What causes depression?
Depression is a complex, multi-faceted,
multi-dimensional disorder. Just as there is no single cause of cancer, neither is there a single cause of depression.
Depression, like the trunk of a tree, has many roots. Some of these include:
- Genetics and biology. Depression, like heart disease and cancer, tends to run in families. People can be born with a certain brain chemistry or temperament that predisposes them to being melancholic.
- Childhood trauma and other psychological factors. Changes in our psychology (reactions to trauma, personal loss, rejection) can also alter the biochemistry of the brain and nervous system - sometimes permanently. Hence, the greatest predictor of depression in adulthood is a person's loss of a parent at an early age.
- Environmental factors. Poor nutrition, hormonal imbalances, toxins in the environment, brain injuries, stress, substance abuse, and can lead to depressive states. People become depressed when losing a job, a partner, or after contracting a serious illness.
- Adverse reactions to medication. Many people do not realize that a number of common prescription drugs have side effects that can induce depression. These include cardiac drugs and hypertensives, sedatives, steroids, stimulants, antibiotics, antifungal drugs and analgesics.
- Sociological factors. Many changes in modern society, such as the breakdown of traditional communities, the dissolution of extended families, the widening gap between rich and poor, and our disconnection from the natural world, may play a part in the rising rates of depression worldwide.
- Spiritual crises. People can suffer from an existential depression when life loses its meaning and purpose. Any significant transition, especially a change of roles in family or work, can trigger this crisis in meaning.
What are the symptoms of depression?
Depression is a complex disorder and its symptoms express themselves on many levels.
Depression creates physical problems, behavioral problems, distorted thinking, changes in emotional well being, troubled relationships and spiritual emptiness. The symptoms of major depression can be divided into three categories:
- Disturbances of emotion and mood.
- Changes in the "housekeeping" functions of the brain - those that regulate sleep, appetite, energy and sexual function.
- Disturbances of thinking and concentration.
The most common
symptoms of clinical depression include:
- chronically sad or empty mood.
- loss of interest or pleasure in ordinary pleasurable activities, including sex.
- decreased energy, fatigue, feeling slowed down, slowed movement, read more
