Lesson 1: Different Types of Depression
For Your Benefit
One major set of depression types we haven't discussed is endogenous vs exogenous depression. During the early 80s, clinicians used to make a distinction between depression caused by a patient's biological processes (endogenous)such as the brain's neurotransmitters and that caused by outside circumstances (exogenous)such as grieving the loss of a loved one. It was assumed that the former was more amenable to medications therapy and the latter to talking therapy. In an article on Medscape, Thomas Kramer MD of Northwestern University notes:
"This rather dualist approach to depression seemed to imply that only some behaviors had anything to do with the chemistry of the brain, but other behaviors were somehow exempt."
With our new understanding of depression as an interaction of genes, biology, and the environment, the old distinctions are dying, but not quite dead.
The Medscape link will take you to the home page, from where you can register for free (the best deal on the net). The article is rather technical, but once you get used to technical articles, articles for lay people (this course excepted, it goes without saying) read like idiot's guides. Enter "endogenous" into the search field.
