How is it determined that depression is due to a chemical imbalance when it’s, for the most part, clearly external circumstances that lead to it?

Question

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?

In: 0

Answer 1

A long time ago, there used to be two labels: exogenous depression (coming from external events) and endogenous (arising for no apparent external reason). 1) These labels are no longer used. 2) the so-called endogenous depression can be real and profound and apparently mystifying. 3) What if the stress of external events actually interferes with neurotransmitters and receptors – and therefore it becomes immaterial what one calls it? 4) The reality is that , if you are going to apply these labels, most are mixed in fact.

I am not advocating either this distinction, nor the chemical model, but just explaining that your observation is correct and leads to other queries about treatments (and indeed about the usefulness of labels)