Sue Holttum suggests that biological explanations for distress may easily
be over-emphasised
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| Do brains turn our heads? Photo: Helmut Januschka |
A couple of mornings ago (Tuesday 18th Feb) there was an item on Radio 4’s
Today programme about depression. Specifically, it related to the discovery
that teenage boys with mild (non-clinical) depression, and higher-than-usual
levels of the stress hormone cortisol, were 14 times more likely to develop
clinical depression than other boys of similar age. Presenter, Evan Davis,
interviewed respected neuroscientist, Prof Barbara Sahakian, from Cambridge
University. Instead of asking the obvious question about why these youngsters
are suffering enough stress to raise cortisol levels and be mildly depressed,
Mr Davis asked about possibly correcting cortisol levels and whether cortisol
was the cause of the depression.
