Our upcoming talk is on Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) otherwise known as clinical depression. Most everyone suffers from occasional bouts of sadness, but when that last for two weeks or more that physical changes in the brain start to be observed. This disorder affects about 10% of the population, slightly elevated percentages for women vs men.. The disorder is seen as having a wide range of causes, most notably life events, genetic susceptibility, or a combination.

Here’s a good intro video:

As the video mentions, the disorder is classified when physical changes occur alongside the mood shift. e.g. weight loss, insomnia, not enjoying previously fun activities, along with the low mood, feelings of worthlessness, etc.

What is fascinating about depressive disorder is the perfect storm of conditions that generate occurrence….it’s a combination of genetic predisposition, some sort of stressful event, and then an inability to cope leading to physical changes in the brain. It’s an amazingly complex problem which explains the wide swath of treatments used (psychotherapy, antidepressants, electroshock, mindfulness, even transcranial magnetic therapy….the list goes on and on.)

BTW The video also mentions the serotonin theory of depression, which many see as incomplete theory to explain depression at this time.