Attributional Theory

Learned helplessness models put forward the view that people can become depressed because he learned to regard themselves as helpless in controlling reinforcement - reinforcement in the environment or to change lives for the better. The first person who compile theory of powerlessness, Martin Seligman changed the theory of powerlessness within the framework of social psychology on attributional style ( attributional style ). Attributional style is a personal style in explaining something.

When disappointment or failure to appear, we may explain it in a variety of ways that have various characteristics. We can blame ourselves ( internal attribution ), or we can blame the situation we are facing ( external attribution ). We can see a bad experience as events inherent with personality characteristics ( stable attribution ) or as separate events ( attribution unstable ). We can see it as evidence of a wider problem ( global attribution ) or as a proof of particular weakness are limited ( specific attribution ). 

There are three types of attribution of the most vulnerable to depression:

1. Internal factors, or the belief that the failure to reflect the personal incompetence, and not external factors, or the belief that failure is caused by environmental factors.

2. Global factors, or the belief that the failure to reflect all errors in personality and not specific factors, or the belief that the failure to reflect the limited area of ability to function.

3. Stable factors, or the belief that the failure to reflect the personality factor that settled and not factors that are unstable, or the belief that the factors that led to the failure of it can be changed.

4. Combined Various Views

Depression and other mood disorders involve a variety of factors that influence each other. Consistent with the diathesis - stress model of depression may reflect an interaction between biological factors, psychological factors, as well as social and environmental stressors.

Stressful life events, such as long idle or divorce, can have a depressing effect by lowering the activity of neurotransmitters in the brain. This biochemical effect is more likely to occur, or more uncertain in people with a certain genetic predisposition, or diathesis for depression.However, a depressive disorder may not be developed, or can develop in a milder form, in people who have the coping resources more effectively to overcome stressful situations. For example, people who receive emotional support from others may be better able to cope with the effects of stress than those who have to deal with it themselves. Similarly, the person on active coping seek to resolve the challenges they face in life. Sociocultural factors can be major sources of stress that affect the development of mood disorders. These factors involve poverty, density, exposure to racism, gender discrimination, and prejudice, violence in the home or in the community, unequal stress burden imposed on women, and family breakdown. These factors are clearly involved in both the trigger mood disorders or be the cause of the recurrence of the disorder.