Say, a loved one has passed away, which results in depression…does the chemical imbalance come after the fact, what triggers the imbalance, and why is it blamed for the depression, and not the passing away of the loved one?
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The chemical imbalance theory has actually been sort of disproven. At the very least, it’s not really the way we theorized it was. The general theory was that depression was caused by an imbalance of serotonin. This made sense, as meds that affect serotonin were effective at treating depression.
But, it’s more complicated than that. There’s no clear link between serotonin levels and depression.
>when it’s, for the most part, clearly external circumstances that lead to it?
This isn’t really true. You can do everything “right” to cure depression and may still have depression. You can deal with these external factors and still have depression. Treatment resistant depression is unfortunately a very real thing.
But, we don’t really know exactly what causes mental illness. It’s crazy how little we know in this regard.
Another thing I think is worth pointing out is how connected everything is. Your external life impacts your thoughts and actions, and that impacts your feelings and moods, and that impacts the actual physical parts of your brain (and vice versa).
That’s the idea behind CBT, working to change your behaviors and think differently to rewire your brain and feel better.
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