The evolution of approaches to depression: From paradigm shifts to social contexts

The present study seeks to investigate how scientific and sociological factors have influenced the conceptualization and treatment of depression within the field of psychology. This will include an analysis of both current and historic approaches to depression as well as surmising what contributing factors can account for these models. This study will involve a critical review of past and present literature on the matter. The lime periods analyzed in this review will be revised chronologically and examined in terms of paradigms in the tradition of Thomas Kuhn. The goal of analyzing the approaches taken to treat depression now and throughout the past is to determine the quality of the current paradigm and its implications for the parallel development of the field of psychology.