DEPRESSION AMONG COLLEGIATE STUDENTS IN RELATION TO THEIR FAMILY ENVIRONMENT

Early in life, individuals develop a wide variety of concepts and attitudes about themselves and their world. Some of these concepts are anchored to reality and form the basis for a healthy personal adjustment. Others deviate from reality and produce vulnerability to possible psychological disorders. People’s concepts realistic as well as unrealistic are drawn from experiences, from the attitudes and opinions communicated to by others, and from identifications. Among the concepts that are central in the pathogenesis of depression are people's attitudes toward self, environment and future. People's self-concepts are clusters of attitudes about themselves, some favorable and others unfavorable. When an individual makes negative judgments about himself, this tends to develop negative self-concepts for example "I am weak," "I am inferior," 1 am unlovable," and "I cannot do anything right.” These negative self-concepts emerge with great force in depression (Beck & Alford, 2009).