Nonlinear Dynamic Systems and the Recovery from Depression: A Novel Conceptualization with Implications for Intervention

The purpose of this dissertation is to present a novel Nonlinear Dynamic Systems-based (NDS) model of depression and the recovery from depression. NDS, which includes chaos and complexity theories, is a collection of interdisciplinary fields that study the collective behavior of interrelated objects as they unfold in time and space. NDS addresses the conditions that create stable states in which all components in a system are in equilibrium and resist change. In this dissertation, a major depressive episode (MDE) is conceptualized as a stable and self-consistent state that spontaneously emerges in order to protect individuals from unbearable circumstances. This way of understanding depression allows for a holistic and individualized approach to depression, and has implications for understanding the process of recovery. It can help make sense of many of the inconsistencies and difficulties present in the research on depression and leads to a set of strategies for assessment and treatment of depression.;The proposed view of the recovery from depression evolved into a practical manual to show clinicians without knowledge of NDS how to apply this conceptualization in the treatment of their clients. In order to the effectiveness of this manual, a feasibility study was conducted by distributing it to a sample of 12 clinicians of varying levels of experience and various theoretical orientations and requesting their feedback. A thematic content analysis of their feedback showed that clinicians are able to engage and use the information presented relatively readily and that they found the material discussed clinically useful and conceptually interesting. The results of the content analysis were subsequently used to revise the manual in order to clarify the ideas and make it more accessible to future readers. The treatment manual does not specify particular therapeutic tools, but rather uses general concepts to explain many existing research findings about depression and presents a novel and promising strategy for the conceptualization and treatment of depression.