Seligman´s Theory of Learned Helplessness is when a person learns to be helpless. A person who learns to be helpless is a person that always tries to do things and never succeed so that person is more likely to learn to be helpless. Learned helplessness means a condition of a human being or an animal in which it has learned to behave helplessly, even when the opportunity is restored for it to help itself by avoiding an unpleasant or harmful circumstance to which it has been subjected. Learned helplessness theory is the view that clinical depression and related mental illnesses result from a perceived absence of control over the outcome of a situation. The Environmental Theory of Depression is concerned with factors that are outside of us. They are not directly related to brain function, inherited traits from parent’s medical illnesses, or anything else that may take place within us. Instead, environmental events are those things that happen in the course of our everyday lives. These may include situations such as prolonged stress at home or work, coping with the loss of a loved one, or traumatic events. Sometimes researchers refer to these as sociological or psychosocial factors since they bring together events that happen out in society with the inner workings of a person's mind.
It has long been understood that experiences we have in our lives can affect our state of mind.
The Environmental Theory of Depression could relate to the Theory of Learned Helplessness because both of the theory relates to depression. Both of these theories also have to do with what surrounds the people. In learned helplessness people think they are helpless because of one or many specific situations that happened to them in their society that caused them to feel depressed. For example in the environmental theory of depression is when you are depressed because something in your surrounding changed drastically, or you did not succeed in something. This is linked to the theory of learned helplessness because it also involves your surrounding and what you do in your society and how can learn to be helpless when you fail in something you do.

Environmental Theory of Depression

Environmental causes of depression are concerned with factors that are outside of ourselves. They are not directly related to brain function, inherited traits from parents medical illnesses, or anything else that may take place within us. Instead, environmental events are those things that happen in the course of our everyday lives. These may include situations such as prolonged stress at home or work, coping with the loss of a loved one, or traumatic events. Sometimes researchers refer to these as sociological or psychosocial factors since they bring together events that happen out in society with the inner workings of a person's mind.

It has long been understood that experiences we have in our lives can affect our state of mind. The relationships we have with others, how we are brought up, losses we have, and crises we encounter all may affect our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. How we react to these environmental events may influence the development of clinical depression.

http://www.allaboutdepression.com/cau_04.html

Famous Quotes

"Depression is the inability to construct a future."-
-Rollo May

"Depression is nourished by a lifetime of ungrieved and unforgiven hurts."-
-Penelope Sweet

"Just like other illnesses, depression can be treated so that people can live happy, active lives." --Tom Bosley

Depression websites!

http://depression.about.com/od/psychotherapy/a/cognitive.htm

http://www.psychologyinfo.com/depression/teens.htm

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/women-and-depression-discovering-hope/index.shtml

http://www.webmd.com/depression/recognizing-depression-symptoms/antidepressants

http://www.depression-help-resource.com/articles/famous-depressed-people.htm

Cognitive Theory of Depression

Many people think that cognitive therapy is a relatively recent development in psychotherapy.For example, Freud, in Mourning and Melancholia, published in 1917, suggests that melancholia (depression) can occur in response to an imaginary or perceived loss, and that self-critical aspects of the ego are responsible in part for depression. The main difference between these psychodynamic therapies and cognitive therapies lies in the motivational assumptions made by the therapists, and the techniques used to effect change. Psychodynamic theories presume that the maladaptive cognitions arise from specific internal needs (such as the need for affection, acceptance, sexual gratification, etc.), or from unresolved developmental conflicts from childhood. The cognitive therapists presume that the maladaptive cognitions may arise from faulty social learning, or from a lack of experiences that would allow adaptive learning (such as the development of coping skills) to occur, or from dysfunctional family experiences, or from traumatic events, etc. In other words, psychologists using a cognitive therapy approach recognize that psychological problems such as depression can develop from a variety of life experiences, depending on the individual.
In the 1970s, many psychologists began writing about cognitive aspects of depression, identifying different cognitive components that affected depression, and developing cognitive interventions to treat depression. From this base of theory and research came evidence that cognitive therapy was an effective, and perhaps is the most effective, intervention strategy for treating depression. Since the 1970s, the use of cognitive therapy with depression has increased tremendously, and the number of psychologists using cognitive therapy approaches for the treatment of all psychological problems has also grown. As a result, it appears that cognitive therapy has recently appeared on the scene, in only the past twenty years. But, all psychotherapy has cognitive components. One of the major differences between cognitive therapy and other therapy approaches is the treatment interventions used to change human cognitive experiences.

http://www.psychologyinfo.com/depression/cognitive.htm#selfeval

Biological Theory of Depression

Researchers have noted differences in the brains of people who are depressed as compared to people who are not. For instance, the hippocampus, a small part of the brain that is vital to the storage of memories, appears to be smaller in people with a history of depression than in those who've never been depressed. A smaller hippocampus has fewer serotonin receptors. Serotonin is a calming brain chemical known as a neurotransmitter that allows communication between nerves in the brain and the body. It’s also thought that the neurotransmitter norepinephrine may be involved in depression.
Scientists do not know why the hippocampus is smaller in those with depression. Some researchers have found that the stress hormone cortisol is produced in excess in depressed people. These investigators believe that cortisol has a toxic or poisonous effect on the hippocampus. Some experts theorize that depressed people are simply born with a smaller hippocampus and are therefore inclined to suffer from depression.
One thing is certain -- depression is a complex illness with many contributing factors. The latest scans and studies of brain chemistry that show the effects of antidepressants help broaden our understanding of the biochemical processes involved in depression. As scientists gain a better understanding of the cause(s) of depression, health professionals will be able to make better "tailored" diagnoses and, in turn, prescribe more effective treatment plans.

http://www.webmd.com/depression/guide/causes-depression