Stanford's Sapolsky On Depression in U.S. (Full Lecture)

Robert Sapolsky delivers a lecture on depression, distinguishing it from everyday sadness and emphasizing its debilitating nature as a major biological disorder. He outlines the symptoms of major depression, including anhedonia, delusional grief, self-injury, and psychomotor retardation, highlighting the biological aspects such as sleep disturbances, appetite changes, and stress responses. Sapolsky discusses the neurochemistry involving neurotransmitters like norepinephrine, serotonin, and dopamine, as well as the neuroanatomy and the role of hormones like thyroid hormones, estrogen, progesterone, and glucocorticoids. Transitioning to the psychological aspects, he references Freud's views on melancholia and introduces concepts like learned helplessness and the impact of early childhood experiences. Sapolsky integrates biology and psychology through the lens of stress, explaining how genes related to serotonin reuptake interact with life stressors to influence vulnerability to depression, ultimately arguing that depression is a real biological disorder deserving of recognition and empathy.