Environmental Theory of Depression

The Environmental theory of depression states that the causes for this disorder are outside of ourselves. They are not genetic or linked to malfunctions or imbalances in the brain. These things that will cause depression are events that occur in our lives with the people that sorround us. They are sometimes referred to as sociological factors because they concern the outside world. The reason that these factors cause depreesion is demostrated by the fact that it has been proven that outside influences affect our inner state of mind. The things that happen with the outside world take a toll on our behavior and emotions. If the situations that sorround us are negative, it is most likely that this may lead to clinical depression.

The main environmental factors are stress at home or the office, traumatic events and childhood difficulties. The role that stress plays in the existence of depression can be understood by the concept of learned helplessness. When people experience chronic or repeated stressful events, they learn to feel helpless. This feeling of helplessness is strengthened when a person believes he or she has no control over the stressful situation. Traumatic events cause depression because they take away a sense of control and cause great emotional upheaval. Events like losing a loved one, divorce, medical illnessess and losing everything to a natural disaster upset the emotions of a person to a point where they may lose touch with the people around them and have a difficulty to reach out to others. This isolation is an obvious alert of possible depression. Difficulties that have been nurtured since childhood are also environmental factors that may cause depression. These difficulties may include sexual or physical abuse, a turbulent upbringing, separation from a parent, or mental illness in a parent. The reason these are linked to depression are because these kids have more difficulty adjusting to change and managing their emotions.
In any case, environmental factors are proven to be great catalysts of depression.
Sources
http://www.allaboutdepression.com/cau_04.html