Clinical depression has been unilaterally construed as a biochemical imbalance in serotonerigic systems. The over-simplification of disease reflects economic, political, and social forces that pathologize normal behaviors to manufacture illness. This paper considers evolutionary and dynamic systems biology to advance the idea that subclinical depression is an illness within culture that manifests biologically, as opposed to being organically created and sustained. The classic medical model underestimates psychosocial elements of depression. Patient narratives show the limitations of the medical model and suggest a need for a new depression paradigm, which is the biopsychosocial model. This paper is critical of both the biological etiology of depression and the social and cultural elements that create and sustain depressive episodes.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.99354 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | Merkel-Keller, Jessica V. |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Science (Division of Experimental Medicine.) |
| Rights | © Jessica V. Merkel-Keller, 2006 |
| Relation | alephsysno: 002562333, proquestno: AAIMR28512, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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