedonia for long periods of time before they discover it is a mental illness. The inability to feel pleasure can advance negativity already present in a depressed person's mental state.

Historical perspective

The modern idea of depression seems to be the same as the much older concept of melancholia. The name melancholia derives from 'black bile', one of the 'four humours' postulated by Galen. The Ebers papyrus (ca 1550 BC) contains a short description of clinical depression. Though full of incantations and foul applications meant to turn away disease-causing demons and other superstition, it also evidences a long tradition of empirical practice and observation.

Types of depression

# Major depression. Also referred to as 'major depressive disorder' or biochemical, clinical, endogenous, unipolar, or biological depression. It is characterized by a severely depressed mood that persists for at least two weeks. Episodes of depression may start suddenly or slowly and can occur several times through a person's life. Major depressive disorder may be categorized as "single episode" or "recurrent" depending on whether previous episodes have been experienced before. Major depression may also be referred to as unipolar affective disorder, a term which emphasizes its relatedness to bipolar disorder.

Clinicians recognise several subtypes of Major Depression: #
- Melancholic depression (what used to be referred to as endogenous depression) is characterized by insomnia, poor appetite and weight loss, less responsive mood, and morning worsening. #
- Atypical depression is characterized by "reversed vegetative symptoms" which include oversleeping, overeating, leaden paralysis, rejection sensitivity and temporary brightening of mood in response to positive events. It may overlap with anxiety and panic attacks. It is often more chronic than melancholic depression. #
- Psychotic depression is accompanied by hallucinations or delusions. # Dysthymia is a long-term, mild depression that lasts for at least two years. By definition the symptoms are not as severe as in major depression, although those with dysthymia are highly likely to have superimposed major depressive episodes (known as "double depression"). It often begins in adolescence and spans several decades. #Bipolar disorder is a cyclical illness in which moods fluctuate between mania (extreme happiness or giddiness and frantic activity) and clinical depression. Bipolar disorder has also been commonly called "manic depression", although this usage is now unpopular with psychiatrists, who have standardised on Kraepelin's usage of the term "manic depression" to describe the whole bipolar spectrum that includes both bipolar disorder and unipolar depression; they now usually use the term bipolar disorder. This then leaves the term unipolar depression which is used to differentiate it from bipolar disorder. #Unipolar Bipolar disorder is a depression similar to bipolar disorder with the exception of very weak or completely absent mania periods. This is often a long-term severe depression with no or at most very few good periods. #Depressive pseudodementia is a syndrome in which the patient shows symptoms of dementia that are actually caused by depression.

What the DSM Leaves Out

The DSM-IV-TR is largely unchanged since the DSM-III of 1980. Although much has been learned about depression and the brain since then, it is unlikely that future editions will reflect this knowledge, as the DSM by nature is a very conservative document. There is a case to be made for anxiety-driven depression, and there may be changes to the next DSM to reflect this reality. Anxiety is a frequent co-traveler with depression, either as a co-occurring illness or with any number of anxiety symptoms manifesting in depressive episodes. Researchers such as Robert Sapolsky PhD of Stanford and others argue that stress biologically underpins both anxiety and depression. Pharmaceutical companies are seeking to ward off depression and anxiety by targeting stress hormones such as corticotropin releasing factor (CRF). (See [http://www.mcmanweb.com/anxiety.htm Anxiety in Depression and Bipolar Disorder].) It can be argued that the DSM fails to account for destructive behaviour identified with males such as aggression and substance use while overemphasising “female” failings such as excessive guilt, feelings of sadness, and overeating or not eating enough. As a result, according to this argument, twice as many women as men are diagnosed with depression. Therapists Terrence Real and Jed Diamond and others are seeking to have psychiatry redress this imbalance. (see [http://www.mcmanweb.com/article-227.htm Depression in Men].) Another major behavior the DSM fails to account for is apathy, or the lack of motivation. Motivation is tied mainly to the dopamine system in the brain, rather than the serotonin system that is the target of most antidepressant medications. Apathy is typically discussed in the context of neuropsychiatric illnesses such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s, but remains for the present moment terra incognita to psychiatry. (See [http://www.mcmanweb.com/apathy.htm Apathy Matters].) Finally, the DSM fails to account for manic or hypomanic features in depression. This is the gray area of the mood spectrum, where clinical (unipolar) depression and bipolar disorder appear to overlap. Some researchers such as Hagop Akiskal MD are in favour of widening the criteria for bipolar disorder to include what they see are “softer forms” of this illness. By the same token, depressed patients with some hypomanic or manic features could be regarded as having a “harder” form of depression. (See [http://www.mcmanweb.com/article-137.htm Multipolar Depression].)

Causes of depression

No specific cause for depression has been identified, but there are a number of factors believed to be involved.
- Heredity The tendency to develop depression may be inherited; there is some evidence that this disorder may run in families. Heredity
- Physiology There may be changes or imbalances in chemicals which transmit information in the brain, called neurotransmitters. Many modern antidepressant drugs attempt to increase levels of certain neurotransmitters, like serotonin. While the causal relationship is unclear, it is known that antidepressant medications do relieve certain symptoms of depression- although [http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0020392 critics point out that the relationship between serotonin, SSRIs, and depression is usually greatly oversimplified when presented to the public]. Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a type of depressive disorder that occurs in the winter when daylight hours are short. It is believed that the body's production of melatonin, which is produced at increased levels in the dark, plays a major part in the onset of SAD, and that many sufferers respond well to bright light therapy, also known as phototherapy. High levels of Omega-6 fatty acids in the brain have also been linked to depression.
- Psychological factors Low self-esteem and self-defeating or distorted thinking are connected with depression. While it is not clear which is the cause and which is the effect, it is known that sufferers who are able to make corrections to their thinking patterns can show improved mood and self-esteem. Psychological factors include the complex development of one's personality and how one has learned to cope with external environmental factors, such as stress.
- Early experiences Events such as the death of a parent, abandonment or rejection, neglect, chronic illness, and severe physical, psychological, or sexual abuse can also increase the likelihood of depression later in life. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) includes depression as one of its major symptoms.
- Life experiences Job loss, financial difficulties, long periods of unemployment, the loss of a spouse or other family member, divorce or the end of a committed relationship, or other traumatic events may trigger depression. Long-term stress, at home, work or school, can also be involved.
- Medical conditions Certain illnesses including cardiovascular pathologies[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15581413&query_hl=7], hepatitis, mononucleosis, and hypothyroidism may contribute to depression, as may certain prescription drugs such as birth control pills and steroids.
- Alcohol and other drugs Alcohol can have a negative effect on mood, and misuse or abuse of alcohol, benzodiazepine-based tranquillizers and sleeping medications, or narcotics can all play a major role in the length and severity of depression. The link between frequent cannabis use and depression is also widely documented, although the direction of causality remains in question.
- Postpartum depression About ten percent of new mothers experience some form of depression after childbirth. When it occurs, the onset is typically within three months after delivery, and it may last for several months. About two new mothers out of a thousand have depression so severe it includes hallucinations or delusions.
- Living with a depressed person Those living with someone suffering from depression experience increased anxiety, and life disruption, increasing the possibility of also becoming depressed.
- Social Environment Evolutionary theory suggests that depression is a protective mechanism: if an individual is involved in a lengthy fight for dominance of a social group and is clearly losing, depression causes the individual to back down and accept the submissive role. In doing so, the individual is protected from unnecessary harm. In this way, depression maintains the social hierarchy.
- Other Evolutionary Theories Another evolutionary theory is that the cognitive response that produces modern day depression evolved as a mechanism that allows people to assess whether they are in pursuit of an unreachable goal. Still others claim that depression can be linked to perfectionism. People that accept satisfactory outcomes in lieu of "the best" outcome tend to lead happier lives.

Treatment

Treatment of depression varies broadly, and is different for each individual. Various types and combinations of treatments may have to be tried. There are two primary modes of treatment, typically employed in conjunction with one another: medication and psychotherapy. A third treatment, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) also known as electroshock, may be used where chemical treatment fails. Other alternative treatments used for depression include exercise and the use of vitamins, herbs, or other nutritional supplements. The effectiveness of treatment often depends on factors such as the amount of optimism and hope the sufferer is able to maintain, the control s/he has over stressors, the severity of symptoms, the amount of time the sufferer has been depressed, the results of previous treatments, and the degree of support of family, friends, and significant others. While treatment is generally effective, there are some cases where the condition fails to respond. Treatment-resistant depression requires a full assessment which may lead to the addition of psychotherapy, higher medication doses, changes of medication or combination therapy, a trial of ECT/electroshock, or even a change in the diagnosis with subsequent treatment changes. Although this process helps many, some people's symptoms continue unabated. In emergency situations with suicidal persons, psychiatric hospitalization is used simply to keep suicidal people safe until they cease to be dangers to themselves. Another treatment program is partial hospitalization, in which the patient sleeps at home but spends the day, either five or seven days a week, in a psychiatric hospital setting in intense treatment. This treatment usually involves group therapy, individual therapy, psychopharmacology, and academics (in child and adolescent programs).

Medication

Medication which relieves the symptoms of depression has been available for several decades. These drugs are listed in order of historical development. Typical first line therapy for depression is the use of an SSRI type drug, such as sertraline (Zoloft). Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) such as Nardil may be used if other antidepressant medications are ineffective. Because there are potenially fatal interactions between this class of medication and certain foods and drugs, they are rarely prescribed anymore. A new MAOI has recently been introduced. Moclobemide (Manerix), known as a reversible inhibitor of monoamine oxidase A (RIMA), follows a very specific chemical pathway and does not require a special diet. Tricyclic antidepressants are the oldest, and include such medications as amitriptyline and desipramine. They are used less commonly now, due to side-effects which may include increased heart rate, drowsiness, dry mouth, and memory impairment. Most importantly, they have a high potential to be lethal in moderate overdose. The reason why tricyclic antidepressants are still used is their high potency, especially in severe cases of clinical depression. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) comprise the current standard family of antidepressants. It is thought that one cause of depression is that an inadequate amount of serotonin, a chemical which the brain uses to transmit signals between nerve cells, is produced. These drugs are said to work by preventing the reabsorption of serotonin by the nerve cell, thus maintaining the levels the brain needs to function effectively, although two researchers recently demonstrated that this is a marketing technique rather than a scientific portrayal of how the drugs actually work. [http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0020392]. Recent research indicates that these drugs may interact with transcription factors known as "clock genes"[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15994025&query_hl=24] that may be important for the addictive properties of drugs of abuse and possibly in obesity[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=16094306&query_hl=27][http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=16288309&query_hl=24]. This family of drugs includes fluoxetine (Prozac), paroxetine (Paxil), escitalopram (Lexapro), and sertraline (Zoloft). These antidepressants typically have fewer adverse side effects than the tricyclics or the MAOIs, though such effects as drowsiness, dry mouth, and decreased ability to function sexually may occur. Noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors (NARIs) such as reboxetine (Edronax) act via noradrenaline. NARIs are thought to have a positive effect on concentration and motivation in particular. Serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) such as venlafaxine (Effexor) and duloxetine (Cymbalta) are a newer form of anti-depressant which work both on noradrenaline and on serotonin. They typically have similar side-effects to the SSRIs although there may be a withdrawal syndrome on discontinuation which may require a tapering of the dose.

Dietary supplements

S-adenosyl methionine (SAM-e) is a derivative of the amino acid methionine that is found throughout the human body, where it acts as a methyl donor and participates in other biochemical reactions. It is available as a prescription antidepressant in Europe, and an over-the-counter dietary supplement in the United States. Clinical trials have shown SAM-e to be as effective as standard antidepressant medication, with many fewer side effects., Its mode of action is unknown. Omega-3 fatty acids (found naturally in oily fish, vitamin D, flax seeds, hemp seeds, walnuts, canola oil etc.) have also been found to be effective while used as a dietary supplement.

Augmentor drugs

Some antidepressants have been found to work more effectively in some patients when used in combination with another drug. Such "augmentor" drugs include tryptophan (Tryptan) and buspirone (Buspar). Tranquillizers and sedatives, typically the benzodiazepines, may be prescribed to ease anxiety and promote sleep. Because of their high potential for fostering dependence, these medications are intended only for short-term or occasional use. Medications are often employed not for their primary function, but to exploit what are normally side effects. Quetiapine fumarate (Seroquel) is designed primarily to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, but a frequently-reported side-effect is somnolence. Hence, this non-addictive drug can be used in place of an addictive anti-anxiety agent such as clonazepam (Klonopin, Rivotril). Antipsychotics such as risperidone (Risperdal) and olanzapine (Zyprexa), and Quetiapine (Seroquel) are prescribed as mood stabilizers and are also effective in treating anxiety. Antipsychotics (typical or atypical) may be also prescribed in an attempt to augment an antidepressant, to make antidepressant blood concentration higher, or to relieve psychotic or paranoid symptoms often accompanying clinical depression. However, they may have serious side effects, particularly at high doses, which may include blurred vision, muscle spasms, restlessness, tardive dyskinesia, and weight gain. Antidepressants by their nature are stimulants. Anti-anxiety medications by their nature are depressants. Close medical supervision is critical to proper treatment if a subject is presenting both illnesses as the medications tend to work against each other. Lithium and Depakote remain the standard treatments for bipolar disorder, but may also be effective for people with depression, particularly in preventing relapse. Lithium's potential side effects include thirst, tremors, light-headedness, and nausea or diarrhea. Some of the anticonvulsants such as carbamazepine (Tegretol), sodium valproate (Epilim), and lamotrigine (Lamictal) are also used as mood stabilisers, particularly in bipolar disorder. Failure to take medication, or failure to take it as prescribed, is one of the major causes of relapse. Should one feel a change or discontinuation of medication is necessary, it is critical that this be done in consultation with a doctor.

Psychotherapy

In psychotherapy, or counselling, one receives assistance in understanding and resolving problems which may be contributing to depression. This may be done individually or with a group, and is conducted by health professionals such as psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, or psychiatric nurses. It is important to enquire about both the therapist's training and approach; a very close bond often forms between practitioner and client, and it is important that the client feel understood by the clinician. Counsellors can help a person make changes in thinking patterns, deal with relationship issues, detect and deal with relapses, and understand the factors that contribute to depression. There are many therapeutic approaches, but all are aimed at improving an individual's personal and interpersonal functioning. Cognitive therapy, also known as Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, focuses on how people think about themselves and their relationships to the world. It works to counteract negative thought patterns and enhance self-esteem. Therapy can be used to help a person develop or improve interpersonal skills in order to allow them to communicate more effectively and reduce stress. Behavioral therapy is based on the assumption that behaviors are learned. This type of therapy attempts to teach individuals new and healthier types of behaviours. Supportive therapy encourages people to discuss their problems and provides them with emotional support. The focus is on sharing information, ideas, and strategies for coping with daily life. Family systems therapy helps people live together more harmoniously and undo patterns of destructive behaviour.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is currently under study as a possible treatment for depression. Initially designed as a tool for physiological studies of the brain, this technique shows promise as a means of alleviating depression. In this therapy, a powerful magnetic field is used to stimulate the left prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain which typically shows abnormal activity in depressed individuals. rTMS has been proposed as an alternative to ECT that would have fewer side effects. No sedation is required, and the only reported side effects are a slight headache in some patients, and facial muscle contraction during treatment. However clear evidence that it is an effective treatment is still awaited. [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=15307288&dopt=Citation Recent work] in Poland has suggested that weak, variable magnetic fields may offer relief from depression in those that have been unresponsive to medication. However, some of the existing work has been [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11985347&dopt=Abstract questioned] with claims that the effect is not as significant once environmental conditions are controlled for.

Vagus nerve stimulation

Vagus nerve stimulation therapy is a treatment used since 1997 to control seizures in epileptic patients and has recently been approved for treating resistant cases of clinical depression. The VNS device is implanted in a patient's chest with wires that connect it to the vagus nerve, which it stimulates to reach a region of the brain associated with moods. The device delivers controlled electrical doses to the vagus nerve at regular intervals.

Electroconvulsive therapy

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), also known as electroshock or electroshock therapy employs short bursts of a controlled current of electricity (this is typically fixed at 0.9 ampere) into the brain to induce a brief, artificial seizure while the patient is under general anaesthesia. ECT has acquired a fearsome reputation, in part, from its use as a tool of repression in the former USSR, and its fictional depiction in films such as One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, but remains a common treatment where other means of treatment have failed, or where the use of drugs is unacceptable (such as in pregnancy). Also, in contrast to "direct" electroshock of years ago, most countries now only allow ECT to be administered under anaesthesia. In a typical regimen of treatment, a patient receives three treatments per week over three or four weeks. Repeat sessions may be required. Short-term memory loss, disorientation and headache are very common side effects. In some cases, permanent memory loss has occurred, but detailed neuropsychological testing in clinical studies have not been able to prove permanent effects on memory. ECT offers the benefit of a very fast response, however, this response has been shown not to last unless either maintenance electroshock or maintenance medications are used. While antidepressants usually take around a month to take effect, the results of ECT have been shown to be much faster. For this reason, it is the treatment of choice in emergency circumstances (for example in catatonic depression where the patient has ceased oral intake of fluid or nutrients). There remains much controversy over electroshock. Advocacy groups and scientific critics, such as Dr Peter Breggin[http://www.breggin.com/Electroshockscientific.pbreggin.1998.pdf], call for restrictions on its use or complete abolishment. Like all forms of psychiatric treatment, electroshock can be given without a patient's consent, but this is subject to legal conditions dependent on the jurisdiction.

Other methods of treatment

Light therapy

Bright light (both sunlight and artificial light) is shown to be effective in seasonal (winter) depression, and sometimes may be effective in other types of depression, especially atypical depression or depression with "seasonal phenotype" (overeating, oversleeping, weight gain, apathy). It is wise to recommend to any depressive patient to take as much sunlight as possible by walking at daytime, even if the patient suffers from depression which does not have seasonal pattern or "seasonal symptoms". Important note: an antidepressant effect is caused by visible light stimulation of retina, not by ultra-violet, so it is not necessary (and may be even dangerous in some cases) to sunburn. It is enough just to walk at daytime or to take light therapy in a light cabin with a special powerful lamp.

Exercise

It is widely believed that physical activity and exercise helps depressive patients and promotes quicker and better relief from depression. It is also thought to help antidepressants and psychotherapy to work better and faster. It can be difficult to find the motivation to exercise if the depression is severe, but sufferers should be encouraged to take part in some form of regularly-scheduled physical activity if possible. A workout need not be strenuous; many find walking, for example, to be of great help. Exercise produces higher levels of chemicals in the brain, notably dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine. In general this leads to improvements in mood, which is effective in countering depression. Note that prior to beginning an exercise regime, it is wise to consult a doctor. He or she can establish whether a person possesses any health problems that could rule out some types of exercise.

Enemas and colon hydrotherapy

Severe clinical depression is often accompanied by constipation. Tricyclic antidepressants themselves also tend to produce constipation as a side effect. Laxatives reduce the absorption of an antidepressant in the small intestine, thereby reducing its bioavailability and clinical efficacy. Warm water enemas, on the other hand, do not interfere with antidepressant absorption, and may have a slight antidepressive effect by increasing serotonin production in thick bowel wall and temporarily raising serotonin level in the bloodstream.

Meditation

Meditation is increasingly seen as a useful treatment for depression. The current professional opinion of meditation is that it represents at least a complementary method of treating depression. Since the late 1990s, much research has been carried out to determine how meditation affects the brain (for more information see the main article on meditation). While the effects on the mind are somewhat complex, they are often quite positive, encouraging a calm, reflective and rational state of mind which can be of great help against depression. It's notable that while many religions actively encourage/use meditative practice, it is not necessary to be a member of any faith to partake in meditation.

Old methods

Insulin shock treatment is an old and currently mostly abandoned treatment of severe depressions, psychoses, catatonic states and other mental disorders. It consists of induction of hypoglycemic coma by intravenous infusion of insulin. The treatment is potentially unsafe and can be lethal in some cases (about 1% of patients undergoing insulin coma), even with proper monitoring. That was the main reason why it was abandoned from current medical

Apathetic

Apathy in common and religious terms

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Old methods