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The Oxford Handbook of Molecular Psychology

DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199753888.013.28

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Is Depression an Infectious Disease?

Book chapter published in 2015 by Turhan Canli
This paper was not found in any repository, but could be made available legally by the author.
This paper was not found in any repository, but could be made available legally by the author.

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Abstract

In molecular psychology, the tools of molecular biology and genomics are applied to study and better understand behavior. In this chapter, the author applies this approach to present a novel perspective on major depressive disorder (MDD). The treatment approach for MDD has not changed much in half a century, and—in general—today’s treatments are not more effective than earlier ones. The author suggests a new approach, one that conceptualizes MDD as an infectious disease. The author presents a set of four clues that are consistent with such a claim and lays out a molecular approach to how a search for a disease-causing agent could be conducted.