Is depression generally more revolved around discontent with your past, or your genetic attributes?

BOTH! Depression is one of those mental illnesses that can be entirely caused for different reasons. Some people experience it when they're going through a particularly trying time in their life, while other people have totally normal lives, but have a biologic/chemical imbalance in their brain that makes them depressed. Or, you could have a genetic predisposition to experience depression, and events in your life bring that natural predisposition out. There are a lot of different possible causes :)

From personal experience, I would say that depression revolves more around discontent with your past, but can also revolve around genetic attributes. For example, various people in my family have suffered with depression, but that isn't what caused my discontent with my past.

It can be one or the other or both. Mental illnesses tends to run in families. If someone in the primary (grandparent,parent,aunt,uncle,sister, or brother) family suffers from some form of mental illness it is safe to say that it will most likely surface in other family members even if it skips a generation. On the other hand discontent and unresolved issues in your past often open a gateway for depression because you have never gotten closure so it eats away at you until it wears you down and consumes you. with discontentment and genetic attributes combined the chances of becoming depressed is even greater.

I think it has to do with both. Depression is something involved with brain activity and the hormones within. So whether it be the genetic attributes or the past that trigger a chemical imbalance in the brain, that's where the primary issue is.

In the case of a violin.. is the music the instrument, the strings that were chosen, or the movement of the bow across the strings.. from what I understand, some people have a strong genetic predisposition to depression, and sad things happen to them, and their attitudes, reactions and resilience or lack thereof come into play. Some people seem to think that people with depression are ungrateful because of everything they have going for them and don't recognize, but whatever the cause.. the result is a chemical imbalance in the brain that sometimes can even affect the brain's structure, making it even harder to come out of the depression. People who are depressed often have low self-esteem and ideas that they themselves could cause or prevent the imbalance by their attitude are just more unnecessary and upsetting to them.

I believe most of it is discontent, from what i have witnessed most depression isn't genetic. Most people that say they have depression have never gotten a professional test, and they label themselves as such.

Depression has some genetic and epigenetic influences, but it's far more influenced by what's going on in your life right *now.* It's very rare for a person to be depressed when nothing is wrong with their life. Many people discount the things that are making them sad, though, because they think that those things shouldn't be bad enough to affect them seriously. "Should" means nothing to your brain chemistry, though. You can become depressed if you have suffered a major disappointment such as being rejected from college, if you are socially isolated, if you lack meaningful work or relationships, or if you are not respected by your family and community. It doesn't matter if the things that are happening to you are very ordinary and are also happening to lots of other people--they can still make you depressed if you don't have a lot of support and if you have a genetic predisposition for it.

Probably not the answer you were hoping for, but the only one that I can give is who knows? Depression, like a lot of things when looked at scientifically, is not very clear. The most anyone really has at this point is vague at best, in my opinion. Depression could be triggered in people solely on their struggles in life, their genetics, or maybe it could be something entirely different. Who can say for sure? There's definitely a lot of research put into finding the answer, but there really isn't any clear cut or simple answer to this sort of question. It's highly individualized and a huge number of things could play into whether it's one or the other or something entirely different.

Discontent with past and self and others. Cannot get feelings away from the negayive memories, fear reoccurence

Depression is not more revolved around one certain thing. Some people can have very bad depression over a dramatic event. Well others have had nothing happen to them, but they still feel sad. I do not believe it can only be one or the other.