Environmental & genetic factors and depression

Abstract

As reported by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2021, depression is prevalent among ~3.8% of the world population, and it is impacting people’s life in many negative ways including effects such as lack of motivation, low mood, suicidal thoughts and acts, etc. Such extensive influence involves various triggers and causes --- environmental factors like childhood trauma, early-life experience, diet, etc. --- which could also lead to malfunction and structural change in certain brain areas like ACC and amygdala; Genetic factor is linked with the inherited genes with specific SNPs of individuals, in which the sequencing associated with depression is noticed by GWAS study. Common intervention strategies include taking antidepressants and doing mindfulness-based interventions to treat depressions are also being looked at in this paper.