Difficult lives explain depression better than broken brains.
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Authors
Moncrieff, J., Cooper, R.E., Stockmann, T., Amendola, S., Hengartner, M.P. and Horowitz, M.A.
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Issue Date
19/02/2024
Type
Journal Article
Language
Keywords
Mental Health
Alternative Title
Abstract
Human beings are organisms with brains who have emotions and agency. The nature and size of our brains is what gives us these capacities, but our feelings and our behaviour are not best understood as simply the property of our brains. They are the properties of us as whole human beings immersed in our social world [1]. Inappropriately ascribing feelings, thoughts, preferences and other characteristics of humans to the brain is known as the mereological fallacy [2]. For example, the association between activation of certain areas of the brain and ‘liking the Beatles’ could be studied, but this preference is more likely to be understood by examining the relationships and experiences associated with this music in the person’s life. The same applies to feelings of despair and hopelessness.
Description
Citation
Mol Psychiatry 29, 206–209 (2024)
Publisher
License
Journal
Molecular Psychiatry
Volume
29