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Related Concept Videos

Depressive Disorders: Etiology01:27

Depressive Disorders: Etiology

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Depressive disorders result from a complex interplay of biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors, each contributing uniquely to the development and persistence of the condition. Understanding these factors provides critical insight into the multifaceted nature of depression.
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Self-Discrepancy and Its Effects

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Self-discrepancy theory explains how people compare their actual self to their ideal and ought selves and how mismatches between these self-guides can lead to emotional distress. Developed by E. Tory Higgins, the theory distinguishes among three components of self-concept: the actual self, the ideal self, and the ought self. These refer respectively to how individuals perceive themselves, how they aspire to be, and how they believe they are obligated to be. Emotional well-being, self-esteem,...
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Updated: Oct 6, 2025

Design and Implementation of an fMRI Study Examining Thought Suppression in Young Women with, and At-risk, for Depression
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The self on its axis: a framework for understanding depression.

Christopher G Davey1, Ben J Harrison2

  • 1Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. c.davey@unimelb.edu.au.

Translational Psychiatry
|January 19, 2022
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Depression alters the self by disrupting brain processes, creating a "self axis" imbalance. This new model highlights how interventions targeting different self levels can effectively treat depression.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Psychiatry
  • Psychology

Background:

  • Depression is characterized by altered self-experience, including low mood and negative self-thoughts.
  • The concept of self has been challenging to define and investigate in psychiatry.
  • Neuroscience studies offer new insights into the brain processes supporting the self.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To propose a new model of depression centered on the self.
  • To elucidate the neural underpinnings of the self and its disruption in depression.
  • To provide a framework for understanding diverse depression treatments.

Main Methods:

  • Review of functional brain imaging and neuroscience findings.
  • Conceptualization of a hierarchical brain process supporting the self, termed the "self axis".
  • Analysis of how depression impacts this self axis.

Main Results:

  • The self is supported by hierarchical brain processes, integrating bodily, interoceptive, and social information.
  • Depression disrupts this integrated self process, altering the "self axis".
  • The self-axis model demonstrates the multi-level nature of depression and interconnectedness of its impacts.

Conclusions:

  • The self-axis model offers a novel perspective on depression, emphasizing its multi-level nature.
  • Diverse treatments for depression may work by targeting different levels of the self axis.
  • Re-establishing the self as a focus of investigation could advance depression research and treatment.