Nature versus nurture

Nature versus nurture: contribution of hereditary and psychosocial risk factors to affective disorders

Abstract

This argument synthesis focuses mainly on the primary causes of depression and whether these contributions may be classified as natural or nurture. Depression is impacted by nature and nurture, including environmental variables, life events, and genetic susceptibility. The research was completed by synthesizing primary and secondary materials that were used to support our thesis. The analysis of these primary and secondary sources helps and adds depth to our essay. These materials were compiled, and they outlined particular concepts that support our hypothesis about whether depression is caused by nature or nurture. External events are linked to the cause of depression, according to the sources. External experiences include environmental variables and life experiences, all of which impact the cause of depression in an individual. According to some authors, depression is influenced not only by external events but also by inborn traits. Their genetic susceptibility also affects depression sufferers. Depression is related to environmental circumstances, but it also includes a hereditary component that contributes to an individual’s genetic predispositions. Individuals’ genetic predisposition and their surroundings and life experiences all have a part in detecting depression.

Keywords: Depression, hereditary factors, environmental factors, psychosocial factors, life experiences, genetic predisposition.

Introduction

While it is commonly assumed that depression is caused mainly by environmental circumstances and life experiences, it can be caused by both external and hereditary causes. External variables impact a person’s capacity to cope with and overcome depression and are essential components in the process and treatment of a depressed individual (Kim-Cohen et al., 2005). Their surroundings can influence the degree of a person’s depression and their life events. Previous life experiences result in pre-existing habits that impact the individual and make them more susceptible to depression (Weissman, 2020). These external variables all contribute to a person’s depression. Depression has also been related to a person’s genetic susceptibility to depression. Environmental variables, life events, and genetic susceptibility to depression all have a role in depressive symptomatology.

Heredity contribution to affective disorder

Genetic susceptibility has a significant impact on depression and its effects on the individual (McGuffin, 1991). Depression can be handed down genetically through first-degree relatives, such as parents, children, brothers, and sisters. When a hereditary gene is handed down, the person who carries it is significantly affected instead of someone who suffers from depression but does not have a genetic tendency (Silberg, 2002). The amount of depression felt, the medicine and therapy required to counteract its effects, and the attention necessary to assist the host appropriately alter its genetic makeup.

Families with a history of depression have a two- to three-fold increased chance of their kids developing the illness (Möller, 2013). This renders the children considerably more sensitive and prone to depression, impacting both their genetic composition and the environmental stimuli they are exposed to.

Perry, a researcher, revealed that a vast number of genetic events that a person may have, rather than a single gene or chromosomal mutation, causes sadness. “Genes associated with depression are not defined by a single gene, but rather by a group of genes that together convey a risk of developing the condition” (Perry, 2015). Chromosome 3p25-26 is responsible for the severity of recurrent depression in family members rather than being the only cause of depression (Möller, 2013). Although this finding has helped researchers go a step closer to understanding the genetic markers of sadness in people, it is not sure that this is the sole gene involved. Another link between depression and genetics can be found in serotonin’s neurotransmitter (Arribas-Ayllon et al., 2019). This neurotransmitter has been related to depression and a variety of other mood disorders, and it is thought to be a contributing factor in the development of depression. According to researchers Kasper and Montgomery, no one genetic factor leads to the hereditary predisposition, but rather a vast number of genes and other neurotransmitters that allow their children to be more vulnerable to the symptoms of depression

Many experts also believe that when external variables interact with a person who has a genetic susceptibility to depression, an altogether new effect arises. Because the genetic imbalance of depression is already embedded, an environment or life event can place the individual in a far more propounding condition of depression than someone who does not have the genetic propensity of depression (Tang et al., 2020). The genetic predisposition to depression might allow environmental variables that would not influence an average individual to impact depression significantly. Negative profound life experiences, like life experiences, hurt those who have a genetic susceptibility to depression. The intensity of depression will be affected by an individual’s genetic predisposition.

Psychosocial risk factors contribute to affective disorder

The article, Care and Feeding of Your Brain: How Diet and Environment Affect What You Think and Feel, shows that the environment in which we live might contribute to depression. According to Giuffré, Kenneth, DiGeronimo, and Theresa Foy, environmental factors are connected to significant physical changes in the brain. According to the research authors, ecological variables that produce acute or recurrent stress can take a toll on the brain. According to the report, situations like this lead the brain to “send off alarms,” causing the body and brain to respond in a “active state.” During a stressful situation, “the action state” causes the hypothalamus to generate a significant amount of hormones. (Giuffre et al., 1999) These hormones, together with others, prime the brain to perform aggressive or evasive behavior in response to the scenario in which the individual finds himself. Repeated usage of these hormones can affect the physical-chemical levels of the brain, leading to the diagnosis of depression in an individual (Kalin, 2020). When one is in a stressful environment, the recurrence of large amounts of the hormone generated in the hypothalamus forces the brain to create this hormone when it is not needed, driving the brain and body into a condition of depression.

When depression is recognized as a result of environmental causes, relatively simple treatment approaches are used. According to the authors, (Giuffre et al., 1999), simple and relatively easy ways are provided to counteract these subline impacts on an individual due to environmental factors. Generic medicine and fair treatment can offset the effects of an individual’s ecological relationship to depression. Ecological variables are closely related to the likelihood of an individual suffering from depression, and mainly its severity affects the individual (Tistarelli, et al., 2020). Negative environmental variables play a significant effect on an individual’s capacity to heal or continue to deteriorate. The environment in which an individual is situated has a substantial impact on the degree and immensity of the individual’s suffering (Petrova, 2021). When persons who have overcome depression are asked if they would alter the fact that they experienced depression, most of them answer no (Cappeliez, 1993). Depression will always be the worst thing that can happen to a person’s emotional and mental state of mind, and if no steps are taken to prevent it, it will wreck their life.

Nature vs. Nurture

The assumption that genetic and environmental variables are unrelated is one of the commonly used additive genetic models (Polderman et al., 2015). Depression is one of the issues addressed in the nature vs. nurture debate. A widely held belief among the general public is that depression is heavily affected by upbringing (Wermter et al., 2010). However, the scientific community thinks that a person’s genetic profile is the most important predictor of developing depression. In the middle of these two conflicting views, new research has revealed that neither nature nor nurture can be related to depression on their own (Gonda et al., 2020). A combination of both, on the other hand, enhances an individual’s propensity to develop depression. This study examines the existing research on the causes of depression to argue that depression is caused by both nature and nurture. According to The Gale Encyclopedia of Mental Illnesses, depression and other associated disorders are distinguished by chronic feelings of despair and sorrow, causing the patient to lose interest in formerly enjoyable activities (Thackery, 2003). Depression is often associated with disruptions in mental processes, appetite, and, in some circumstances, sleeps (Thackery, 2003). Theoretical theories for depression’s origins are complex, and the specific cause of depression is unknown. While there is compelling evidence that chemical abnormalities in the brain are the fundamental cause of depression, external environmental variables also play a crucial role in its development. According to medical studies, abnormalities in the adrenal hormone cortisol are to blame for the onset of depression (Hall, 2018). Similarly, contextual variables such as childhood, the loss of a loved one, and other social stresses have been related to depression (Kong et al., 2018).

According to medical research, the neurotransmitter dopamine has a vital role in the development of depression. Haeffel et al. (2008) studied the relationship between various parenting methods and the gene linked to dopamine and depression. The research included 177 minors from a Russian prison institution. Questionnaires and diagnostic interviews were utilized to examine their upbringing, including their moms’ parenting methods, harshness, and unjustified criticism. According to the findings of this study, neither component was responsible for the patients’ depression (Haeffel et al., 2008). Instead, the likelihood of depression and other associated illnesses skyrocketed when a dopamine gene deficiency was combined with rejection from maternal parents (Lippa, 2005).

Conclusion

This study suggests that neither nature nor nurture can be regarded as an individual risk factor for depression based on the evidence reviewed (Weissman, 2020). Instead, studies show that combining these components in their negative forms raises the chance of getting depression (Keltikangas-Järvinen, 2010). The consequences of these findings are that an individual’s genetic profile does not ensure that they will develop depression. The same is true for external stresses such as parenting styles and upbringing settings (Das et al., 2020). In the absence of the other, the same logic applies to situations when people acquire resistance to depression regardless of their inherent or nurtured propensity. Depression cannot be attributed to a single factor, whether natural or nurtured. External influences, as well as genetic susceptibility, all have a role in a person’s depression. The nurture element of depression and environmental variables and life events all influence one’s depressive disease.

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