LOSS OR trauma early in life is now being recognised as the platform for the development of depression later in life.
Newer diagnostic technology such as the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) supports this theory by showing the physical changes occurring in the brain as a result of early life trauma.
Dr. Earl Wright, psychiatrist, points out that in cases of early life changes, there is a decrease of certain cells within specific areas of the brain and furthermore, an MRI scan will clearly show a decrease in the size of particular parts of brain in people with major depressive disorder.
This theory is not exactly new, echoing Freud's object-loss theory where it was proposed that loss early in life was reactivated by significant losses later in life.
Dr. Wright said that scientists are now able to delineate the chain of neurobiological changes which are triggered by early loss. In this explanation, the fight-or-flight hormone, cortisol, figures highly.
Certain conditions such as stress, exercise, trauma, anxiety and depression raise the cortisol levels. Increased cortisol levels lead to a chain of events which ultimately provides the body with energy to survive the fight-or-flight mechanism. However, when cortisol is hyper-secreted, this sets the organism up for many physical problems increased blood pressure, diabetes, atherosclerosis, immune suppression, bone absorption, osteoporosis, muscle atrophy.
Dr. Wright points out that most studies show that when an individual is depressed, even at rest, the corticol level is substantially increased and that there are alterations in certain systems.
"Several studies confirm that early life trauma leads to persistent changes, a supersensitive state, in the response to stress. This includes an increase in the number of neurons that will be producing corticotropin releasing factor..., resetting of the response to stress and therefore the
individual will also respond in
a hyperactive way to stress,"
he said.
