Insert surname 1

Name

Instructors’ name

Course

Date

Influence of Life Stress on Depression: Moderation by a Polymorphism in the 5-HTT Gene

Depression refers to an experience of severe dejection and despondency (Caspi 386).

Throughout the world, depression is one of the five main causes of disease and disability burden.

Some of the causes of depression include life events such as, loss, threat, defeat, humiliation

(Caspi 386). Nonetheless, many people who experience stressful events does not succumb to

depression. One of the theories that tries to explain the originality of depression is the Diathesis

Theory. This theory states that, individual’s genetic makeup determines the individual’s

sensitivity to stressful events (Caspi 386). Researches concerned with behavioral genetics,

synonymously agrees with this theory. These studies suggest that, after stressful events, the risk

of depression is low in individuals who are al low genetic risk and severe in those who are at

high genetic risk. The experimental tests conform that genes are vulnerable to stress.

To test whether genes are susceptible to stress, a potential-longitudinal test is conducted

in a representative birth cohort (Caspi 387). The test is aimed at identifying why some

individuals experience depression than other despite undergoing same life events. To carry out

the test, 5-HTT gene was also used to determine whether it moderates the effects of depression.

This was conducted using a polymorphism which was able to function in a serotine transporter’s

promoter region. The 5-HTT was observed to have a moderating effect on depression. It was also
 Insert surname 2

established that homozygous people with long allele of 5-HTT polymorphism depicted less

symptoms of depression and diagnosable depression, relating to stressful life events (Caspi 388).

Thus, this study give gene evidence of a person’s response to life events, especially stressful

events relates directly to his or her genetic makeup. The following graphs show how individuals

reacts to various numbers of stressful life events.

It is important to note that the evidence that 5-HTT gene moderates the influence of life

events on depression, does not comprise ambiguous proofs of interactions. This is because life

events exposure may be affected by other genetic causes (Caspi 388). For instance, a person may
 Insert surname 3

have inheritable bias to encounter situations where he or she faces stressful events, this will be

just due to a maker that is saturated genetically. Therefore, a gene environment that determines

depression depicted in this study may not be reflected because of other factors that have not been

defined in this test. This is because the gene 5-HTT may have interacted with inherited gene

which was not measured in this study. This study is based on the premise that, If the

measurement of life events is only represented by genetic risk, 5-HTT gene will interact with life

events even when they happened after the episode of depression. Nonetheless, the timing of life

events relating to depression must follow an order of cause-to-effect, if the environmental stress

is represented by life events (Caspi 389). The inconsistencies in the previous studies about the

proofs of direct relation between depression and 5-HTT, is because the studies did not put into

consideration the stress histories of the participants. Thus, this study shows that, in a

representative sample of human beings, the interactions extend to the natural depression

development.

Depression is one of the five main causes of disease and disability burden in the world. It

is caused by life events such as, loss, threat, defeat, humiliation. One of the theories that tries to

explain the originality of depression is the Diathesis Theory. 5-HTT gene is also used to

determine whether it can control the effects of depression. The Diathesis theory, research

documents and this study confirms that individual’s genetic makeup determines the individual’s

sensitivity to stressful events. Therefore, an understanding of how different individuals react to

stressful events based on their genetic makeup, is important for medical practitioners and

caregivers of depressed patients.

 Insert surname 4

References

Caspi, Avshalom. Influence Of Life Stress On Depression: Moderationby A Polymorphism In

The 5-HTT Gene. 1st ed. 2003. Web. 5 Mar. 2017.