For a long time, I have thought of some forms of depression as a weakness. I truly believed that in many cases it could be controlled by the depressed person themself. I also felt that environmental and personal factors played were the basis for depression. However, through what we have learned in class and from my research, I have come to realize that this theory is not completely true. Mood is a generalized control mechanism like sleep.
Eating also exhibits many characteristics of generalized control mechanisms.
Mood can be affected by sensory input and the I-function, but it is also autonomous in that it can vary independent of sensory input. This internal variation is pharmacologically dependent. Changes in a persons pharmacological makeup can cause mood changes, sleep disturbances, and even depression. The I-function influences mood manipulation but cannot determine mood. Though you may want to be in a good mood, make a conscious effort to think RhappyS thoughts, and may not have serious stressors in your life, you may still suffer clinical depression as a result of a chemical imbalance in your system.